Modern Formations Hosts A Confluence of Poets ; A Vortex of Funk at Stage AE (CPs Sat., 2/8/14)

1) While the online literary magazine The New Yinzer regularly gets local poets together in the flesh for readings, it’s less often that we Pittsburghers get to sample wordsmiths from other cities in our own backyard. Tonight is one of those rare occasions; several poets from other places are meeting to read at Modern Formations Gallery. They have a more elegant way of putting it (because they are poets) and are calling the event A Confluence of Poets. The event gathers Buffalo’s Sara Ries, San Francisco’s Maggie Glover, Erie’s Chuck Joy, Cleveland’s Dianne Borsenik and John Burroughs, New York City’s Ally Malinenko and John Grochalski,and Pittsburgh’s own Heather McNaugher, Kristofer Collins and Don Wentworth. 8 p.m. 4919 Penn Ave., Garfield.

2) The easygoing music of G. Love and Special Sauce seems to exist outside any genre or any period more specific than the post-hip-hop era. The brand of party music concocted by the Philadelphia-born G. Love (real name Garrett Dutton) is one part old-school hip-hop, an equal measure of new blues, and a little bit of folk-rock and funk. Both as a solo artist and with the Sauce, G. Love has decided to leave the serious subjects to other songwriters and pen smooth, irresistible ditties about booty calls and snack foods. Hear a full evening of them when he and his band come to Stage AE tonight. Kristy Lee opens. 8 p.m. 400 North Shore Dr., North Shore.

3) One of the more interesting artists to emerge from Brooklyn in the past few years, Julianna Barwick, who comes to the Warhol today, has a solemn, minimalistic sound that teeters between new age and ambient. Her tracks begin with a loop or two of her voice and grow from there—but not by much, as guitars, violins and even lyrics tend to be muted on her hushed work. This has gotten Barwick rave reviews from the hard-to-impress music website Pitchfork and an invite to record in Iceland with Alex Somers, frequent collaborator of the similarly oddball Sigur Ross—an effort that resulted in the 2013 album Nepenthe. 8 p.m. 117 Sandusky St., North Shore.

4) Fresh-faced JD Eicher plays a kind of bright folk-pop reminiscent of Jack Johnson or fellow Pittsburgher Bill Deasy. With his backing band, the Goodnights, Eicher has released three albums, the titles of which cutely fit together (The Shape of Things, Shifting, Into Place). He’ll brighten up Club Café tonight after a set from the similarly groove-centered Kent, Ohio, indie band The Speedbumps. 6 p.m. 56 S. 12th St., South Side.

5)  Free admission to the Senator John Heinz History Center and Fort Pitt Museum today if you have a membership from participating organizations including Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh (Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, The Andy Warhol Museum), the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the Frick Art & Historical Center, the Mattress Factory, the National Aviary, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, the Senator John Heinz History Center, and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. If you don’t have a membership, now’s a perfect time to purchase one, support great local organizations and get a few extra free perks thrown in.

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