Tiffany Shea's Chickapalooza. 10:30pm Tue Apr 6, 13, 20, and 27 at the Black Dog Tavern, 903 Throckmorton St, FW. 817-332-8190.

As yuppiedom continues infecting downtown, Tad Gaither's Black Dog Tavern continues letting its freak flag fly. Besides offering a broad spectrum of jazz (e.g., straight-ahead, fusion, big band, experimental), this eclectic venue has also presented a variety of acoustic musics, ranging from Darrin Kobetich's raga-bluegrass thang to the solo stylings of Spoonfed Tribe's Jerome 57 to Carl Barnhart's singer-songwriter open mic.

The Dog thus seems the appropriate venue for Tiffany Shea's Chickapalooza, a showcase of women singer-songwriters that started last month and continues on Tuesday nights through the end of April. Many of us have long crabbed about the paucity of female musicians in the Fort, and with La Shea's long history of actively supporting up-and-coming musos, this showcase -- in the coolest of cool venues -- seems like a golden opportunity for any who've been hiding out to come show their stuff and ease our minds. In the interest of egalitarianism, Shea says that any male singer-songwriters who wanna play are welcome to ... after the women are through.

Besides hosting this ongoing event, Shea's been far from idle of late. In the past month her band has played a flurry of shows around the area. On April 15 they play a Tax Day show at the Moon, and on May Day they have the 2 p.m. slot in Trinity Park for Mayfest. After that, they'll depart for the first leg of a national tour that Shea says will last for the rest of the year. In her absence, she's looking for another "chick" to take over hosting the 'palooza. Any takers?