By Diana Nollen/ SourceMedia Group

Hancher presents: American Beauty Project

Friday, Dec. 9, 2011

The music of the Grateful Dead lives again in concert, via the American Beauty Project. This Hancher show will take listeners on a long, strange, captivating trip through seminal rock ’n’ roll. Not a tribute band, the Project re-imagines tracks from the classic Grateful Dead albums “American Beauty” and “Workingman’s Dead.” This musical journey features an all-star lineup with contemporary folk group Ollabelle, jazz torch singer Catherine Russell and guests. They’ll take audiences way back to 1970, when the Dead recorded these landmark albums, veering from the band’s original jam sound to explore folk and bluegrass traditions. Fans remain forever grateful.

American Beauty Project: 7:30 p.m. Friday (12/9/11), Riverside Casino Event Center, 3184 Highway 22, Riverside; $16 to $37, Hancher Box Office, (319) 335-1160, 1-(800) HANCHER or www.hancher.uiowa.edu/tickets.html

Lynne Rothrock’s Christmas Cabaret

Lynne Rothrock (Alisabeth photo)

Dec. 9 to 11 and 15 to 18, 2011

The Divine Miss R is back with her annual Christmas Cabaret. We caught her dazzling act last year and were blinded by her light. Every nook and cranny of the ARA Gallery was filled with revelry and revelers, as she and her band and guests mixed up a bright and brassy show bubbling with Christmas cheer. This year, she’s whipping up new songs, new guests and new treats in two locations: Amana and Cedar Rapids. Grab some tickets — and a cookie — while you can.

Lynne Rothrock’s Christmas Cabaret

Amana: 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Friday (12/9), 7:30 p.m. Saturday (12/10), 1:30 p.m. Sunday (12/11), Iowa Theatre Artists Company, 4709 220th Trl., $10 and $20, (319) 622-3222

Cedar Rapids: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15 to 18, ARA Gallery, 4850 Armar Dr. SE, $25, (319) 366-2520; http://lynnerothrock.com

Tuba time

Merry TubaChristmas returns to Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011. (Gazette photo)

Dec. 9 and 10, 2011

The big bells will be ringing in the season with free concerts indoors and out this weekend. You can even toot your own horn at one. University of Iowa musicians will take to the Old Capitol steps at 12:30 p.m. Friday for their annual Holiday Tubas concert. Santa typically waves his baton to keep them all in line. The action moves indoors Saturday, where area low brass players are invited to wrap themselves and their instruments in festive finery for the annual Merry TubaChristmas. They’ll rehearse in the morning and play for the gathering crowds at 2 p.m. It’s all very ho, ho, low.

Holiday Tubas: 12:30 p.m. Friday (12/9), Old Capitol steps, downtown Iowa City

Merry TubaChristmas: 2 p.m. Saturday (12/10), Westdale Mall, Cedar Rapids; area low brass musicians invited to play; www.crtubachristmas.com