Around the Town: Helena-area arts and entertainment news published July 7 | Local

The pandemic brought them together, and now the duo Big Sky City Lights is getting national recognition.

They’ve appeared on “Good Morning America” and will be playing top music festivals featuring the likes of Jason Isbell and Emmylou Harris.

Big Sky City Lights performs all original music 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 7, at The Myrna Loy, including songs from their 2021 album, “Wake Me When We Get There,” and “some brand new songs we’ve just written,” says Nick Spear.

He and duo partner Susan O’Dea have sung together for years when they could and would joke that some day, if they were in the same place, they’d be in a band.

Then COVID hit and Spear was in the Flathead and O’Dea was in New York City, but they decided to collaborate online and form a band anyway.

Spear sang from his walk-in closet-recording studio, and O’Dea recorded from her bathroom.

This performance will be filmed for later broadcast on The Myrna Soundstage. The 70-minute concert is followed by a short onstage interview by musician John Dendy.

Tickets are $12 and available at 15 N. Ewing St. and https://themyrnaloy.com/. For more information, call 406-443-0287.

Lewis & Clark Tap Room has scheduled the following upcoming events: 

Hell’s Belles World Famous All-Female AC/DC Tribute Band on Thursday, July 7, from 7 to 10 p.m., $15 in advance, $20 the day of the show, 21+ with valid ID.

Jazz, funk, and samba from Transcendental Express on Friday, July 8, from 7 to 10 p.m.

Lost Canyons, from Bozeman, play on Saturday, July 9, from 7 to 10 p.m.

Are you looking for a good laugh? Come to the Montana Comedy Showcase in the Power Room on Saturday, July 9, from 5:30-6:45. Register your free tickets now.

Bone Dry Comedy presents comedian Steve Gillespie on Sunday, July 10, from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase.

For info on all shows: Lewis & Clark Tap Room, 1535 Dodge Ave., https://lctaproom.com/ or call 406-442-5960.

The State Capital Band will continue its 120th season of concerts in the park July 7 at 8 p.m. in Memorial Park.

Concerts will be under the direction of Robert Loveridge and performed by a group of some of the finest local musicians. The music for this concert will include marches and other patriotic favorites to help celebrate our country’s independence. Special recognition will be given to those who have served and are currently serving in each branch of the military.

Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, picnics or snacks and enjoy an evening of music with your family and friends. Be sure to vote for your favorite piece. The top two favorites from each concert will be performed during the last concert.

The Montana Old Time Fiddlers will bring their unique music to VFW Post 8292 in Maxville, located between Drummond and Philipsburg, on Sunday, July 10, from 2 to 6 p.m.

The program is free and open to the public, lunch will be available, and dancing is encouraged. Guitar, mandolin, and banjo players are welcome to participate in the jam – and anyone can just come to hear some great old time fiddle music.

The Montana Old Time Fiddlers are dedicated to preserving old time fiddle music in Montana, providing educational and performance opportunities for all. For more info call Dave at 406-685-3481.

New Orleans group Dave Jordan & The NIA will play rock’n roots on July 13 at Pioneer Park as part of the Alive at Five free outdoor concert series in downtown Helena. 

The Telluride Blues and Brews Festival wrote of them, “The Neighborhood Improvement Association has a vibe, that … ’leans into the kind of soulful, laid-back roots-rock that will put you in a New Orleans state of mind.’ Dave’s a songwriter that artfully pens roots-rockers, ballads and deep in the pocket soul songs that reflect the musical melting pot that is the Big Easy.”

Alive at Five runs Wednesdays from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 1-Aug. 3. 

“I can rap, and I can rhyme,” says Chris Sand, the Rappin’ Cowboy also known as the Sandman.

The prolific singer/songwriter, who’s put out 15 CDs and eight cassettes in a little over two decades, will be performing some of his newest songs at The Myrna Loy 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14.

The 70-minute performance will be followed by a brief interview by musician John Dendy and will be aired as a future Soundstage.

Sand’s toured the country numerous times and shared billing with the likes of Corb Lund and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

He was spotlighted in an award-winning documentary, “Roll Out, Cowboy,” focused on his touring the American West during the 2008 presidential election as he tried “to weave the country back together in my own way.”

The film won a number of awards and drew some fascinating comments from reviewers.

“He looks like Hank Williams but sings like Dr. Dre,” wrote one. The film surprisingly revealed “small town America isn’t as conservative as we think.”

“I love connecting people,” Sand says. “I want to show how connected we are.”

Tickets are $12 and available at 15 N. Ewing St., https://themyrnaloy.com/. For more information, call 406-443-0287.

Queer artists and their supporters show works of art in a new exhibit, “State of Love,” now through Tuesday, Aug. 5, at The Myrna Loy Jailhouse Gallery.

• ”The Stone Catcher” – a colorful woman spirit sculpture made of found objects.
• ”The Guardian” – a photo of a gray-bearded man in turban holding a spear, almost prayerfully, standing at water’s edge.
•  A portrait of a horse in the wind – woven of an airy wire mesh.

These are but a few of the pieces submitted for this year’s Montana Pride art exhibit at The Myrna Loy, which accompanies Pride activities later this month.

Now in its second year, the exhibit reached out to a wider group of artists this year.

It features the work of 18 artists and five poets whose work exemplifies a journey toward openness, growth and, ultimately, love, says lead curator Janelle DeBray. The works are diverse, ranging from jewelry to hangings, from stained glass to gouache.

“This year the curators invited allies to exhibit alongside LGBTQ+ artists. With almost 30 submissions, the curators selected pieces with a strong sense of connection with the queer journey, or intentional support of others in their journey,” DeBray said. 

One photo series by Morgan Alexander Belveal, “Five Strangers,” “really captured me,” says DeBray.

“This show is about accepting people you don’t know and about opening up to ideas about love you’ve never encountered before,” DeBray said. 

Each photo in his series is of a stranger. “He’s captured them so beautifully that it’s so easy to fall in love with them,” DeBray said. 

An opening reception is 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, at The Myrna Loy, 15 N. Ewing. It will be followed by a Live Poetry Showcase with an ASL interpreter.

For more info, visit https://themyrnaloy.com/ or call 406-443-0287.

A closing reception and artist talk for the Walter Piehl exhibit will be held from 5-7 p.m. with the artist’s talk at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, at the Holter Museum of Art, 12 E. Lawrence. 

As the saying goes, this isn’t Walter Piehl’s first rodeo. For over 50 years, Walter has been an artist, mentor and teacher. He is an aficionado of history and art with a lifelong passion for Western Americana that stems from his upbringing in a ranching family that rode horses, raised stock and participated in rodeos. His paintings demonstrate a unique blend of Western and contemporary artistic styles.

His work pays homage to the mythic relationship between humans and horses, and the connection shared in rodeo and horse culture.

The event is free and open to the public.

760 Great Northern, 406-442-4225, cinemark.com

• Thor: Love and Thunder, PG-13
• Minions: The Rise of Gru, PG
• Top Gun: Maverick, PG-13
• Elvis, PG-13
• Jurassic World Dominion, PG-13
• The Black Phone, R
• Lightyear, PG
• Sing 2, PG

15 N. Ewing,406-443-0287, myrnaloycenter.com

• Official Competition, R
• Phantom of the Open, PG-13