THURSDAY, OCT. 20, 2011 >>>

1. Art Chantry practically invented the poster art and album cover art associated with grunge. He's done album covers for Nirvana and Hole, and posters for Hempfest. His art has been shown in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, the Smithsonian and the Louvre. Right now, under the title Parkland is Burning, you can see a large selection of Chantry's work at Fulcrum Gallery. Even better? Tonight, hear the artist himself delve into his four-decade career. It promises to be awesome.

2. Was it always destined that bluegrass and punk would make such a happy marriage? In hindsight, it seems like a natural fit, but the first person to bring a banjo or washboard into a punk band had to have had such brilliant intuition. The Load Levelers continue in this tradition, slamming together the most recognizable tropes from punk and Southern music into a freakish amalgam that also finds the time to inject some speed metal into the affair. These parts have been privy to the Load Levelers for many years, in various incarnations. The band earned a reputation early on for wild and unpredictable shows. Though it's many years on, but you can probably expect to see some pretty crazy shit tonight when they burn through Hell's Kitchen.

3. Volcano music scribe Nic Leonard is perhaps better known as Nicatine of Olympia-based rap outfit Free Whiskey. Or, we mean, he's the dude with the mustache. Now are you picturing him? Good. Anyway, Free Whiskey has been gaining steam for a while now [thanks, in no small part, to Nic's mustache and the track "Man's Best Friend (Mustache Song)"], and tonight the group will release a much anticipated EP, What Am I Going To Tell My Mom?, with a show at the Royal Lounge. Sure, it's a conflict of interests of sorts to promote the show of someone who writes for us, but it's also going to be dope - so we did what we had to do. Free Whiskey for all. 

4. Check out the "Open Jam" at Stonegate Pizza tonight with Billy Roy Danger & the Rectifiers.

5. Head to The Ram Restaurant and Brewery on Tacoma's waterfront to get in on the "Geeks Who Drink" pub quiz. The trivial good times kick off at 8:30 p.m. and there's absolutely no cover ... though you'll probably want to bring enough coin for a drink or two (it's in the name, after all).

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight