DJ Jon H

Deb Callahan

Two bars. Two hot acts. Both free, this weekend in Roanoke.

Philadelphia blues and soul singer Deb Callahan hits Blue 5 Restaurant tonight. DJ Jon H, of Fort Knox Five, spins at Metro! on Saturday. Here's a little introduction about each.

Singer/social worker

A quick snare smack and cymbal crash, and it's on. A wide-open bass drum kicks into a mid-tempo, grease-funk feel, leading into snarling guitar and heavy Hammond-style organ.

Then comes the voice -- it's Callahan, singing "Food on the Table," a song about being a single mother. It's a cut off her latest CD, "Grit & Grace." Hear her perform songs from that record and others, including a swinging cover of the Ray Charles tune, "Hallelujah I Love Him So."

Callahan is a part-time social worker in her adopted hometown (she's originally from the Boston area). Her experiences there provided inspiration for such tunes as "Food on the Table" and "Credit Card Blues," a song from her 2005 CD, "Blue Pearl Moon."

According to her online biography, she counts Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin and early Tina Turner as her biggest influences. Like them, she too has a big, soulful voice.

Rocking the party

On Saturday night at Metro!, hear something almost completely the opposite, yet with its own deeply funky vibe. DJ Jon H brings the jams from Washington, D.C., to Roanoke. Opening act there is Roanoke's own DJ Castiel, among the city's favorite disc spinners.

Jon "DJ Jon H" Horvath has been around the world with Fort Knox Five, one of the D.C. area's chief purveyors of funk, reggae, hip-hop and break beats.

When Gwen Stefani was preparing her Harajuku Lovers tour, she hired Fort Knox Five to be the tour DJs. The acts hit the road with the Black Eyed Peas. Expect plenty of old-school soul and funk mixed in with forward-looking noise action, a la Fort Knox Five's recent "Funk For Peace." Hear that jam and others at Jon H's MySpace page.