Sculptures made of old pieces of metal, wood and other recycled materials catch the eye of the audience. Artist demonstrations draw the attention of other visitors. Live tunes have the crowd singing and dancing along to the beat.
That’s the scene at the Kentuck Art Gallery in Northport tonight, for the monthly Kentuck Art Night. Tonight will feature the return of Tuscaloosa natives Chris Hewett, Michael King and Greg Evans as they perform with their cover band, Tarred and Feathered.
The Tarred and Feathered band focuses on a three-part harmony, with Evans and Hewett playing acoustic guitars and the banjo and King playing the harmonica and hand percussion through the use of brushes and tambourines. They like to re-imagine classic songs to fit their unconventional setup with only three musicians.
The music they play ranges from R&B to bluegrass to southern rock, so a wide range of audiences can relate. They cover artists such as Amos Lee, Bob Dylan, John Prine, the Lumineers, the Allman Brothers, the Eagles, the Commodores, Van Morrison, Old Crow Medicine Show, Otis Redding, John Denver, Marshall Tucker and Tom Petty.
“We always keep our setlist full of surprises and like to keep the crowd guessing what we will pull out of our hat next,” Hewett said.
The members of Tarred and Feathered are excited to return to the Kentuck Art Night event and experience the diversity and spirit of the crowd.
“We especially like to get people singing along with us and we love for folks to come up and play a song or two with us,” King said. “This is all about fun for us.”
Along with the Tarred and Feathered band, the Kentuck Art Night will feature a continuation of Charlie Lucas’ art show that showcases the sculptures he creates from old pieces of wood, metal and iron. His work will also continue to be displayed at the gallery in Hotel Indigo for the rest of April.
This Kentuck Art Night also serves as the opening for Kelly Shannon’s art show, “Celle.” Shannon is a local artist from Birmingham and has a master’s degree in sculpture from the University of Alabama.
“One reason we are really interested in getting her here is because of the way she creates art, which is very folky since she uses recycled materials,” said Exa Skinner, the program manager at the Kentuck Art Gallery. “After she creates them, they don’t look like folk art, but take on a contemporary style.”
Audience members will be able to take part in a clay co-op, which will be doing live demonstrations. In addition, eight studio artists will have open studios for the event.
The Kentuck Art Night is tonight from 5-8 p.m. Tickets at the door will be $20, but if you purchase them in advance online or in the Gallery Shop they will be only $15.
