If anyone understands that love isn't always perfect, it's Yahzarah.

When she abruptly left her first love, music, to take a day job at Banana Republic in 2003, she knew something seriously had to give. Heartbroken after the release of her lackluster second album, Black Star, she was drained -- creatively, emotionally and mentally -- and needed to hibernate from the music industry.

"There was a point when I started to believe them, started to believe that I really couldn't write songs and be myself," she says, recalling her frustration at fighting what would turn out to be a losing battle over creative control.

But eventually, the people who loved her, even in her low point between albums, persuaded her to get back to music. "[Soul singer] Ledisi was like: 'You have a job now? Are you crazy?'" she remembers.

Continue "How Yahzarah got her groove back" »

(Photo courtesy Foreign Exchange Music)

Local alt/dance/rock bilinguals Satellite District celebrate the release of their new single, "Looking out for you," this Saturday at the Atlanta Indie Fusion show. Joining them will be fellow locals The Drownout, Attention System, Ninety-Four, and Miami's Fancy Me Yet.

Atlanta Indie Fusion w. Satellite District, Attention System, The Drownout, Fancy Me Yet, and Ninety Four. Sat. Mat 15th. Vinyl, 1274 West Peachtree St. $8-$10. 8 pm

Visual artist Fahamu Pecou keeps upping the ante. In addition to tomorrow's exhibition from his series Hard to Death: All Falls Down, he's moderating a candid conversation about black manhood. Rapper Killer Mike (aka Mike Bigga) and music photographer Shannon McCollum are two of the featured panelists.

Our distinguished panelists will question, comment and dialogue about the popularization of certain trends and social behaviors celebrated within black male culture such as "saggin." We will discuss the inherent social commentary made by this fashion statement as well as the proliferation of celebrated negative behaviors within black male youth culture.

Call for price. 8-11 p.m. (panel discussion @ 9) Sat., May 1. Get This! Gallery, 662 11th St. www.getthisgallery.com. www.passageofright.wordpress.com.

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• Adrian Belew Power Trio performs at Smith's Olde Bar Sat., Aug. 22.

FRI/21

ATTENTION SYSTEM, PROMISE DECEMBER, SATELLITE DISTRICT This solid lineup features three of Atlanta’s top electro-indie-rock acts. Attention System’s synth-driven bombast makes for an explosively energetic live show. Promise December and Satellite District add a bit of ‘80s new romantic gothicism and melodrama, recalling the likes of David Bowie, the Cure, and Love and Rockets.

$5-$7. 9 p.m. Drunken Unicorn. 404-870-0575. www.thedrunkenunicorn.net. — Jonathan Williams

THEE CRUCIALS, MONDO TOPLESS, THE F’N HEARTBREAKS Duck-walking garage-rock outlaws Thee Crucials “Can’t Sit Still,” kicking a hot-footed surfabilly two-step over driving organs and an overflowing beat. For 17 years, Mondo Topless has exploited racing Farfisas and guitar reverb in service of explosive ‘60s rawk.

$7. 9 p.m. Star Bar. 404-681-9018. www.starbaratlanta.com. — Chris Parker

GWINNETT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Family-friendly pops concert on the green, featuring the unique beats of Atlanta-based, all-female percussion group Chix with Stix (Lisa Angert Morris, Lisa Gillespie, Karen Hunt, Olivia Kieffer and Courtney McDonald).

Free. 7 p.m. Duluth Amphitheater, Duluth City Park. 770-925-8900. www.gwinnettsymphony.org. — Mark Gresham

SAT/22

ADRIAN BELEW POWER TRIO The King Crimson guitarist tours behind his first studio release with Eric and Julie Slick, the young brother-and-sister rhythm section. Expect new material with a smattering of “hits” from his 30-plus-years career as solo artist and sideman to an eclectic roster of acts that spans Zappa, Bowie, Talking Heads and Nine Inch Nails.

$20. 8 p.m. Smith’s Olde Bar. 404-875-1522. www.smithsoldebar.com. — Hal Horowitz

ATLANTA HARMONY CELEBRATION Barbershop harmonies abound with this Lawrenceville-based women's chorus, directed by Kathy Stone, as with their guests Georgia Young Men's Ensemble and the UpFront Quartet.

$8, 2:30 p.m. show; $12, 7 p.m. show. Red Clay Theatre. 770-621-2602. www.atlantaharmonycelebration.org. — MG

SUN/23

BIG & RICH, CRAIG MORGAN, LOVE & THEFT, BOMBSHEL For a while, B&R was the biggest thing in the business, and their blending of country, rock and hick-hop was quite unique. A yearlong break may have invigorated the duo, or killed the buzz. Three openers.

$19-$49. 7 p.m. Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. 404-733-5010. www.vzwamp.com. — JK

One of the many charms of singer/songwriter John Prine is the stark contrast of under-stated delivery of such evocative lyrics. It’s as if Prine is almost embarrassed by the power of his poetry, like he’s let a secret out of a bag he’d promised to secure, but understands the secret’s out and should then be told properly.

And for a man who’s sung songs about those living along life’s humbler edges, Prine sings as beautifully about women as he has about men. He’s masculine yet thoughtful. Nowhere is that more apparent than in “Angel From Montgomery,” which Prine wrote in 1971 for his debut, eponymous CD. It’s a bittersweet song about yearning, from a woman who wonders if life (and her husband) has left her by …

I am an old woman named after my mother /

My old man is another child that's grown old /

If dreams were lightning thunder was desire /

This old house would have burnt down a long time ago.

Prine explains the inspiration for the song before singing it on the edge of a river …

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The song, of course, has been covered by just about everybody smart enough to recognize its power, the most famous coming from Bonnie Raitt. (I often wonder why the modern-day Raitt remains so fascinated with the power of gloss and production sheen, or artifice, in her songs since she’s at her best when she keeps it simple.) But the song also was used to great effect in Sean Penn’s film Into the Wild (reviewed here by Felicia Feaster), about the former Emory University student Christopher McCandless who checked out from civilization on an ill-fated journey of self-discovery. In the scene, McCandless (Emile Hirsch) turns an awkward attempt at seduction by a nubile teen (Kristen Stewart) into something more meaningful.

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Powerful stuff. The one time I heard him perform the song live, about five years ago in New Orleans, you could tell his voice was struggling; he was probably still in the grips of the throat cancer he appears to have licked. And yet it damn near moved me to tears. You could fee the song's impact throughout the room.

Even though Prine could be forgiven for being tired of performing this timeless tune, here’s hoping he’ll delight Atlantans — who live only a couple hours from that now-fabled city — with “Angel From Montgomery” one more time when he plays the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on Saturday night. Not that his recent work isn't worth listening to — including his 2005 Grammy-winning comeback album, Fair & Square, and last year's duet album with Mac Wiseman, Average Songs for Average People. It's just that this song never, every gets old, even if the heroine of the song believes she has.