Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers Play The Meadows; Folk Musician Tish Hinojosa Performs at UU Songspace (Sat., 5/7/16)

1) Pittsburgh rock royalty Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers—who have remained a constant on the Pittsburgh music scene as the city has changed from steel mills to high-tech foundry—are playing a gig tonight at Headliners at The Meadows. Grushecky is a consummate singer/songwriter and has recently released It’s In My Song, an acoustic solo album of songs in his repertoire that he has created new arrangements for. His previous release was 2013’s Somewhere East of Eden, which he recorded with The Houserockers. 8 p.m. No cover. 210 Racetrack Rd., Washington.

2) Tish Hinojosa—recently back in the States after living in Hamburg, Germany for nine years—makes a Pittsburgh appearance in the intimate performance setting of the SongSpace at First Unitarian Church in Shadyside. Hinojosa is from Austin, Texas, and enjoys creating and performing in several different musical genres, sometimes fusing together influences from all of them including Mexican folk (which she sings in Spanish), country music, folk, and pop. Invited by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton she performed at the White House in the ’90s. Linda Ronstadt even recorded her own version of Hinojosa’s song “Donde Voy” (“Where I Go”). She is the youngest of 13 children in a Mexican-American family. Christopher Mark Jones opens. 7:30 p.m. 605 Morewood Ave., Shadyside.

Pittsburgh Dance Council wraps up its current season with a visit from a company that’s been at the cutting edges of modern dance since its founding in 1984, the Stephen Petronio Company of New York. Petronio often choreographs his pieces to music by contemporary rock, pop, or electronic artists. The dance in the video above is set to music by Son Lux—and no, the video does not rely on slo-mo and speeded-up digital effects; the dancers actually move and shift gears that dramatically. Petronio’s company also makes dramatic use of physical stage props. In one part of the Pittsburgh show, they’ll dance a revival of choreographer Merce Cunningham’s  “RainForest,” a 1968 piece performed amid a swirl of Andy Warhol’s famous floating “Silver Clouds.” The rest of the show consists of two Petronio originals, “Locomotor” and “Non Locomotor.” The Dance Council presents the Stephen Petronio Company in partnership with The Andy Warhol Museum, which helps assure a supply of Silver Clouds for the occasion. 8 p.m. Byham Theater, 101 6^th St., Cultural District. (MV)

4) The Huntsman: Winter’s War – I know this probably labels me a hopeless Philistine but I’m a big fan of the 2012 film Snow White and the Huntsman, a PoMo remake of the Snow White fairy tale. It’s remembered, if at all, for two things—it’s consistently bad reviews and that the star, Kristen Stewart, left her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson and took up with director Rupert Sanders. Since then the two have split up, Sanders divorced his wife and Stewart has teased her fans with the idea that she’s bisexual. I loved the feminist rethink of the first film and ignored the tabloid stuff. Stewart and Sanders are both absent from this sequel which features Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron from the original. In Winter’s Tale Theron again plays the wicked queen, but here she’s also the sister of Emily Blunt. When Emily is betrayed in love she discovers she has the power to turn anyone and anything into ice while big sis tries to save her from doom. Hemsworth and Jessica Chastain play villagers with their own problems. If it all sounds reminiscent of the Disney mega blockbuster Frozen… well, I won’t tell if you don’t. Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

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