Scott Tady: Skip the Super Bowl; Moon man wins Grammy; Sewickley concerts begin

Whoo boy, here we go again. Another Steelers-less Super Bowl matchup that doesn't interest me.

You realize you don't need to watch this Sunday's over-hyped spectacle, right?

All those other TV channels will still be on, not to mention the bevy of streaming services.

Just look at your options:

*Animal Planet will re-air "Puppy Bowl XIX" from 8-11 p.m.

*CMT airs three straight Jeff Dunham comedy specials.

*HBO debuts the fifth episode of its post-apocalyptic "The Last of Us," with the previous four episodes shown earlier in the day. It stars Pedro Pascal, who was entertaining hosting "Saturday Night Live" last weekend.

As its Super Bowl counterprograming, CNN will offer an Anthony Bourdain "Parts Unknown" marathon with the late-chef visiting off-beaten paths in Chicago, Las Vegas and San Francisco.

Consider all the marathons this Sunday evening: A&E "Customer Wars," Bravo "Below Deck," CNBC "Undercover Boss"; Comedy Channel "South Park"; Discovery "Dirty Jobs," Food Network's "Guy's Grocery Games," GSN's "Family Feud," and Travel Channel's "Paranormal Caught on Camera."

MTV presents a "Ridiculousness" marathon. Oh wait, that's every night on the channel that once played music.

Maybe you're bold enough to attend a movie instead. If you haven't caught up with the locally made "A Man Called Otto," the 6:30 p.m. Sunday screening at The Lindsay Theater in Sewickley might be your ticket.

For radio listeners and local music fans, I'd somewhat selfishly recommend The Grass Roots show on Butler's WLER-FM (97.7) airing at 7 p.m. Sunday. A weekly showcase of western Pennsylvania musical artists, this Sunday's guest is me. I'll play songs from four fresh Pittsburgh area bands that have impressed me recently: Old Neon (pop-punk); The Real Sea (shoegazer-indie), The Ghost Club (alt-pop in a 21 Pilots-ish way) and Tiny Wars (neo-New Wavers headlining Beaver Station on March 25).

Grass Roots hosts Bob Cupp and Utah Burgess, two of the staunchest supporters of our region's music scene, will ask me what's happening in the Beaver Valley. I'll be sure to mention some local artists, flourishing venues like Fermata Brewing in Ambridge, and the Jambridge Music Festival returning this September.

Don't worry, my radio appearance doesn't start until after Chris Stapleton sings the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. Now that's something worth watching. Stapleton's performance with Stevie Wonder was among last Sunday's Grammy Awards highlights.

And I should be finished on the radio before R&B/pop star Rihanna headlines the Super Bowl halftime show. I'm eager to see how Rihanna does, though as I tweeted months ago, Harry Styles would have been a more thrilling choice. Styles deserved his Best Album triumph at the Grammys.

Folk fun

On Feb. 17, Liz Berlin kicks off Folk February, a new concert series at the Sweetwater Center for the Arts.

A founding member of Pittsburgh's multi-platinum Rusted Root before embarking on a successful solo career, Berlin will hit the Sewickley center's Community Room stage at 7:30 p.m., following an hour-long live cooking demonstration by the leader of Sweetwater's new culinary program leader, chef Andrew Alvarez, whose impressive resume includes restaurants in Cleveland and Cincinnati, and as a culinary instructor at at Gaynor's School of Cooking in Pittsburgh.

Seating is first come first serve, with Big Spring Spirits of Bellefonte, Pa., pouring signature cocktails, inspired by Berlin's music. I'd be disappointed if they don't have a drink named for Rusted Root's "Ecstasy" or "Send Me on My Way" (heard in Enterprise rental car commercials).

Tickets cost $40, which includes two complimentary cocktails, or $30 without the booze, at sweetwaterartcenter.org

Folk February continues Feb. 24 with Jess Klein & The Good Time. According to Sweetwater officials, the concert series "focuses on folk and Americana music, as we bring the community together."

More:TV series featuring 2 Beaver County women gets February premiere date

Moon Grammy winner

Moon Township native Justin Francis earned a Grammy Award last Sunday.

Now based in Nashville, Francis engineered and mixed "Revealer," the 2022 album by Madison Cunningham that garnered the Grammy for Best Folk Album.

Francis' bio states "In the last few years alone, his work can be heard on records ranging from Andrea Bocellito Alice Cooper. Other notable projects include Top 40 hits for Little Big Town and Kelsea Ballerini; massive soundtrack jewels from Kacey Musgraves and Disney's 'Encanto,' and releases from such diverse artists as Rodney Crowell, Tyler Childers, Birdy, Buddy Guy, Deep Purple, Anti-Flag and Orville Peck."

More:Charles Wesley Godwin & The Allegheny High uplift a lively, sold-out Stage AE

Angel shines in the ol' church

Angel Olsen's "Big Time" made many Top-10 lists last year. I ranked it as 2022's fifth-best album, praising Olsen for "divinely singing sweetly like Emmylou Harris or other classic-country women."

Olsen gave us a good helping of that vintage country sound Feb. 3 when entertaining a sold-out Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale. Songs like "This is a Hard Time" and the "Big Time" title track were elegant, heart-tuggers.

But a cool surprise was how much she also rocked out, indie-style, with many of her melodies bringing shifting dynamics performed enticingly by her sizzling band with a violinist, cellist and organist. Olsen shared guitar duties ― both acoustic and electric ― and had a dynamic drummer, too, as her set effectively mixed power with prettiness on songs like "Shut Up, Kiss Me", "All Mirrors" and "Lark."

They encored with "Without You," with Olsen bracing fans, after the first verse, that the chorus of that hit Harry Nilsson song starts pretty deeply for her vocal range. She did fine and nailed the song's emotional heights.

Please pardon one more ranking, but Olsen's performance at Smalls was a Top-5 for me at that particular church-turned-concert venue I've attended frequently since its 2002 opening.

More:Scott Tady: 5 Beaver Valley-Pittsburgh artists bring songs worth a listen

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: Skip the Super Bowl ideas; Moon man wins Grammy; Sewickley shows begin