The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 50

WEEKEND PREVIEW The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution SHORT TAKES fc41riday, March 7, 1997 Ji-uu i A calculated Cajun two-step Creole Zydeco Farmers 8:15 tonight. Coz Fontenot 8:15 p.m. Saturday. $12 tonight. $9 Saturday.

Knights of Columbus Post 660, 2620 Buford Highway N.E. 770-451-6611. This weekend's whodp-it-up concerts sponsored by the Atlanta Cajun Dance Association will take on a new format with Zydeco Farmers, one of the few traditional zydeco bands around, and Atlanta's Coz Fontenot and the Metro Playboys each performing one night only. Robert Kwasha, the association's president, says the switch from having one band play two nights was necessary because "people were holding back the first night and then we'd be packed the second night and we were taking a beating in terms of admissions paid vs. band expenses." RussDeVault Sparrow Steven Curtis Chapman detoured from the familiar on "Cione ftf I ifo fcliapman lets snair aown new album Oom-pah-pah in a jazz club? Chris Smither 9 p.m.

Sunday. $8. Blind Willie's. 828 North Highland Ave. N.L 404-873-2583.

So what's Chris Smither, a guitarist-vocalist whose gritty blues have earned comparisons to John Lee Hooker, doing with a tuba helping out on "Hook, Line Sinker," the last song on his new Hightone album, "Small Revelations'? "Everybody gives the tuba a shot once in a while instead of a bass," explains Smith. The album is also a slight deviation for blues players who tour solo in that Smither used the same musi- -cians who backed him on his '95 release "Up reason and the result: "I was so delighted with the last record. This one has a different feel. It's hard to put my finger on it, but there seems to be more focus." RussDeVault UTohear Chris Smither, call 511, enter 8600, then access code 421, I i v. v.

i I I I W1 Reeling with the real thing By Kusspe vault TAff "WRITER Boys of the Lough i 8 p.m. Sunday. $15. Variety Play house. 1099 Euclid Ave.

404-52 1-1 786. teven Curtis Chapman isn't quite ready for MTVs "Alternative Mountain Entertainment A Memory from Smith's Olde Bar Memory Dean, with People Who Must, Farmer 10 tonight $6.96. Smith's Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. N.E 404-875-1522. Now that five years of touring have paid off with a recording deal, the Atlanta band Memory Dean gets to stay at home and perform tonight while WKLS-FM (96.1) and America Online take their alterna-pop music from Smith's Old Bar to the local airwaves and a potential audience of 8 million AOL subscribers.

"It's definitely a first for the club and maybe a first for Atlanta," says Mike Reeves, co-owner of Smith's. "It should be an interesting night." Memory Dean, a 5-year-old group fronted by guitarists-vocalists Jay Memory and Bubba Dean, will be focusing on tunes from "Shake It Up," its Capricorn Records album due to be released in May. The two musicians, who started playing together at the University of Georgia, have a quick answer when asked how they earned the deal, signed last November, "Touring, touring and more touring," Dean says. "It seems like we've been on the road for five years." RussDeVault AOL keyword: Atlanta. To hear Memory Dean, call 511, enter 8600, then access code 422.

ation," but the contemporary Ihristian sineer-sonewriter took 1 pis Advisers seriously when they fold to make his current ieleaSe, "Signs of Life," the "al-Jtwm you've always wanted to So Chapman, at times, -hammers his guitar as fiercely vjsrfcrhjes-rocker Chris Whitldy or hero Keith Richards and with the fervor and voice of a young Stills. Traditionalists who aren't bound by tradition, Boys of the Lough play timeless Celtic music jigs, reels, ballads with a passion that you can feel. For more than 25 years, this tight ensemble of top Celtic players (fiddler Aly Bain, flutist and whistle man Cathal McConnell and instrumentalists Dave Richardson and Christy O'Leary) have performed varied live shows that draw from their rich storehouse of material without ever feeling predictable. Guitarist Chris Newman joins the band on this tour, replacing John Coakley. i v.

Eileen Drennen Hightone Records Chris Smither brings the tuba to bear on his latest album. i' Curtis Chapman, with 'dio Adrena- L'rifl, Carolyn "When I set out recording 'Signs of I promised myself that any time I found myself seeing and hearing familiar landmarks m. Satur- 6m 24.50, 9m i Ulf50. $14.50. 4 Omni, 100 fhrtwood Drive 404-249- vv? in if! faeces, that I would back up and detour," Chapman says.

"I gjieejed to feel that this wasn't Cite Jame old thing. rlOfre strategy worked. Chap- ipiaomes to the Omni on Sat-Vyr with "Signs of Life" at No. fJifiillboard's contemporary Christian chart and No. 137 on KIJop 200 list with sales of than 500,000 copies.

Iftite those accomplishments (three Grammys, 28 tpcifa awards and 22 No. 1 sin- liesA Chapman, 34, is a self-j soul who'd rather jJaus at himself than extol his letups and he missed no 1 a 1 -f i.a;jce snow mai uunng a interview from his jjioifi in Franklin, Tenn. mi ftinrjt virnr rnrpjr tnVp T0Qd to perform, 1 jrr '-ltd nnA nrnmnte vnur msiAi. xL liyovr wife, Mary Beth, know i be romantic when feet home? I'd been away for awhile and we went for a night out K0 took her to see the film of J-rfx'st Hemingway's "A Fare-V Jo Arms." That was a real -er. Then, for our anniversa- mi in" ihhiiki' ii'mmffmmoi'uiliHi'ii'iinHm 111.1 hiwh tnm.ui ijumtiMilliwnM 1 (mf nr iot 5 mum mEMmmmm I I I fcCltook her to see "Fatal tV ictioa" How's that for V- If you had to spend the your life invne place, ire would it be? fj This may sound like a 4 ies pitch for my hometown, but i rould be Franklin, Tenn.

My '3 and I were out this morning Jittle bakery having break-; wid saying what an awesome a it is. We discovered the into. It's got a peaceful- it' trrffit for rsisina I Us. 'l'. is'fthe Chapmans have three.

I 3 ign up for that confinement iA 'ram any day of the week. KvQ: If you were a tree, what would you be? '7k Definitely an evergreen always showing signs of life. Qt How do you see Satan? AJ I don't envision horns and the fright that you get with most horror movies and all the rest of that To me, the devil is extremely friendly, a pleasant-S looking individual who seems harfnless until you're hooked into tils scheme. The Scriptures talk about a roaring lion, but there's something about a lion fUhat could seem soft and cuddly AC'lir'jj it turned on you, in To hear Steven Curtis Chap-i call 511, enter 8600, then code 420,.