Item World

T.R., free at last There's the teeny-tiniest possibility that the latest dark turn on the "Grey's Anatomy" set could be great news for Twin Cities theater fans. Minneapolis native T.R. Knight and co-star Katherine Heigl are leaving the hit show, cast member James Pickens Jr. told US Magazine. Knight isn't talking, but he told us back in 2006 that he's eager to get back to his old stomping grounds. "That would be a dream," he said. Two dream projects he mentioned: Kevin Kling's "21A" (although he figured he might be too long in the tooth to take it on) and Tom in Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie."

NEAL JUSTIN

Freewheelin' Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand might fly all over the world on tour, but frontman Alex Kapranos found his favorite Schwinn bicycle at Minneapolis bike studio One on One. Kapranos included the shop as one of his "10 Essentials" in a Style.com feature and called its employees "supercool ... fantastic mechanics." The band has a history with the bike shop, according to One on One's owner, Gene Oberpriller: "We have a reputation in the music world as the place to go to. Lots of bands come through the door. [Franz Ferdinand] played at the Fine Line in '04 and the bartender sent them right to us. They came back the next year and bought more bikes. We went to their Target Center show, brought some bikes to them and stayed after the show drinking whiskey and riding around on the bikes. We took them to Nye's and they had a really good time."

KARA NESVIG

Great day for Graywolf New York poet Matthea Harvey has won a big prize for "Modern Life," published in October by Graywolf Press of St. Paul. The $100,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Prize, established in 1992 by California's Claremont University, is awarded annually to mid-career poets. Three other Graywolf poets have won the Tufts, but not for books that Graywolf published. Word of Harvey's honor came the same day that Graywolf's chapbook of Elizabeth Alexander's poem "Praise Song for the Day" -- written for the Obama inauguration -- hit bookstores. "It's unbelievable," said Graywolf marketing manager Erin Kottke. "It's only February!"

LAURIE HERTZEL

A bluegrass Sunday afternoon It's ironic that the most knowledgeable and popular DJ on the Twin Cities' only jazz station is ... the bluegrass guy! As the show "Bluegrass Saturday Morning" celebrates its 25th year with a gala party Sunday, host Phil Nusbaum is not-so-quietly turning into a national star, with his syndicated one-hour "Bluegrass Review" now heard in 21 states and even Spain. "You've just got to let the people hear good bluegrass music, and they respond to it," says the folklore Ph.D. and prof at McNally Smith College of Music. Sunday's party, starting at 2 p.m. at the Times Bar & Cafe in Minneapolis, features several acts from the show, including Monroe Crossing, Becky Schlegel and from Iowa, the Bluegrass Pals, with Nusbaum himself palling around on banjo.

Gord's Gold We weren't surprised to hear all the complaints about Ticketmaster when it came to the hot-selling Bruce Springsteen and AC/DC concerts, but this one was downright shocking: "How, in the real world, could main floor seating be sold out in less than five minutes for Gordon Lightfoot?!" Karen Fernow of Minnetonka rightfully asked. Fernow claims she clicked to buy seats for ol' Gordo's March 22 show at the State Theatre five minutes after they went on sale, but was redirected to Ticketmaster's in-house link to ticket scalpers, TicketsNow. "This is nothing more than organized exploitation," said Fernow, who bit the bullet and paid $100 apiece for tickets originally priced at $50. If it's any consolation, Karen, we checked midweek and found those seats now priced $121-$396.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

K'naan's exodus

It was a sort of homecoming for Somalian rapper K'naan at the Varsity Theater on Wednesday night. The Toronto-based hip-hop-star-in-waiting -- who lived briefly in the Twin Cities in the late '90s -- said that "white people are always surprised" he emigrated to such a northern city, but obviously it was no shocker to the East African immigrants who were heavily in attendance. He painted a gritty picture of the country he left behind in songs from his new album "Troubadour," which includes such guests as Metallica's Kirk Hammett, Maroon 5's Adam Levine and Damian Marley. One surprise that did catch everyone off guard: his straight-up cover of Coldplay's "Viva la Vida."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

JON BREAM

Valenti at the Met The Metropolitan Opera announced its 2009-10 season this week and James Valenti has arrived. The former resident artist at the Minnesota Opera who had audiences swooning last season in "Romeo and Juliet" will sing Alfredo in Verdi's "La Traviata." Leonard Slatkin is conducting the Franco Zeffirelli production, which opens in March 2010. Valenti might justifiably be a little nervous. He will sing opposite soprano Angela Gheorghiu, whose performance in the lead role is legendary. Before his Met debut, the handsome tenor will be in Minnesota, as Rudolfo in "La Bohème," on March 6, 2010.