OK, my bloody Valentines, shit’s still dicey out there so be both cool and careful with each other.
Terri Binion’s ‘South, Sideways and South Again: Stories, Songs and a Sense of Place’: This Orlando Americana icon has been telling stories through song for many years. But recently, Binion’s been exploring it in a literary sense through short stories that she began writing at the outset of the pandemic. She debuted them last year in readings paired with songs at the Blue Bamboo, and proved that her expressive gift translates well as a writer and raconteur with evocative stories that are palpably personal and poetically human — the same qualities that make her music radiant. The response was enthusiastic. Now Binion returns, accompanied by Beth McKee, with a fresh set of stories and cover songs themed around the places she’s lived and the terroir they’ve imparted on her. Even for longtime Binion fans, this experience will be a revelation. (8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts, $20)
Annie Hart, Tierney Tough, Sandman Sleeps, Pressurewave: NYC’s Annie Hart first rose in the indie world as a founding member of Au Revoir Simone. In recent years, she’s established a solo career with work that pushes electronic pop out to abstract and ambient realms. Having freshly debuted her first solo material outside of the Pauses, Orlando’s Tierney Tough is currently in the beginnings of her own high-profile emergence. Rounding out the bill will be South Florida indie-rock band Sandman Sleeps and local Pressurewave. (8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, Will’s Pub, $12-$15)
War & War Valentine’s Dance with URL and Rudo: Local progressive lifestyle brand War & War hosts a lonelyhearts club dance for the modern-minded featuring live performances by fresh young Orlando voices. Having just released a debut EP in December, Matt Bullard’s URL brings the slinky soul of his R&B-infused bedroom pop. And Rudo of Orlando R&B rap act Poison Suede returns to the stage for the first time since COVID. Don’t half-step, do V-Day with style and color at this one.
(7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14, The Social, free)
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2022.
