Marie Borgman and Koda Kerl are Chamomile & Whiskey, bringing us a delightful evening of original music in the folk/americana genre. With special guest John Gardner. The show starts at 8pm/$5.

If you’ve got a talent, we’ve got the stage. Show starts at 8pm, signup begins at 7:30.

“The local quintet [previously known as Straight Punch To The Crotch] is a fun-loving band, and Star Children picks up the carefree pop approach that seems to have dropped from the mainstream since the wave of seriousness brought on by ’90s grunge and gangsta rap. Tracks like “Robot Baby” and “Take Off All Your Clothes” simultaneously stick out their tongues and plant them firmly in their cheeks. Straight Punch steers clear of excessive cheese, but they realize getting a little goofy is better than leaning solely on angst, pining and heartbreak for inspiration.

Balanced against the comical slant that their name implies, Straight Punch also draws on a deeper stream of ’80s rock influences. “Summer Sun and Firecrackers,” a timely summer anthem, has the drive and jangly echo of the Bunnymen and R.E.M. The keyboard hooks and inflected vocals on songs like “When Animals Attack” and “Murder” recall the sonic wit of British rockers Felt and celebratory spazz of Talking Heads. The album even seeps a sensuality reminiscent of Prince, but hopefully not enough that he’ll try to sue them for it.” -John Ruscher

The show starts at 8pm/$7.

www.myspace.com/wearestarchildren

The students at Nelson County High School recently succeeded in forming the school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance club. The purpose of the GSA is to provide a safe place for students of any orientation to find support and friendship and to promote understanding and acceptance within the NCHS community. This event is a fundraiser to help with their efforts.

Music by Sally Rose, Tom Gartsang and David French, Elizabeth Knight, and Neptune & the Never Rockets.

8pm/$5. Proceeds benefit the NCHS GSA.

Acoustic rock/folk-rock group Blue Line Highway grows in popularity every time they grace our stage. Give but one listen to the flawless harmonies, the seamless flow throughout the show, and the band’s unflagging joy in their music, and you’ll know why they’ve become one of the best-loved groups to play here. The show starts at 8pm/$5.

Listen at www.bluelinehighway.com.

The event that brought us the phrase “You never know what you’re going to see at Rapunzel’s.” If you’ve got a talent, we’ve got the stage. Show starts at 8pm, signup begins at 7:30.

Whether playing as a country duo or as a full-on Western dance band, The Halliday Line are sure to deliver the goods. Steeped in American music traditions ranging from honky-tonk to swing to old-time Appalachian music, The Halliday Line blend it together in a way that will take you back to another time, while making it unmistakably original.

Band Members:

• Katie Burke ( a.k.a. Sweet Halliday) (acoustic guitar, vocals) is the daughter of a music teacher, and it’s not a stretch to say that she was singing before she was born. She started her vocal training around the time she learned to talk, and hasn’t looked back since. Katie has also lent her strong rhythm guitar hand to various bands in Central Virginia, including The Chickweeds and The Blue Ridge Rhythm Devils.
• Liam Kelly (a.k.a. Picky Halliday) (pedal steel and electric guitars, banjo, vocals) has played more instruments in more bands than can be counted. He most recently fronted The Jugbusters, an old-time honky-tonk band from Blacksburg, Virginia, voted “Best Local Band” in the 2010 Collegiate Times Reader’s Poll.
• Jerry Renshaw (electric guitar, vocals) is a recent transplant from the country music scene in Austin, Texas. Jerry has played lead guitar for the likes of John Howie Jr. (of The Two Dollar Pistols) and Lucky Tubb, great nephew of country great Ernest Tubb. Equally comfortable in classic country or western swing genres, Jerry has a mastery of technique and style that few can match.
• Aaron Olwell (fiddle) has extensive experience fiddling for contra dances, square dances, Irish set dances, and anything else where his stunning combination of rhythm and melody can play a role.
• Lew Burruss (bass) is one of the most sought-after bass players in Central Virginia. Aside from his work in The Halliday Line, he currently holds down the bottom end for The Don’t Tell Darlings, Acme Swing Mfg., The Rivanna River Chiggers, and about any other band that can schedule him in.

Check them out at www.hallidayline.com. The show starts at 8pm/$5.

Get Bent with the Bent Theatre! Sketch and improv comedy in the style of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” will have you laughing and cheering every step of the way. The show starts at 8pm/$5.

Galen Curry honed his skills as a musician in the most intuitive way: by playing music whenever and wherever possible. He played in jazz combos, chamber singing groups, wedding bands and wind ensembles. He has toured the Eastern Seaboard with a rock band and Eastern Europe with a concert choir. For years Galen fronted Upstate New York alt-rock band The Beds and Virginia funk-rock ensemble Ultraviolet Ballet, and it was with these bands that he began to find his voice as a songwriter. Based out of a vibrant Charlottesville, Virginia, scene, Galen honors his southern heritage with unmistakably American tunes that supplement his singular tenor with clever lyricism and upbeat rootsy instrumentation, but it is his penchant for heartfelt and rollicking live performances that definitively set him apart from the crowd.

The show starts at 8pm/$5. Listen at www.galencurry.com.