Josh Kelley

St. Ambrose University

Friday, April 25, 8 p.m.

In Josh Kelley's latest album, Special Company, the pop-rock performer's title track features the lyric "My girl, oh, she's so damn pretty."

The CD's "Stay Awake" features these lyrics: "I could fall in love with you, but it's not my fault / 'Cause you are the prettiest thing I've seen."

The CD's "Masterpiece" features these lyrics: "And cheers to you, honey / 'Cause you look so money tonight."

And if all this seems a little ... well, gooey, please bear in mind that the man is married to Katherine Heigl. Considering Kelley's inspiration, his lyrics might not be gooey enough.

Currently in the midst of a nationwide tour with Collective Soul, the vocalist/guitarist will make a solo stop at St. Ambrose University on April 25, allowing audiences to experience what Billboard magazine described as Kelley's "crisp musicianship," "organic charm," and "instantaneous appeal." The 28-year-old has also released three full-length CDs prior to Special Company, contributed to the soundtracks for such films as My Super Ex-Girlfriend and 27 Dresses, and, on February 29, solved a Rubik's Cube in under three minutes on Live with Regis & Kelly.

That's right, folks: Katherine Heigl fell in love with, and married, a Rubik's Cube-r. And on behalf of my fellow nerds, allow me to say, "Brav-o, Josh!"

Kelley plays St. Ambrose's Rogalski Center Ballroom at 8 p.m., and tickets are available by calling (563) 333-6023.

JUST FER KIDS!

Parents: If you have grade-school children, please sit them in front of the computer now.

Wow! Talk about a great week to go to the theatre! April 23 through 27, Davenport's Junior Theatre presents James & the Giant Peach; on April 25 and 26, Rock Island's The Center for Living presents 101 Dalmatians; and on April 29 and 30, Moline's i wireless Center presents Go, Diego, Go Live! The Great Jaguar Rescue. The first show is based on the children's book by Roald Dahl, the second on the animated Disney movie, the third on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon ... and they're all perfect for kids your age!

So let's see how much you know about them! Match the characters with the show they appear in - get all 10 right and receive a prize!

1) Alicia

2) Anita Radcliffe

3) The Bobo Brothers

4) The Centipede

5) Cruella De Vil A) Go, Diego, Go Live! The Great Jaguar Adventure

6) Dora B) James & the Giant Peach

7) The Glowworm C) 101 Dalmatians

8) Miss Spider

9) Perdita

10) Pongo

Here are the answers: 1 - A, 2 - C, 3 - A, 4 - B, 5 - C, 6 - A, 7 - B, 8 - B, 9 - C, 10 - C.

Did you get them all right? Good job! Now go find your Mom or Dad and claim your prize!

Parents: Sorry ... you now owe your kids a prize. How about theatre tickets? For James & the Giant Peach, call (563) 888-2216; for 101 Dalmatians, call (309) 788-5433; for Go, Diego, Go Live! The Great Jaguar Adventure, call (563) 326-1111.

H.M.S. Pinafore

Augustana College

Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27

"Jeff!"

"Mike."

"Augustana College is staging a production of H.M.S. Pinafore on April 26 and 27, and I wanna do a What's Happenin' piece on it."

"No."

"But - ."

"No."

"But it's a big deal! It's a collaboration between Opera@Augustana, the Augustana Choir, and the Augustana Symphony Orchestra - ."

"I'm aware of that."

" - and it just happens to be one of the most entertaining comic operettas Gilbert & Sullivan ever wrote! I mean, you've got all those great characters - Ralph Rackstraw and Dick Deadeye and the Right Honorable Sir Joseph Porter KCB First Lord of the Admiralty - ."

"Mike ... ."

" - and all those amazing harmonies and tongue-twisting lyrics - ."

"Mike ... ."

" - and Sideshow Bob sang the Pinafore score in that episode of The Simpsons - !"

"Mike, I'm not letting you do a What's Happenin' piece on H.M.S. Pinafore. I know you - you'd just waste space telling everyone that you played Ralph Rackstraw in high school. You continually use upcoming shows as an excuse to mention your own acting credits."

"What? I am outraged! I never do that!"

"What, never?"

"No, never!"

"What, never?"

"Well ... hardly ever ... ."

H.M.S. Pinafore will be presented in Centennial Hall at 8 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, and more information is available by calling (309) 794-7344.

Bassnectar

The Redstone Room

Friday, April 25, 9 p.m.

It will probably surprise none of you to learn that I'm not terribly well-versed in the world of electronica.

So rather than pathetically faking my way through this piece on Bassnectar - the alias of California DJ Lorin Ashton - let me instead share this comprehensive summary found on the Redstone Room's Web site: "Highlighted by massive bass lines, thick mob-scene beats, freak-show energy, emotive melodics, traditional acoustic instrumentation, and fearless mashing of genres, styles, sounds, moods, and approaches, fusing elements of mid-tempo breakbeats, big beat, old-school hip-hop and dub, DnB, glitch, IDM, electronica, death metal, grindcore, punk rock, alternative, folk, swing, and jazz, and sampling anything from the human history of sound and music, Bassnectar might be most accurately described as ‘omni-tempo maximalism.'"

Uh ... that's a good thing, right?

Bassnectar - who boasts what the San Francisco Weekly calls "probably the largest cult following of any DJ in San Francisco" - performs at the Redstone Room on April 25 alongside fellow electro musicians Future Rock and Eliot Lipp, and more information on the evening, including links to the artists' Web sites, is available at (http://www.redstoneroom.com).

Audrey Ryan

Rock Island Brewing Company

Thursday, April 24, 8 p.m.

In an interview with the Charleston Daily Mail, musician Audrey Ryan - who plays the Rock Island Brewing Company on April 24 - revealed that she takes much of her songwriting inspiration from life, and that her track "Espresso Bean" is based on a true story in which she tried to weasel her way out of a speeding ticket by blaming an excess of caffeine. That's the second-coolest Audrey Ryan story I've heard.

Based in Boston, and a former student at Australia's prestigious Sydney Music Conservatory, Ryan is an accomplished vocalist whose talents extend to the guitar, accordion, and keyboards, and with scores of fans here and abroad - she recently completed her first European tour - she's earned the respect of music critics, as well; Ryan's second full-length CD, 2007's Dishes & Pills, was described by the Bangor Daily as "a lush, beautifully arranged slice of indie pop," and the Portland Phoenix wrote that Ryan "melds a pretty voice with gently eccentric instrumentation," creating "results both ambitious and likable."

More on the artist is available at (http://www.audreyryan.org), and in case you were curious about the coolest Audrey Ryan story I heard, it involves her current EP collaboration with Chris Rochran of the electro-rock band King Calculator. "I don't know if it'll work out," Ryan was quoted as saying, "but if it does, I told Chris I'll buy him a tattoo." Ni-i-i-ice.