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UPDATE: Tickets for the "Fast Times" screening are available here exclusively. Craig Renaud tells me they're selling briskly. So get em while they're hot.

I'm about to go to a "Purchase Your Pass Party" for the Little Rock Film Festival, where there will be discounted beer and networking. I guess they had that idea before they came up with this one: On Tuesday, they'll be a preview of the festival at Riverdale 10, highlighted by a screening of one of the greatest cinematic achievements ever, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," followed by a Q&A with Judge Reinhold that Times contributor Derek Jenkins will moderate. 7:30 p.m. With an after-party at Crush.

JOSH RITTER
9 p.m., Revolution, $10 adv., $12 d.o.s.

Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Josh Ritter makes his Revolution debut with an all-ages show on his “Small Town USA” tour, following the release of his latest record, “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.” The album has received widespread critical acclaim and Ritter also has been named by Entertainment Weekly among its Top 10 artists to watch. Songs such as “The Dogs of Whoever,” pay true, yet subtle, homage to Bob Dylan, with musically reserved verses followed by a 3-2-1 blastoff breaking wide open into a heavier chorus, supported by a rock-bottom rhythm section, piano included, and strong backing vocal accompaniment. Expect electric and acoustic pianos, organs, guitars, vibraphone and percussion galore, along with acoustic, electric and double bass, and, of course, drums. Baton Rouge natives the Benjy Davis Project open.

THE BRAVERY
9 p.m., Juanita's. $15 adv., $18 d.o.s.

It's not too often Little Rock lands a buzz band, or at least not a buzz band that's been anointed by the mainstream press — not yet popular enough to land magazine covers, but familiar to Rolling Stone readers. So young rockers, take note: The Bravery, not too long ago picked as “New York's Official Next Big Thing” by the Village Voice and, today, with a current top-10 single in Billboard's “Modern Rock” chart, comes to town in support of its latest, “The Sun and the Moon Complete,” on which the band continues its move away from the new-wave revival that lifted it to prominence to a more mainstream rock sound. Still, don't be surprised if you catch a whiff of the Cure. Buzzworthy, too: Modern rockers Fiction Plane, featuring Joe Sumner (AKA Sting's son) on bass and vocals and Bear Colony, a Little Rock based-indie group getting national attention, open the show.

A Houston native and Hendrix alum, singer/songwriter Hayes Carll has made Arkansas a home away from home throughout his near decade of performing. He plays in Little Rock every couple of months, named his second, highly acclaimed album “Little Rock” and, on his latest, “Trouble in Mind,” he's got a song called “Bad Liver and Broken Heart,” that opens with “Arkansas, my head hurts.” You can bet that gets the crowd whooping. It's also probably a pretty safe bet that the crowd that comes out to see Carll — typically large — will have swollen. Since “Trouble in Mind” came out last month on the Universal subsidiary Lost Highway, Carll has picked up rave reviews everywhere from Entertainment Weekly to Billboard magazine. Corb Lund, an Alberta, Canada, folk-singer with a name made for touring with Hayes Carll, opens the show with music from his latest album, a theme album full of songs about horses and war. LM.

''I think history is going to be very tough on him. But that doesn't mean he isn't a great story. It's almost Capra-esque, the story of a guy who had very limited talents in life, except for the ability to sell himself. The fact that he had to overcome the shadow of his father and the weight of his family name — you have to admire his tenacity. There's almost an Andy Griffith quality to him, from A Face in the Crowd. If Fitzgerald were alive today, he might be writing about him. He's sort of a reverse Gatsby.''—Oliver Stone (via EW)

There's almost too much happening this weekend. Here's an early look. You're going to have to prioritize.

FRIDAY

Hayes Carll at Sticky Fingerz, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 d.o.s. His latest, "Trouble in Mind," is getting glowing reviews. Yesterday, NPR ran a piece on him. Previously.

New Orleans' finest the Preservation Hall Jazz Band joins the ASO at Robinson, 8 p.m., $16-$70.

Modern rock standouts the Bravery are at Juanita's (with Fiction Plane, featuring Sting's son), 9 p.m., $15-$18.

Increasingly famous singer/songwriter Josh Ritter plays Revolution, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 d.o.s.

At White Water, Mac Sledge shares a bill with established local folk Sean Rock and The Toltecs, 9 p.m., $5.

SATURDAY

Blooms, a melange of art and culture and the outdoors, kicks off at Wildwood Park, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., $5-$35.

The American Princes, amidst their national tour, return home to play Rock 'n' Roar with the Friendly Friends, 7 p.m., $8.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band joins the ASO at Robinson again, 8 p.m., $16-$70.

Neo-soul up-and-comer Conya Doss is at Juanita's, 10 p.m., $20-$40.

Mop-haired good-time rockers J. Roddy Walston and the Business return to White Water, 9 p.m., $5. With Smoke Up Johnny, too.

SUNDAY

Carrie Underwood is Alltel and way sold out, 7:30 p.m., scalpers prices.

There's a Doo-Wop Celebration, at 3 and 7 p.m., at Robinson, featuring a handful of doo-wop favorites you'd probably be surprised to know are still alive, $55-$100.

 

J. RODDY WALSTON & THE BUSINESS
9 p.m., White Water Tavern. $5.

The American Princes, tirelessly touring the country for the last six years, evangelize about Little Rock. The pay-off: J. Roddy Walston and the Business, a Baltimore-based band of mop-haired good-time rockers who the Princes befriended and brought home to show off a year or two ago, are coming to town every two months or so. If you're uninitiated, don't let their frequent touring here serve as an excuse not to go, like “I'll catch them next time around.” No, friends, once you experience the riff rock exuberance of the Biz, their shows will become an integral part of your concert diet. Further incentive: fresh from a stay in Fayetteville, local folk-y Stacy Mackey opens with local barroom kings Smoke Up Johnny.

CONYA DOSS
10 p.m., Juanita's. $20-$40.

Upscale Underground keeps the neo-soul hit parade moving through. The latest installment of the “Soul'd Out” concert series finds the local promoters booking, for the first time, a female headliner. A native of Cleveland, Conya Doss started singing at a young age and attended the prestigious Cleveland School of the Performing Arts. After school, she formed the R&B duo Lyrik with a childhood friend. When the duo split, Doss launched her solo career, steadily building her fan base with a silky jazz-soul delivery and constant touring. Saturday night's appearance finds Doss touring in support of her 2008 independent release, “Still,” a confident and vigorous album that could tip Doss into the mainstream. Local soul standout Rodney Blocks opens with his band.

PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND
8 p.m., Robinson Center Music Hall. $16-$70.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band was named for the venerable French Quarter venue — founded in 1961 and, shortly thereafter, the center of the New Orleans' jazz scene — it played. There, the Charter members were joined by the likes of Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong. Today, under the leadership of Ben Jaffe, the son of founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe, the band continues to tour, record and serve as a leading ambassador for New Orleans jazz. PHJB joins the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Israel Getzov, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Prior to each concert, Happy Tymes Jazz Band will be working it second-line style on the front steps of Robinson, and Starving Artist Cafe will offer red beans and rice.