FRIDAY, JULY 11 2014 >>>

1. Dudley Taft may well be the best white, Cincinnati-based blues artist you've never heard of, despite the fact that he toured with Seattle's own Alice in Chains and Candlebox. But wait, you say, Alice in Chains and Candlebox aren't blues bands. You're right! Now wipe that smug look off your face. Nobody likes a know-it-all. Dudley Taft has mastered both hard rock and electric blues, and his new CD, Screaming in the Wind, delivers a paint-peeling firestorm of both. The album and its debut single, a Skip James cover called "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" and accompanied by an awesome Star Trek-themed video, came out in May, but it's new to you so let's just call his 8 p.m. appearance at Jazzbones a CD release party. Trust us, this guy can rock you like your back ain't got no bones.

2. One of the original Artists in Residence at Hilltop Artists, as well as an art education advocate, Therman Statom will be featured on the Museum of Glass's Hot Shop Live from noon to 1 p.m. This Hot Shop Live webisode will not only highlight Statom's artwork and community service, but also his relationship with Hilltop Artists. Executive Director Kit Evans and Mayor Marilyn Strickland will join Statom for a discussion during the webisode. The show is open to the public and is free with Museum admission. For those who cannot attend, Hot Shop Live can be streamed here.

3. Last week marked the 50th anniversary of the classic Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night. The Grand Cinema proudly showed three select screenings of a newly restored print of the film to celebrate the occasion. Due to the film' s overwhelming popularity, tickets sold out almost immediately and a lot of Beatles fans and Grand patrons alike didn't get a chance to see it. That's why The Grand is screening three more showings this week, including today at 1 p.m. Read Jared Lovrak's thoughts on the film here.

4. Remember last autumn when Dukesbay Productions opened Driving Miss Daisy, and it was such a crazy pre-holiday weekend that I didn't have time to see it? Well, Dukesbay is now reprising that show with the very talented Syra Beth Puett in its title role. Malcolm West returns as chauffeur Hoke Colburn, and Miss Daisy's son Boolie will be played by ... wait for it ... Robert Puett. Catch it at 7:30 p.m. in the old Corina Bakery spot at 508 Sixth Ave. in Tacoma.

5. Like a crow that is dark, intelligent and resourceful - schooling its children in the ways of life, so do Wolves in the Throne Room school their listeners in the ways of earthy black metal. Sometimes ambient, sometimes thunderous, always with radical environmentalism in mind, Wolves will remind you of the very roots and rock and flesh to which we all belong. An alpha and omega, if you will, of everything black metal, Scandinavian, doom and crust. They throw an amazing, angry and skilled respect to all things elemental through their use of voice, thrash and drums. The band plays at 9 p.m. at the Capitol Theater with Nommo Ogo and DA Terence. This is the band's first stop on a mini-tour down the west coast celebrating the release of its new album, Celestite, on Artemisia Records.

LINK: Friday, July 11 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area