Spotlight: ‘Idol’ winner McCreery to play in Spokane Valley

Scotty McCreery will be playing a free show in the Spokane Valley on Monday.

Radio station 99.9 FM Coyote Country is bringing him to the Roadhouse in what organizers are calling an up close, acoustic show.

McCreery won “American Idol” in 2011. Since then he’s had hits with such songs as “I Love You This Big” and “The Trouble With Girls.”

Admission to the 21 and older show is on a first-come basis. Doors will open at 4 p.m.

Two local country acts will open: Coeur d’Alene’s Ashley Honnell and Sandpoint’s Devon Wade. McCreery is scheduled to take the stage at 7:30 p.m.

The Roadhouse is at 20 N. Raymond Road in the Valley. For more information, call (509) 413-1894 or visit www.spokaneroadhouse.com.

British strings

The Spokane String Quartet will present the American premiere of a new work by British composer John Pickard.

Pickard will be on hand for the concert today in which the quartet will perform his String Quartet No. 5, according to a news release. The Spokane ensemble also performed the American premiere of Pickard’s Quartet No. 4, in 2007.

Pickard is a professor at the University of Bristol in England, where he teaches composition and applied musicology. He has written four symphonies and other large works.

Tickets to the 3 p.m. concert are $20 for adults, $16 for seniors and $12 for students. The festivities will be at the Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. Seats are general admission and tickets will be available at the door.

The Spokane String Quartet is Mateusz Wolski and Amanda Howard-Phillips, violins; Jeannette Wee-Yang, viola; and Helen Byrne, cello.

For more information, visit www.spokanestringquartet.org.