Salty:

Community radio station KABF-FM, 88.3, will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in a four-day sprint of live music shows around the city.
The dates are indicative of the stations eclectic format:
• On Thursday, Aug. 26, a blues event will be at the Cornerstone Deli and Pub, 312 Main St. in North Little Rock. Bands, beginning at 7:30 p.m. include local blues acts Gil Franklin and the Pike Avenue Revue, Blues DeVille, Charlotte Taylor and Conway’s Left of Center. There is no admission charge, though donations will be accepted at the door.
Sticky Fingerz will host the red-dirt rock and country-jazz quartet the Burtschi Brothers (Travis Linville, Kevin Webb, Chris Foreman and Mike Phoenix, from Norman, Okla.) on Friday, Aug. 27. The related-in-spirit-but-not in-blood band with a post-Gram Parsons swing, is a favorite among the “Tex-homa” music scene and they have opened for and played with Asleep at the Wheel, Ray Price and fellow Norman dwellers the Hosty Duo. Their last release was entitled “Live in Oklahoma,” which included originals and covers of Billy Joe Shaver, Jerry Reed and Willie Nelson songs.
This show will celebrate the station’s “Not Necessarily Nashville” program (hosted Fridays 5-7 p.m. by 17-year veteran Flapping Eagle Jones). Also on the roster are Runaway Planet and the Salty Dogs (who are appearing at the White Water Tavern the next day for their CD release party). Cover charge is $7, music starts around 9 p.m.
• Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom is the venue for the jazz show, with well-known local saxophonist Gerald Johnson and his band, Mosaic Reflections on Saturday, Aug. 28. The show starts at 10 p.m.; admission is $10.
• Sunday, Aug. 29, features an all-day event at the River Market pavilion. Latino music starts at noon, followed by gospel, hip-hop and blues, with the evening ending around midnight. Admission is $5.
For more information on any of the events, call 372-6119.
n A press release describes the Ken Willson and Kim McKee duo (booked at Acoustic Sounds Cafe for Friday, Aug. 27) as two voices with hammer and mountain dulcimers, guitars, Irish bouzouki (a sort of guitar-banjo-mandolin hybrid instrument), bodhran (a type of traditional frame drum), Celtic harp, accordion, dance and stories. The two have been known to teach their audience traditional Irish “Ceili” jigs at shows.
The 7:30 p.m. show starts out with opener Judy Cook. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for students.
n Well, it’s finally out: The Salty Dogs, consisting of Brad Williams, Nick Devlin, Bart Angel and Mike Nelson, have hatched their first full-length CD and will release it on Saturday, Aug. 28, at the White Water Tavern.
Their earlier seven-song EP, the live-recorded “King of Broken Hearts,” has sold out. Their newest, titled “The Salty Dogs and Friends,” is just that — an album supplemented with a little help from a melange of Little Rock musicians. Whining lap-steel and twangy-warbling vocals denote the band’s signature throwback Buck Owens-and-Hank-Sr. sound, with a kick reminiscent of Dwight Yoakam in his “Hee-Haw” days and a tinge of Rolling Stones-style rock.
The show will start around 10 p.m.; the cover is $5. The CD, which will be distributed among Little Rock’s local music vendors (Anthro-pop, Been Around Records, Arkansas CD-Record Exchange), also will be on sale that night for $10.
n Baton Rouge-based sextet the Benjy David Project brings in original, smooth rhythmic rock and soul style with instruments that include guitar, violin, congas, keyboards and harmonica to Sticky Fingerz on Wednesday, Sept. 1.
The group’s debut appearance at last year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival made its name prominent in the Crescent City and around college campuses such as Tulane and beyond. The BDP recently opened for the Gin Blossoms at Waterfest in Oshkosh, Wis.
Local rockers Filmore will open. Admission is $5, and the show starts at 9:30 p.m.
n An all-day metalfest is scheduled on Saturday, Aug. 28, at Vino’s Brewpub starting at 12:45 p.m. Bands slated are Lb. Face, Unborn, Killer Operating System, Turdy Jones, Flud, Debris, Non Grata, Strange as Fiction, Final Drive and P.Y.L.O.T. The event is being promoted by the Mid-South Metal Society. Admission is $7.

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