John Sheldon is tired. Tired, he says, “of seeing how we treat each other, how we treat ourselves, how we treat our planet.” He’s embarked on a Journey to the Center of the Earth — “the place where everything intersects, where life really comes from.” His vehicle for the journey is a guitar, and his one-man musical odyssey is no sci-fi fantasy but an exploration of here-and-now humanity and our troubled relations with this fragile earth. It’s one part cry from the heart, one part virtuoso performance by the Valley’s reigning guitar genius. In a laid-back deadpan, he spins stories of African bees and Wyoming wolves, of a redwood tree and a black oil spill. Woven through it all are haunting guitar riffs interleaving each other via live overdubbing — and including a wicked impression of a half- wrecked Keith Richards explaining how that’s done.
A benefit for Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble, Nov. 14-16, 7:30 p.m., A.P.E. Gallery, 126 Main Street, Northampton, $22/$25, 800-838-3006.
