This Friday through Sunday is the grand opening of Book By Book, a great little second hand bookstore in the Hope Artiste Village, and I’m not just saying this because I work there. (There’s your full disclosure) Owner Rick Ring is the rare book librarian for the Providence Public Library, so it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about this stuff. Quoth he:

“We kept the good parts (you can find books of widely ranging quality and subject at low prices), and changed the annoying bits (no teetering and overburdened shelves, or piles of books on the floor).  Our shop is a “clean, well-lighted place,” as Hemingway would say.”

There will be some live jazz, coffee, cookies, and tons of amazing pulp sci-fi and absolutely gigantic art books.

  Pawtucket gets some credit for steping up its game, landing the number 9 slot in this month’s Art Calendar magazine:

Hall said she was aware of Pawtucket’s reputation as an “artist-friendly” place, as well as being one of nine cities in Rhode Island that offer tax incentives to working artists. “There are only a few areas of the country that are doing things like that,” she said. Hall called Pawtucket “a model city” for other municipalities that want to reinvent themselves as “art towns.”

“They have a great program and it is very established,” she said. “I would say it is one of the most solid places for an artist to live.”

Arts guru Herb Weiss* is stoked: “This article in Art Calendar is a reflection of the buzz and sizzle that is occurring nationwide about Pawtucket being a great city for working artists. It’s a concrete example that what we’re doing here is working.”

*Arts guru Herb Weiss is also on the ballot on Tuesday, as an uncommitted delegate to the Dem convention.

 But not all in the same place, which would be incredible. And as a general disclaimer, I am in The Cold War, but I write about a lot of bands so whatever.

•  AS220   The Cold War, the  ‘Mericans,  Sunny Winter (NYC), Anthony Loffredio (from  Barn Burning). 9pm, $6?
• Penalty Box   Six Star General, Chris Evil and the Taints, Suicide Bill, The Propellers.  9pm, Free
• tazza  Go-Go Power: Francophile Edition.  Ye-ye, punk rock, new wave, soul a la francaise 10pm, $5
• Firehouse 13   Providence Is Burning with  Micah Jackson and Certified Max ( Certified Bananas) 10pm, $5, free w/ rsvp, send ‘em an email

Tonight the good folks at Machines With Magnets are puttin’ on a show! Headlining it are out-of-towners Jucifer (pictured), a frantic, unhinged stoner power metal boy/girl duo who’s going to sound right at home along with Lolita Black, Suffering Bastard and Cutpurse. Check out Cutpurse’s “Ransom Remix” and get there early for them.

Machines With Magnets: Jucifer, Suffering Bastard, Lolita Black, Cutpurse. 9pm, $7, all ages

I used to read the New York Times Technology section and the obits from small-town Missouri and Northeastern Kansas newspapers over a closed caption network for visually impaired people as a teen. It was actually a great way to spend a couple hours a week and taught me a lot about cadence and how to animate my voice; it was also a much-needed exercise in staying awake in dim, well-airconditioned environs. On the 23rd and 24th of this month I may have to try my hand and audition to be an audioBOOK reader for a N.Kingston-based American publisher of English-language audiobooks. Thanks Machines With Magnets!

BBC Audiobooks America, a leading Publisher of American and British bestselling unabridged Audiobooks, located in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, will be holding auditions for local union and non-union actors interested in being audio book narrators.

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Tonight, the Fashion Failures release Don’t Make me Kiss You Motherfucker with a live show at the Blackstone. Though there aren’t any tracks from this one on their myspace page, the tracks they do have up are pretty ace. Fiery, propulsive guitar rock, like Radio Birdman’s 70’s output or some of Ron Asheton’s solo stuff with a heavy dose of Doll’s-style drunken blues and big sing-a-long choruses. 75 Or Less, who are the craft beer of indie record labels, is releasing ...Motherfucker in all its hand screenprinted glory. Label Boss Mark Macdougall’s own crew, Six Star General also play the bill along with The Propellors, whose own self-titled disk is out now on 75 Or Less, and they’ll rock the “middle child” slot.
The Blackstone, 9pm, 21+ $5

If listening to clued-up geeks drop your favoritest tunes is your bag, then there’s a few choice things to check tonight:

• :ListeningParty: DJ, musician, label boss Tim O’Keefe’s long-running night (remember the Red Room?) of eclectic musical adventure lands at Local 121 on Wednesdays. His guest tonight: MakeUpBreakUp’s Mikeylams.  10pm, free
• Rock-N-Roll Suicide The Cold War DJ’s long-tolerated night of noisy glam and new wave gets pretty much ignored every week at The Blackstone. I wonder why? Oh yeah, it’s more than two minutes from downtown…sigh. 10pm, your dignity

Full Moon Emporium presents Santa Claus at The Grant Building, 250 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI, Saturdays from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm in December. Join us as he takes requests from the kids. Bring them for a special holiday celebration on December 15th with presents, live music, the models of Hydrogen2Foxygen, and storytelling. Grab a hot cocoa at Kafe Lila and get your holiday shopping done at the many shops at The Grant Building.

The Grant at a glance: 7 offices, 3 retail stores, an art gallery, a cafe, a recording studio and a large silkscreen studio, all in an historic circa 1906 department store. A place for designers and creative people to work together, share ideas and resources, and for the general public to do a little shopping, grab a coffee, and check their email on our WiFi. (more…)