Helena-area arts and entertainment news published Dec. 29

Lewis & Clark Tap Room has scheduled the following upcoming events:

Fresh off the release of his brand new album “High on a Honky Tonk,” Trent Brooks performs authentic country honky tonk music from 7-10 p.m. Dec. 29.

Off in the Woods, a seven-piece Montana band that plays a mix of soul, funk, reggae and open-tuned acoustic songs, takes the stage from 7-10 p.m. Dec. 30.

Celebrate New Year’s Eve with local Helena band Ten Years Gone and special guest Mike Killeen, beginning at 7 p.m. The $5 cover charge includes admittance, party favors, door prizes and a glass of bubbly at midnight.

Solid 15, a monthly singer/songwriter event that gives local talent 15 minutes apiece to show their original music, starts at 7 p.m. Jan. 3.

For info on all shows: Lewis & Clark Tap Room, 1535 Dodge Ave., https://lctaproom.com/ or call 406-442-5960. 

The Metropolitan Dinner Club Presents The Tripsters Thursday, Jan. 19 at Family Roots Restaurant. 

With a veritable buffet of musical styles and a song list that spans 120 years, The Tripsters are the perfect choice to compliment an evening out. From Al Jolson and Fats Waller to Meghan Trainor and John Legend, The Tripsters’ captivating style, arrangements and performances are certain to entertain.

Anna Wilburn, (vocal/percussion) has performed in many musical theater productions and teaches musical theater at Carroll College. Her love of 1920-40s jazz is obvious with her soulful renditions of Billie Holiday and Lena Horne favorites. Don Stone (vocals, trombone/trumpet) is a Helena legend. A long-standing member of the Helena Symphony, Stone has performed in front of 20,000 people. Stone is as adept at playing ska, jazz, and dixieland as he is with the most demanding concert pieces. Fred Cobb (vocals/keyboards) started playing honky-tonk piano as a child and moved on to classical music. Now he plays mostly whatever he wants, adding his own style to The Tripsters’ mix.

No-host cocktails are at 5:30 p.m., dinner is at 6 p.m. and entertainment is at 7 p.m. Reservations are required by Jan. 11. Dinner for each member and their guest(s) is $27. Non members are $35 each. Mail a check payable to Metropolitan Dinner Club to Patti Shearer, 3713 Adyson Dr., Helena, MT 59602. Call Shearer at 406-202-1766. 

Rehearsals begin Jan. 9 for the spring season for Helena New Horizons Concert Band. The band welcomes anyone, but especially needs clarinet players and percussionists. Practices are every Monday evening (7 to 8:30 p.m.) in the choir rehearsal room at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.

The Helena band is affiliated with New Horizons International Music Association (http://newhorizonsmusic.org/), a worldwide organization dedicated to promoting music-making among adults. The band was started in February 2011 with 15 musicians. Now there are over 50 active players. Conductors for the band are Tom Mazanec, Jerry Sept, Jim Perkins and Larry Irwin.

Musical selections for the band include marches, medleys, show tunes, movie themes and classical favorites. Adult musicians of any skill level are welcome to join the band, and while there is no cost to join, the band does ask for a $10 monthly donation to help cover expenses. Band members provide their own instruments and music stands for rehearsals. For more information please contact Jim Perkins at [email protected]. 

“Montana’s Jewish Pioneers: A Lasting Legacy” is the topic of Ellen Baumler’s presentation to the Last Chance Gulch Corral History Dinner Group on Monday, Jan. 16. The group meets at the Delta Marriott (Colonial) at 5:30 p.m. Dinner follows at 6 p.m. Reservations are required by Tuesday, Jan. 10 by calling Shirley Thomas at 406-431-8196.

The gold rush brought Jewish pioneers to Montana. Opportunity drew these adventurers to mining settlements where business and religious beliefs brought them together. Jews set up the first business in Bannack, Alder Gulch, and at most of the mining boomtowns. Jews seized entrepreneurial opportunities and became miners, bankers, attorneys and cattlemen, but it was especially in the stepping-stone roles of merchant and provider that many achieved economic stability and civic status. It was not easy without rabbis or synagogues, but these pioneers established benevolent societies and burial grounds, maintained holidays and traditions, and planted the roots of Judaism. In doing so, they laid the foundation for Montana’s modern, resurging Jewish congregations.

Ellen Baumler is a retired historian for the Montana Historical Society. 

Join author and cat lover David Abrams for an informative and heartwarming presentation on fostering shelter animals on Saturday, Jan. 7, at 1:30 p.m. In addition to Abrams’ presentation, the Lewis & Clark Humane Society in partnership with Lewis & Clark Library will host a pet adoption event at the Library from 1-3 p.m.

Abrams and his wife began fostering shelter cats during the summer of 2022. Since that time, the Abrams’ have fostered nine cats. In addition to discussing the fostering process, Abrams will share some tips and tricks of pet care and how to find balance of loving intensely and letting go when the time comes.

Abrams is the author of two novels about the Iraq War, “Brave Deeds” and “Fobbit” (which Publishers Weekly called “an instant classic”). “Fobbit” was also a New York Times Notable Book of 2012, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, a Montana Honor Book, and a finalist for the L.A. Times’ Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. Abrams’ short stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and appeared in the anthologies Montana Noir, Watchlist, and Fire and Forget. He lives in Helena with his wife and their four cats.

For more information on pet adoptions, visit https://lchsmontana.org/adopt-a-pet/.

760 Great Northern, 406-442-4225, cinemark.com

• Avatar: The Way of Water, PG-13
• Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, PG
• Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, PG-13
• Babylon, R
• Violent Night, R
• The Fabelmans, PG-13
• Strange World, PG

15 N. Ewing, 406-443-0287, myrnaloycenter.com

• The Inspection, R
• The Pale Blue Eye, R