Symphony joins alternative musician

Brandi Carlile? The Seattle alternative singer-songwriter? Backed by an orchestra?

That’s exactly what will happen in the second half of Carlile’s concert on Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox.

She’ll perform on her own during the first half of the show. Then the Spokane Symphony, under Morihiko Nakahara, will provide the lush and brassy accompaniment following the intermission.

This is not unprecedented: Carlile recently did a sold-out gig with the Seattle Symphony.

Singer-songwriter Katie Herzig opens the show – and she’s creating a lot of national buzz in her own right.

Tickets are still available through TicketsWest outlets (509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).

Jobs at The Gorge

Now here’s something you don’t often see in Spotlight: job opportunities, and lots of them.

Live Nation, which runs The Gorge Amphitheatre, is participating in Big Bend Community College’s Job Fair, Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., in Moses Lake, to recruit people for about 1,000 jobs this summer at The Gorge.

They’re looking for ticket sellers, parking attendants, security people, merchandise sellers – just about every job you can think of.

(Except performer jobs. Those are already filled by Coldplay, Nickelback, The Allman Brothers, Phish and the Dave Matthews Band, among others.)

You simply need to show up at The Gorge’s booth at the fair in the college’s ATEC Building, 7662 Chanute St. N.E., Moses Lake, and apply.

Vans Warped Tour

Speaking of The Gorge, the Vans Warped Tour has been booked into the amphitheater on Aug. 15.

Dozens of acts will perform on various stages in this big traveling punk rock show; go to www.warpedtour.com for details and ticket info.

A Smithsonian smasheroo

The Smithsonian Institution had a distinct Inland Northwest flavor on April 11, when Spokane vocalist Julia Keefe performed “Thoroughly Modern: Mildred Bailey Songs” at the institute’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Keefe performed two shows to standing-room-only crowds. Her father, Tom Keefe, reports that the next stop may be New York – the Louis Armstrong Foundation is interested in booking the show there.

Bailey was also a Spokane (and Tekoa) product before she went to Hollywood and became one of the biggest jazz singers of the 1920s and 1930s.

Keefe is a member of the Nez Perce tribe and Bailey was a member of the Coeur d’Alene tribe.

Jim Boyd and Chief Garry

Jim Boyd, one of the region’s finest singer-songwriters, will headline a worthy fundraiser on Saturday, 7 p.m. at the Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave.

It’s the “Chief Spokane Garry Statue Benefit Concert,” to raise funds for a new statue of the longtime Spokane tribal leader in Chief Garry Park to replace the one that bit the dust last year.

The concert is sponsored by the Spokane Tribe of Indians. Tickets are $15, available at SpokoFuel in Airway Heights; Liberty Park Floral and Greenhouse, 1401 E. Newark Ave.; Spokane Chrysler, 6818 E. Sprague Ave.;, the Pacific Northwest Inlander, 1020 W. Riverside Ave.; and at the door.

I can’t think of anyone in Spokane’s history who deserves a permanent statue as much as Chief Garry.

Gymnasts and orchestras

What are the odds that even one concert in Spokane would feature gymnasts and orchestras on the same stage – much less two such events on the same weekend?

But that’s what we’ll have next weekend:

•“Stop the Presses,” the Spokane Youth Symphony with guest artist Janice Martin, next Sunday, 4 p.m., Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox – Martin possesses an extraordinary bundle of talents. She’s a violinist, pianist, singer, dancer and acrobat, and she’ll demonstrate every single one of those in this concert. She does choreographed dance and gymnastic moves while she plays. Tickets are available through TicketsWest.

•“Cirque de la Symphonie,” with the Spokane Symphony, Saturday at 8 p.m. and next Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the INB Performing Arts Center – The symphony, under Resident Conductor Morihiko Nakahara, will play favorites including “Danse Macabre” by Saint-Saens and “Toreadores” from Bizet’s “Carmen,” while European acrobats, contortionists and jugglers show off their talents.

The Saturday concert was selling so well, a second show was added. Call (509) 624-1200 or TicketsWest outlets.

Brian Regan returns

Comedian Brian Regan has been booked into the INB Performing Arts Center June 27, 8 p.m.

Regan specializes in observational humor. He packed ’em in at a previous INB show just a little over a year ago.

Tickets are $39.75, through TicketsWest.

A Spring Thing

KXLY-FM (The River, 99.9) is sponsoring “Spring Thing,” two shows with a lineup of mostly national acts next weekend at the Knitting Factory Concert House to benefit the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.

Here’s the lineup:

•Saturday, 7 p.m.: Paolo Nutini, Ron Green, Detour Project and Serena Ryder.

•Next Sunday, 7 p.m.: Chris Barron (of the Spin Doctors), Aaron Barnhart, Matt Hires, Lex Land and Jason Reeves.

You can purchase a two-day pass for $25 or a ticket to either show – $15 in advance, $18 at the door – at TicketsWest outlets.

Spokane Jewish Film Festival

The 2009 Spokane Jewish Film Festival runs from Saturday through April 27 at Gonzaga University Law School, 721 N. Cincinnati St.

Here’s the lineup:

•“The Year My Parents Went on Vacation,” Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

•“Sephardic Jews and the Pike Place Market,” next Sunday, 3 p.m., followed by a discussion with Steven Sadis, filmmaker.

•“Making Trouble,” next Sunday, 4:15 p.m.

•“Encounter Point,” April 27, 7 p.m., followed by a discussion with GU law professor Larry Weiser.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, available at the door.