It’s another busy and eclectic week of live music this October in the Sarasota area, with this concert picks installment spanning genres from soul to “Siberian surf rock.” Most notably, we have a Tony-winning and Grammy-nominated (including Best New Artist the same year as The Carpenters and Elton John!) singer and actress visiting Sarasota’s Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, which is currently staging a musical with direct ties to her.
Another two of this week’s concert picks will take place at Sarasota County restaurant and venue Englewoods on Dearborn, which is reopening after a roughly month-long vacation. There’s a country musician with a No. 1 country airplay hit to his name, and a concert paying tribute to a late great singer-songwriter who also formerly resided in nearby Gulfport. Here are this week’s highlights. Event details are subject to change.
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John Prine’s Birthday Party
Grant Peeples.
Sarasota’s Fogartyville will host this show paying tribute to the late great singer-songwriter and former Gulfport resident John Prine, on what would’ve been his 79th birthday weekend. Topping the bill will be Grant Peeples, who is known both for his original material and covers — such as his rendition of Bob Dylan’s Oscar-winning track “Things Have Changed” featuring blues-roots singer Ruthie Foster.
Other performers will include Fort Myers’ Reckless Saints, Matt Burke of Bradenton alt-Americana band Have Gun, Will Travel and Sarasota folk group Passerine. 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show Saturday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $35, $30 members, $17 students ages 13 and up (sold out as of press time); 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org
Melba Moore
Melba Moore.
As Sarasota’s Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe currently stages the musical “Purlie,” singer and actress Melba Moore — who won a Tony for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical as Lutiebelle in the original Broadway production — will visit WBTT to “sing songs and tell stories from her incredible career.” Moore is also a three-time Grammy nominee: Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for “Lean on Me,” Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for “Read My Lips” and Best New Artist, in a field that also included Elton John and winners The Carpenters.
Her other stage roles include Dionne and later Sheila in the original Broadway production of “Hair” and Billie Holiday in WBTT’s production of “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.” 6 p.m. reception, 7:30 p.m showtime Monday; Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota; $150; 941-366-1505; westcoastblacktheatre.org
Igor & Red Elvises
Igor Yuzov.
“Siberian surf rock” group Igor and Red Elvises will return to our area this week for shows at the recently reopened Englewoods on Dearborn, as well as Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda. The group is fronted by Igor Yuzov, who grew up in the former Soviet Union, seeking out the forbidden sounds of rock ‘n’ roll.
He later moved to America and formed the Red Elvises, which has released albums including 1996’s “Grooving to the Moscow Beat” and 1997’s “Surfing in Siberia,” and is still going strong today. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; Englewoods on Dearborn, 362 W. Dearborn St., Englewood; $10; 941-475-7501; englewoodsondearborn.com; 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16; Celtic Ray Public House, 145 E. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda; 941-916-9115; celticray.net
Tyler Farr
Tyler Farr.
Sarasota’s Big Top Live, which has become a regular concert venue for country music, among other genres, will continue that trend when Tyler Farr performs there. Coming to country music on an interesting route — he was a classically trained vocalist who later fell in love with country after his mother married George Jones’ lead guitarist Dwayne Phillips, according to an American Songwriter interview — Farr scored a No. 1 country airplay hit with his 2014 single “A Guy Walks Into a Bar,” along with Top 3 hits “Redneck Crazy” and “Whiskey in My Water.”
More recently, he released another watering hole-centric song called “Coming to a Bar Near You” earlier this year. 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18; Big Top Live, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; $34.75; 941-371-2939; bigtoplive.com
Johnny Rawls
Johnny Rawls.
Englewoods on Dearborn’s live music lineup this week will also include a return appearance by soul-blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Johnny Rawls. He’s a two-time winner of the Soul Blues Album Blues Music Award, for 2009’s “Ace of Spades” and 2018’s “I’m Still Around.” Rawls has been nominated several other times in that same category, as well as Soul Blues Male Artist, including a nomination in the latter field this year.
Can’t make this show? Rawls is also scheduled to play Bradenton’s Cottonmouth on Oct. 19, according to his website. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16; Englewoods on Dearborn, 362 W. Dearborn St., Englewood; $10; 941-475-7501; englewoodsondearborn.com
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 5 concerts this week near me in Sarasota, Englewood, Punta Gorda
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