Tipitina’s will host Jim Beam’s One Shot to Stardom semi-finals on Saturday, April 18 beginning at 10 p.m. Jim Beam held auditions for unsigned, young adult musical groups in Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and New Orleans during March. Local sponsors were B-97 and Blockbuster. The top five bands will be chosen by Jim Beam officials during the first week of April and those five will compete on April 18. Each of the five selected bands will perform a 15-minute set for the audience as well as a selected panel of judges.

The bands are vying for a spot in the national finals which will be held at the House of Blues sometime in June. Subsequently, the winning band of the national finals will be provided with a Jim Beam Tour Bus to travel to ten markets to perform as the opening act for various modern rock bands. In addition, the winning band will record a professional demo CD at Jim Beam’s expense.

Adam Katz, a Los Angeles-based music supervisor, is seeking submissions of all styles of Louisiana music for possible license in an upcoming Adam Sandler film set in Louisiana. Please send finished product, preferably on CD, along with contact information to: Adam Katz, Midnight Music Management, 816 S. Robertson, Los Angeles, CA 90035.

Tuff City Records continues its annual tradition of releasing a range of quality New Orleans music just in time for Jazz Fest. Tuff Records President, Aaron Fuchs, announced the release of Mary Jane Hooper’s Psychedelphia (where you’ll find Eddie Bo, Walter Washington and the legendary James Black backing Hooper). There’s also compilations including New Orleans Soul-A-Go Go and Funky Funky New Orleans. On the Night Train International label, look for The Best of Spinnett Records, the best of Bobby Jay on the CD, King of Gulf Coast Rock-n-Soul, and a jazz CD titled, Jazz-A-Plenty.

Ronald McDonald House Charities will hold its 4th annual Mini-Grand Prix Festival on Saturday and Sunday, April 4-5, in the rear parking lot of Sears at the Clearview Shopping Center. The festival is free and open to the public.

The All Folks Fest ’98 will be held on April 4 at Fly Park (at the end of Riverview Drive behind Audubon Zoo). The fest is a rock/folk music and arts festival benefiting the Southern Animal Foundation. Among those performing throughout the day will be: Egg Yolk Jubilee, Acoustic Attitude, Todd Washko, Gina Forsythe, Robyn E., First Revolution and many others. The fest starts at 10:30 a.m. and runs until 7 p.m. Admission is $5, with pets admitted free. For more information, call the foundation at (504) 861-7729.

Lillian Boutté, New Orleans’ “musical ambassador,” has been selected to perform at the University of Warwick’s New Orleans in Europe conference scheduled for July 4-5, 1998 in England. The conference is co-sponsored by the Midlo International Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans. Call UNO for more details.

Boutté will also be the featured performer when the New Orleans Jazz Club celebrates its 50th anniversary on April 29 beginning at 3 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Superdome (330 Loyola). Boutté and her musical friends, including Dr. Jaz McKenzie from New Zealand along with a host of local musicians, will play from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a jam session kicking off at 7 p.m. The Jazz Club will also unveil their 50th anniversary commemorative poster by Louisiana artist George Rodrigue. There will be a cash bar and buffet. A $5 donation is requested. For more information, contact Frances Fernandez at (504) 455-6847.

Regular OffBeat contributors Doug MacCash and Alex Rawls are two of the poets featured in the anthology, From a Bend in the River: 100 New Orleans Poets (Rungate Press 1998). The book will be released on Sunday, April 19 at the Contemporary Arts Center. Beginning at 12 noon, the poets included in the anthology will read their work in the Freeport McMoRan Theatre and sign books during a reception that is free and open to the public.

Say What?…Carey Crane, a clinical audiologist at the New Orleans Speech and Hearing Center, wrote us a note recently explaining the hazards of loud live music on your hearing. Crane says that there is a way to protect your hearing, whether you’re a musician or someone simply involved in live music, and that is to use musician’s earplugs. These earplugs are custom fitting plugs (that means that they are made to fit your ears and only your ears) that attenuate all frequencies equally so the quality of the sound is not sacrificed but the intensity of the sound is not damaging. They are not disposable so one pair is all you need. Additionally, they come with 15 to 25 decibel attenuating filters that are interchangeable on the ear piece should you want both.

During a recent fitting for musician’s earplugs, Derek Huston, saxophonist for the Iguanas (see this month’s cover story), stated, “I’m in my early thirties and plan to be playing music for another thirty. After that, I want to enjoy listening to music for the last thirty.” For more information on this subject, call Crane at (504) 897-2606.

If you’re looking for Latin rhythms, then look no further than the Red Room (2040 St. Charles Ave.) where the Fredy Omar Con su Banda play every Wednesday night from 8-12 p.m. Fredy Omar will also be a Cafe Brasil (4/11), the French Quarter Festival (Miller Lite Lawn Stage) and the Big Easy Entertainment Awards.

The Rebel State Commemorative Area (SCA) will host the 27th Annual Louisiana State Fiddlers championship on Saturday, April 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Over $1,600 plus trophies and ribbons will be awarded. There is a $5 fee. For more information, call the Rebel SCA at 1-888-677-3600.

Nationally known Louisiana dancer Michael Seider will hold a dance workshop in Lafayette over the Memorial weekend to coincide with the Zydeco Extravaganza. According to Seider, the workshop will provide “total immersion in the Zydeco music and dance scene.” The workshop will be held at Hamilton’s Place, a Lafayette dancehall, May 23-24 and will cost $120 per person. It will include two days of dance instruction in authentic regional styling for beginning to experienced dancers. A Saturday luncheon will be provided by Randol’s and will be accompanied by a presentation on Creole culture. There will also be side trips to local dancehalls and participants will learn from experienced dance partners from around Cajun Country. For more information about the Louisiana Dance Weekend call (504) 482-8518.

After nearly 20 years in the French Quarter Record Ron’s is relocating to cyberspace. Following an intense month of sales (70% off April 5-11; 80% off April 12-25; and 90% off April 26-May 4), Record Ron’s will relocate to recordron.home.mindspring.com where they will continue to sell their lunch boxes, posters, sheet music and music memorabilia.

Los Hombres Calientes has signed an exclusive recording agreement with Basin Street Records, according to Mark Samuels and Tom Thompson, co-founders of Basin Street.

Louisiana Jukebox (Cox Metro 10) will feature Gov’t Mule and the James Rivers Movement (April 2) and The Crownseekers along with Archangel (April 9).

And finally this month, the highly acclaimed Off-Broadway show on the life of Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton comes to New Orleans just prior to its April 25 showing at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Hometown hero Vernel Bagneris along with his longtime music partner, Morten Gunnar Larsen, crafted Jelly Roll, which conjures the jazz genius through recreations of his words and music. Performances will be at Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré from April 12-16; and 22-24 at 8 p.m. There will also be a matinee on Sunday, April 19 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25. For more information, call the box office at (504) 522-9958.