Singers, Songwriters and Storytellers

Gweneth's Nashville GOOP Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:23:00 +0000

Now Gweneth has taken on compiling the compendium of great Nashville shopping (who would have thought we would ever have such a thing) and things to do with kids. Frankly, both are beyond the scope of places where I profess to have any sort of expertise, so in a weird way, this is actually kind of helpful even for me. Just an indication of how rapidly Nashville is changing and growing and expanding in what it has to offer!

Check out her list!

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Who knew Gweneth Paltrow would be taking up my slack?

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:43:00 +0000

Wow. Talk about an unlikely source! Gweneth Paltrow is blogging about some of Nashville's finest destinations. And she seems to have gotten most of it shockingly right! She even pulled some places that I don't frequent (either too new, too hip, or too coffee-centric...I'm not a coffee drinker).

I mean, come on...it is not unusual to see stars roaming around town. And with some kind of movie in the works I have been hearing about Gweneth sitings for several months. Of course, as a native Nashvillian I have been duly unimpressed by such news. Whatever, right?

But here we have an impressive diary of some of Nashville's gems. This week's installment of her blog GOOP covers Nashville music and food. It doesn't have all of the local insights, so you may find me blogging on some of these same places over time (when I get back into having a life, that is. Not quite there yet.) But I am quite impressed that she picked up on The Time Jumpers at Station Inn, Midnight Jamboree at Ernest Tubb Record Shop, most of the good Ryman info, and the secret of weeknights at Robert's Western World. There is a shocking lack of songwriter venues but I guess even Gweneth can't be perfect.

Part 2 next week is supposed to focus on "the rest." Who knows? Maybe she'll continue to hit some of the highlights that I like. Check it out!

Gweneth Paltrow's blog on Nashville

This one snuck up on me...a tribute to Dolly

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:30:00 +0000

With the October 27th release of Dolly Parton's 99-song box set Dolly has set the tribute blogs in motion. And it gives me an excuse to wax eloquent about a female icon who has made her mark on music and the music industry. But humor me and read 'til the end...because the morale of the story snuck up on me with this one.

Let's face it, you don't have to be a fan of country music to appreciate Dolly Parton. She is the personification of a bright sunshiny day that has taken you by the hand and insisted that you come laugh and play. She can tug at your heartstrings with the trill of a note and/or turn a phrase that digs into something deeper than the genre.

Dolly reclaimed power from all of the stereotypes against women, blondes, hillbillies, and tramps. She wears these as badges of honor and has perfected the use of a killer smile, a quick wit, and oodles of talent to twist the preconceived notions of the nation 'til they clap along in time to her beat.

And while other folks were distracted by the wigs, long fingernails and other enhancements, she took the reins from all those big powerful men in the music industry -- the COUNTRY music industry -- practically before Gloria Steinum had a chance to create a term for "the glass ceiling." She is and has long been an exceptionally savvy business woman who knew early on that "Dolly" was a brand, and that no one would be more invested in the state of her business than she was. So she took control. Unheard of for a "girl singer" in that era...or several eras beyond. No one else in country music really stepped up like that again 'til Reba founded Starstruck.

But my absolute favorite Dolly moment (everybody has one) was years ago when I was driving solo on a road trip and stumbled on a long format interview with Dolly Parton on National Public Radio. In a far more hesitant voice than we are used to hearing from Dolly she was expounding on the historical context of country music, bluegrass, and mountain music, in general. Dolly spoke very eloquently and knowledgeably about how mountain music evolved quite naturally from Irish folk music, following the Scots-Irish protestants who immigrated to Appalachia to start a new life. It was an artist's appreciation wrapped in historical context and summed up in the modern-day impacts as country music reverberates globally in today's economy. She was unmistakeably Dolly, but it was a slightly different persona than we are used to seeing...and it was fabulous. And as I thought back on it, she was the absolute perfect person to tell that story and whoever set up that interview was a genius.

Her list of amazing songs goes on and on...so I won't belabor that point. The box set has all of them ...including 4 previously unreleased songs and a live CD from 1970 when Dolly went back home to perform at her high school in Sevierville. As the marketing sheet tells us, this was the highlight of the annual Dolly Day, and the album has been out of print in vinyl for years. This is the first time this performance is being released on CD.

But enough of waxing eloquent and marketing sellsheets....back to the blogtastic tribute train and my unexpected morale of the story.

I was reading through the "favorite song picks" from the Nashville Public Radio staffers...and for the most I was part impressed with what they had to say.

Dumb Blonde: "In 'Dumb Blonde,' one of her first hits (recorded in 1966), she chastises a lover who dismisses her as a dimwit -- when, in fact, she just found out she has more fun without him. A word of caution for anyone out there who thinks it would be cute to put this song on a mix for your blonde girlfriend: You're just begging for the lessons of this song to come true." (Amy Schriefer, NPR Music)

Just Someone I Used to Know: "The sentiment is simple, yet the resonance is strongly familiar: You never want to tell a stranger that your heart's been broken, so that picture is just someone you used to know." (Lars Gotrich, NPR Music).

My Tennessee Mountain Home: "Her voice has both the light sweetness of spring and the smoky grandeur of the mountains. And her lyrics (it's easy to forget what a great songwriter she is) are beautifully detailed, including this perfect line: 'In my Tennessee mountain home, life is as peaceful as a baby's sigh." (Scott Simon, Weekend Edition Saturday)

Jolene: "In just a few minutes and a few phrases, Parton distills and inhabits dramatically polarized feminine archetypes. She's an injured innocent, but behind the singer's primal bleat lies the operatic anger of an uncontrollable stalker. 'He's the only one for me, Jolene,' Parton insists, but Jolene has stirred something in her, too. Her admiration of Jolene's beauty and sexual prowess is unabashedly poetic." (Neda Ulaby, Reporter)

Then I got down to Scott Stroud's (NPR Digital Media) pick and rolled my all too cynical eyes. 9 to 5? Really? You can't get any deeper than that? Out of a whole career of chart toppers, story songs, and just plain insightful moments both (lyrically and vocally) you picked 9 to freakin' 5?

And I was promptly handed my comeuppance on a silver platter. I won't pretend to improve upon Scott's words:

"Parton wrote this song during a break on the movie set. While her costars nervously bit their fingernails, Parton clicked her painted acrylics together and heard the foundation of her song -- the sounds of an office typewriter. This is her genius in full effect, demonstrating that great lesson: If we pay attention during the time between takes, if we use that space to create, our ship will soon come in. The tide will roll us away."

Yup. Pay attention between takes. Glorious in its simplicity and a lifelong struggle for most of us to accomplish. It is just one more example of Dolly spending a lifetime of dreams, talent and good ole mountain bred common sense to teach us by example. Keep plugging along. Listen to your inner voices. Pay attention in the spaces between. A lesson which bears repeating for almost all of us and certainly hit me on just the right day. Kudos to Scott...and I'll try to keep my eye rolling to myself in the future.

Ohh....and for folks who are still waiting for the special Nashville insider tip on this one...go to Legends honky tonk on lower Broadway downtown. They have album covers from back in the day floor to ceiling. Among other great moments in country and western music history you can chronicle Dolly's journey through a variety of hairdos and...enhancements. Heck, they even have a couple that pre-date the enhancements. Anyone up for a game of Where's Waldo?

An Adroit Night at The Bluebird and how to be a Songwriter Savvy Local

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:04:00 +0000

There is a special joy that comes from being able to share something uniquely beautiful with someone who has not been exposed to it before. I got to do that this week. I took a friend to the Bluebird Café.

The Bluebird Café is often recommended to the more savvy tourists in tones of awe, but the dirty little secret is that not many of the locals have actually been…which is why you may get precious few facts to accompany the recommendation. The other reason is that, like other truly unique artistic experiences, the kinetic energy of a good night at The Bluebird is something that is hard to put into words.

For the uninitiated, here’s the skinny. The Bluebird is a tiny little place in Green Hills that started up in the 80s and turned the tradition of a songwriter’s guitar pull into a publicly accessible Nashville treasure. The story goes that this was the origin of songwriters-in-the-round, a format that has been copied and adapted with many a unique twist in venues all over town. The other uniquely Bluebird aspect is the “Shhhh!” policy. This is not background music…you won’t be chatting. And for God’s sake don’t be the person who forgot to turn off a cell phone.

Typically it is 4 songwriters, facing each other in the center of the room. 4 mics. 4 guitars. You might occasionally get a keyboard or a singer/guitar player combination, but you get the basic idea – it is acoustic. The fundamental rule is that they only play songs they have written, and they go around for 4 or 5 rounds each playing in their turn. Generally, one performer is the host and invites the others to be a part of the round. This means, by definition, that you tend to get co-writers in a round who can comfortably play along, sing harmonies, or make up a guitar solo in the moment.

Some of the best are good singers/performers but that isn’t the magic of a songwriter night. The magic comes from the intimacy of a show that has awkward moments precisely because these are not the headliners themselves, and from the seminal moment when your heartstrings are plucked by the person who wrote the song, who experienced the story, who crafted the emotional journey from their own heart and is now sharing it with you. As an audience member, it is a privilege to be able to share that journey with the first person author.

The performance we went to this week was no exception. Adroit Records, a new indie label that specializes in promoting exposure to the original songwriters, put together two shows as a showcase for their stable of writers and a benefit for the ALS Association (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Mason Douglas hosted the round which also included Cheley Tackett, Ray Sisk, and Brenden McKinney who was a last minute substitute for an ailing Karleen Watt. I had not seen any of these writers perform before, but let me tell you, I will definitely look for their gigs in the future. They were all excellent and there were a couple of real standouts.

Adroit seems to have a knack for collecting writers that are from a very accessible Americana flavor of country music with lots of influences from the blues, folk, and southern rock. This was an early show at The Bluebird and yet nearly every song brought the audience to an emotional peak; there was no filler. And of course, Adroit was hawking their CD, Words and Music, so songs from the CD were featured.

Mason kicked off the show with a personal appeal for the ALS Association. It turns out his father suffered from the disease. It brought a truly genuine feeling to the fundraising effort that you don’t always get when musicians are recruited to help with a cause that may or may not be as personally relevant.

He also did something that I have not seen at a Bluebird benefit before…he integrated the fundraising into the dynamic of the show itself. Ever since the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) took over The Bluebird there have been more and more benefits, and it is easy to become somewhat inured to the causes they represent. But this was no pass-the-bucket fundraiser! As the show progressed audience members tossed money into the center of the songwriter configuration in a cross between teenagers throwing popcorn at the movies and the guitar case of a street corner musician. The audience became the 5th player in this cozy performance, included in the intimacy in an organic and dynamic way. Cheley made an absolutely hysterical comment at one point (perfect comedic timing!) about feeling a special connection with what strippers go through to earn a buck that set the tone for many of the contributions that followed. Unlike many a telethon, it was actually fun!!

Okay, okay…I know. Back to the MUSIC!

Mason’s signature Words and Music tune was a stirring tribute to his father, a Viet Nam Air Force vet, called Home Free. By the end of the first chorus there was a widespread group exhale at the power of a lyric that could have sounded trite but instead was delivered with a genuine respect for the experience of veterans of any generation.

I may come back home to a big parade or to my name carved in stone
But either way, don’t shed a tear for me
Yeah either way I’m comin’ home…
And I’m comin’ home ….free

Any male country singer on the charts today would be lucky to get this song, but I hope Mason keeps it close at hand and uses it to launch his own rise to the top. See, it wasn’t just that the lyrics were sooo poignant. He is also an exceptional performer with a gravelly baritone that brings authenticity to the salt-of-the-earth character of the song. As he demonstrated over the course of the night he is versatile enough to lean into a tender moment or create riotous excitement pretty much at will. Other notable songs included his kick off for the night Call Me When You Need a Man about the age-old barroom battle for the girl. It’s the pretty boy vs. the real man…and let’s just say that no one is pulling for the pretty boy in this version. His closer was also a doozy -- a raucous, hedonistic ditty about the Big Bad Wolf and how he can make you howl!

Cheley Tackett is a regular around town in the Girls With Guitars show, which immediately tells you that she is a saucy broad with a sense of humor, a point of view, and a lot of talent. But her showcased tune, Play the One I Like, is an ode to requesting the deejay to play that perfect song that reminds you of the romantic dream just as you are falling apart.

You must be tired of the same ol' request
But could you please play the one I like

Where the guy gets the girl
And they take on the world
With nothing but their hopes and their dreams
And by the second verse
For better or worse
She promises that she'll never leave
Just for that moment it'll make me feel alright
Could you play the one I like

Ray Sisk demonstrated an ability to countrify the blues or take a leisurely stroll through the story like a cowboy in old Texas. His showcase tune was Memphis (Ain’t No Place to Lose the Blues).

Somewhere tonight the mood is just right for getting’ me over you
But I’m in Memphis, Lord and Memphis ain’t no place to lose the blues

But I found another of his songs, I Cried Like the Rain (Hurricane), even more heartrending, telling the story of a man who is floored when the love of his life up and leaves.

I didn’t cry like the rain in the spring with the feeling of a healing pain
I didn’t cry like a shower on a summer day cooling down a country lane
No I cried like the rain
from a hurricane

Brenden McKinney is a seasoned performer who flew in from Colorado for this evening at The Bluebird. He was scheduled for the second show, but when Karleen Watt was down for the count with bronchitis, he graciously stepped up to do double duty and perform at both shows.

He had some fabulously fun songs that he delivered with a laid back attitude and talent that seemed as natural and easy as putting on a flannel shirt in the wintertime. His signature song was an audience participation phenomenon that took me by surprise. Apparently, there was a loyal Adroit following among the crowd that knew exactly when to jump in and do their part. Yeah, She Does is a bad boy song about a guy getting the girl that is probably out of his league but who ends up loving him anyway. And this is a man who knows what he’s got!

And she feels nice, Yeah she does! She’s all soft and silky smooth
She smells sweet, Yeah she does! Like honeysuckle in bloom
She looks good, Yeah she does! No two ways about it
She really does it for me,
Yeah she does!
Yeah she does!

It was a fabulous night, even by Bluebird standards. And I got to experience it all for the first time (again) through the eyes of the previously uninitiated. Afterward, I asked my friend what he thought and he said “I think that was pretty awesome!” I couldn’t agree more! And once you have experienced it, you can’t help but want to share it with someone new and carry on the tradition, which is pretty awesome in and of itself.

Good to Know:

There are some logistics you should know when you decide to venture to The Bluebird. There are 2 shows a night, Tuesday through Saturday. The early shows (6 or 6:30) are generally the ‘up and coming’ songwriters while the later shows (9 or 9:30) are typically the more established writers. Sundays and Mondays are for the newer writers in town, which is also a unique and special experience but is more hit and miss in terms of well constructed songs that take you through the paces and find emotional and structural resolution. You have to be willing to sit through several songwriters, performing 2 songs each, to discover the diamond in the rough. As you might expect, an invitation for a songwriter to perform the weekend shows is a big deal and those reservations are a little harder to come by.

On that note, reservations are strongly recommended. These days you make your reservations online up to one week before the show. There is a no-reservation line at the door for any empty seats and the handful of church pews in the back, but you should plan to arrive early and be certain you are in the correct line if you go this route. For all seats except the church pews there is a $7 minimum per person and the late shows and weekend shows typically have a small cover charge.

The food is fine, but that’s not why you are there so don’t expect a culinary delight. The service is slow and you need to order early. The wait staff has to make the rounds of the whole joint before the show starts, after all. If you are looking for a night with more than 1 or 2 beverages, make a beeline for a seat at the bar -- location, location, location.

And for the locals who want to be ‘in the know,’ The Bluebird also has a summer concert series at Dyer Observatory that is basically a master class of performers. It is an opportunity to buy a season ticket to great performances without having to know any of the names of great songwriters to find a good show. But that is a story for another day, and the truth is that you will be hard pressed to find a ‘bad show’ at The Bluebird anyway. Try it. You’ll like it.

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Alan J. Bloom Rocks the Pier at Blue Moon Lagoon

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:28:00 +0000

I can’t help it. I love a soft September evening on a deck overlooking the water with good friends and great music.

I don’t know about you guys, but it has been a long summer with much less hilarity than I had intended. So I jumped at the chance to commune among my colleagues when a new group of gal pals invited me to join them at Blue Moon Lagoon for Girls’ Night Out (thanks Robin!). You always know that GNO will include some uproarious laughs, but I was also pleasantly surprised to exhale the stress of the day and replace it with some soulful tunes by Alan J. Bloom.

Blue Moon is a little treasure tucked away on Rock Harbor Marina on the west side of town. The restaurant is almost entirely open air and overlooks the water; it’s on the Cumberland River, but we won’t hold that against it. The food is good ($$ out of $$$$) but, as you guys know, with me the story is the music!

I had never heard Alan play before. His voice has a gritty rock n’ roll texture. His set is intense, delivered with attitude, and yet, manages to put a very earthy signature stamp on songs we’ve heard a thousand times.

Before the uproarious laughs took over the evening (it was GNO, after all) I heard impressive renditions of classics like “Walkin’ in Memphis,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” and “Space Cowboy.” Good talent and good arrangements – complete with the ethnic beat from a large hand drum – brought even these age old cover tunes up-to-date with a special twist. And by the end of the night he was pumping out full on wah-wah pedal with Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Aeroplane."

Of course, the highlight for me was when he played an original ballad called “What I Mean (By Love).” Apparently it was originally composed to sing to his bride at their wedding, and you gotta love a wedding song that starts out, Somehow, there’s no getting better than you. The chorus was also very approachable:

You can love me and I will love you
You can trust me and I will trust you
You can tell me and I will tell you
What I mean by love

But the line that I liked best spoke to getting through the hard times by tapping into something fundamental and drawing on inner strengths that don’t always come to the surface:

All these colors will rise up from the deep

I don’t care who you are...that’s a line that just brings warm fuzzies with it. We don’t often compare the inner workings of a relationship to a box of crayolas, but there just might be something to it.

I know this: I haven’t gotten nearly my fill of music this summer. Sometimes, real life takes over and it is all too easy to miss opportunities to enjoy the magic all around us. This is never more true than in your own backyard. I feel incredibly lucky that my “backyard” includes accidental run-ins with talent of the caliber of Alan J. Bloom.

Suffice it to say, I needed that.

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Chelsee and Rob and where Can You Duet landed today

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:44:00 +0000

I promise, I really have no interest in blogging about Can You Duet every week. But I have a soft spot in my heart for Chelsee and Rob, and in point of fact, they were the reason I made a point to watch at all. They seem to have escaped the attention of producers during the audition show so this week's episode was the first time the tv audience got a chance to enjoy them.

I saw Chelsee and Rob several weeks ago at The Bluebird Cafe (another introduction made by Karleen Watt, who attracts and only surrounds herself with the best talent). And I have to say that while they did great on the show, I not sure their appearance on Can You Duet fully did them justice. Chelsee has an adorable girl next door look with sparkly eyes and an agile voice that can span the gamut from the big diva sound to a soft lilting swampy harmony -- a haunting bayou sound that you don't expect from a gal from Traverse City, Michigan.

Rob has a very John Mayer sound except with actual emotion and not just vocals. He brings a pop infusion to Chelsee's strong country sound. And as an actual romantic couple in real life, they clearly love playing together.

They did a soulful version of "Boondocks" by Little Big Town with some unique harmonies that spun a spell both eerie and melodic all at the same time.

Scott Borchetta, President and CEO of Big Machine Records (Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood, Jack Ingram, etc.) gave his seal of approval on the new arrangement, complimenting the couple for taking the chance and saying, "it worked."

Naomi Judd said Chelsee has nearly perfect pitch and is a "star," which seemed to be a recurring theme among the judges' comments. Big Kenny (Big & Rich) started off his commentary saying,"Rob, you really held her down." The way Borchetta put it was that Chelsee came "ready to rock." You've gotta know that no matter how well earned and deserving that praise was, it was a little tough for Rob to hear in an absence of support for his own contribution. Especially since I suspect Rob took the lead on putting together the hot arrangement of the song.

To that point, Big Kenny referenced early conversations he had had with the performers about how much they had improved since they started working together and " talked about the possibilities of what y'all could do with these two crazy voices you guys have got." Naomi simply said they were "lopsided" and indicated that she wished she could match Chelsee up with another partner, lamenting that it was too late in the process to do so.

Chelsee handled the situation with grace and aplomb, reframing "lopsided" as being about her height in heels and saying that when she first heard Rob in Nashville he sounded "like home."

From things Chelsee and Rob said at The Bluebird it sounds as though both performers started out as solo performers and have mostly been following that path, taking advantage of opportunities to gain exposure by also playing as a duet where appropriate. In other words, this may not be their primary gig.

In the end, the Can You Duet judges pared Chelsee and Rob off the performer's list for the rest of the competition, opting instead to support three more established duets: O'Shea, The Stellas, and Steel Magnolia. It was the right call, even though I hate to see it. I hardly think this is the end of the road for Chelsee Oaks or Rob Bolin, but I don't think this is going to ultimately be the right configuration for them. I am thrilled that they made it to the Top 10 duets on this nationally televised show with such high visibility on Music Row. I know some exciting things will happen for them in due time.

Upcoming Shows:

July 3, 2009, 7 pm at The Commodore - Chelsee performs in Writers in the Round, Nashville, TN

July 10, 2009, 6 pm at the National Cherry Festival - Chelsee and Rob open for Sammy Kershaw, Traverse City, MI
July 31, 2009, 9 pm a tthe French Quarter Cafe - Chelsee and Rob play the French Quarter, Nashville, TN

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The Diggy Band and the phenom of a cover band in Nashville

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:34:00 +0000

Nashville has an incredibly rich depth and breadth of muscianship -- musicians from every genre. It is, without doubt, one of the greatest elements of our magic.

Every genre records here. After all, compared to New York and L.A., Nashville is an extremely livable place to spend weeks at a time putting together an album. The talent is available, you can do some cool songwriting while you are here with world class songwriters, and the down-to-earth environment sparks a lot of creativity.

So from a musicianship standpoint, we've got the 99% flawless studio musicians -- the guys who can play a song to the upper echelon of perfection the first time through. Then there are the touring musicians who use Nashville as a home base. These are the guys who can play a song to connect with a crowd. They tend to have a high boredom threshhold (since they have to play the same set over and over every night all summer long) and they can usually play a song to the middle to high echelon of of perfection by end of the second time through. (Editor's note: hate to burst your bubble, but these are not the guys on the record. Hardly ever.)

And then there are the Up and Comers -- the guys who have put all of their eggs in the Nashville basket and are trying to make it up the ladder. In any other town in America they would be stars and could easily make a living doing nothing but music. Here they struggle, and often have to supplement their income with a mundane job out in the real world. Over time, some of these guys assimilate and become working stiffs who happen to like music. The alter egos of these guys are the local working stiffs dedicated to an actual career but who also dabble in music...because the resources and creative impetus to do so are so omnipresent.

And then there are the musicians who have already worked their way up the ladder. They have done the gigs, written the songs, toured with the best, taken over the session scene and now they are producers -- the guys who can hear what perfection ought to sound like before it happens. Because they can speak to world class musicians in their language they are able to achieve this audio "vision."

All of that to say, a cover band in Nashville is, more often than not, a stellar group of talent not found in cover bands any place else in the world. Because here, a cover band is just some extra bread and butter money for musicians who love to play.

With that paradigm in mind, I want to give you a spectacular example of what this phenomenon can look like in The Diggy Band. I recently saw "The Diggys" at Sambuca, a fabulous fusion cuisine restaurant in The Gulch area of downtown Nashville. Sambuca has music 7 nights a week and I have never heard bad music there. In fact, I have never even heard mediocre music there. Whoever is booking talent either has an ear or knows who to talk to.

But The Diggys are something special, precisely because at heart they are not a cover band at all. We were there for a celebratory dinner for a friend's 40th birthday, so like most diners, we weren't listening exclusively to the music. And in fact, they may have played some of their originals (which I'm sure are spectacular) but I wouldn't know it. When diners are engaged in conversation it is the sound of a familiar song played especially well that catches the ear. And on this night my ear was frequently "caught."

They started out the set establishing their chops in R & B, and then came out with an old Simon & Garfunkel song that has been one of my favorites for decades!!! "For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her" is sheer poetry and not a song you often hear in commercial venues. And The Diggy's did it proud. So while I can't say I was surprised at finding an amazing cover band at Sambuca, I did pay a bit more attention after that.

Their Beatles medley defied the obvious, their version of "In Your Eyes" pulled at the heartstrings, and their version of "Halllelujah" was richer, more melodious and more engaging than Jeff Buckley's.

Let's face it, these guys are awesome, anyway. Among their collective experience are a variety of very successful tours in regional bands and solo performances, and all of the other hallmarks of a successful career in the upper ranks of musicians.

Diggy, in addition to much solo success in his own right has had opening gigs for The Wallflowers,Tori Amos, Chris Whitley, Gov't Mule, Duncan Sheik, Jars of Clay,
Keb Mo, Alejandro Escavedo, Chris Whitley, legendary folk singer Eric Andersen, The Maryjanes, and Those Darn Accordions. He has also worked with producers who previously earned their keep with Bruce Hornsby and the Range, and with Bonnie Raitt.

Rick Elias' music appeared in the 1996 hit movie That Thing You Do, Dawson’s Creek, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, as well as numerous other albums, independent films, and TV shows. Rick has also produced artists such as Rich Mullins, Amy Grant, Aaron Neville, Michael W. Smith, and many others. Rick's work has been nominated and awarded by the GMA, UCMVA, and the Nashville Music Awards, and his first solo record was voted as one of the top 100 greatest albums in Christian music by CCM magazine.

Mark W. Winchester played bass on the multi-million selling, Grammy-winning, "Jump, Jive, and Wail" and became a full time member of the Brian Setzer Orchestra from 1997-2001. Throughout his tenure with the Orchestra, Setzer encouraged Mark W. to step out front, even asking him to sing his own composition "Rooster Rock" on the Setzer release "Ignition" (surf dog). Emmylou Harris enlisted Mark W. to "slap" the upright bass in her Grammy Award-winning all acoustic band, the Nash Ramblers. He is also an accomplished songwriter with several cuts including Randy Travis' recording of his song "Would I?" which ranked in the top 20 of the Billboard Country charts.

I can't find a website for the 4th guy, or I'd detail his resume for you, too. But the long and the short of it is that you don't find cover bands of this caliber in other places. It is part of the magic of Nashville. The bottom line is that we are a little spoiled...and we like it!

Coming Soon:
The Diggy Band at Sambuca
July 10-11
July 24-25

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Leith Loftin -- Naomi Judd is being Short Sighted

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 02:01:00 +0000

The new season of Can You Duet (CMT) has begun and I finally got around to watching the premiere on my DVR. I knew about some of the top duets, and have even seen one of them perform around town. But today I am going to write about one of contestants competing as a "single" to be partnered with another single to form a duet -- Leith Loftin.

He made it to the top 7 singles from the singles section. In fact he was in demand among the 7 to partner up. And in a relatively late turn of events, he decided to partner with a guy singer (Matt) instead of a girl singer (Ashley). This left Ashley as the last man out, not picked to be on anyone's schoolyard kickball team -- a turn of events which the producers made much of. In the end, Leith was dropped in the last five minutes of the premiere episode...the final cut before the season's tv cast is formally announced (although Country Weekly has published a preview.)

Naomi drove home a point that Matt was "one of the best male vocalists they had seen all day," and that they were cutting Leith because ,while he is a charmer and "will always have a bar gig," he just isn't good enough. And before it was all over both Ashley and Matt made it to the next cut.

Now, I actually have a tremendous amount of respect for Mama Judd. I mean, she raised some highly talented and independent women with a significant amount of talent in their own right. She was committed to her career in nursing, and since then has proven phenomenal business savvy and a gift for performance that has leveraged her, um, "musical ability" to incredible effect. She knew that the combination of her performance skills and Wynonna's amazing voice would create a "package" that was greater than the sum of its parts. And did so to history-making success for more than a decade and then launched Wynonna onto a stage of her own for another decade (and counting). Naomi is no shrinking violet or voice to be discounted.

BUT...I'm not sure I am with her on this one.

I met Leith about a year ago on his first night as a bartender at Nero's Grill here in Nashville. I was on a girls night with my friend Angie and it all started with a damn good martini. What may not come across on tv is that the guy isn't just charming, or even just charismatic. He oooooozes pheremones. I have rarely encountered someone with as much raw interpersonal pull.

After an enjoyable night of harmless flirty chatting with the bartender, Angie and I left and continued our hen fest in the parking lot. (You know when you finally get the call to hang out with your friend who is just emerging from the hermit-hood of the first year of marriage? It was THAT night.)

In fact we were still talking when Leith came out to his truck, which was parked near my car. So we talked some more. And he tells us he is a singer/songwriter. Mind you, like most Nashvillians, Angie and I have been in this conversation before and are well aware of the incredibly slim odds of this guy ever getting anywhere, much less being any good. In fact, our response was probably a more polite version of the initial audience response to Susan Boyle, "Oh really? A songwriter?" Soon followed, in an attempt at covering our disdain, with, "Have you written anything we would have heard?" We were basically just playing along.

He put in a demo CD of a song called "Don't Pull It Out (Unless You're Gonna Use It)" -- and shame on you ...it was about a knife, a credit card, and a guitar. It was incredibly clever, well written, well constructed, and well performed. Angie and I looked at each other and had to consciously pull our respective jaws off the ground. THIS bartender a.k.a. singer/songwriter guy was actually really, really good at his craft!!

Now here's the thing. The Can You Duet judges recognized, acknowledged and coached people through nerves when they were manifested as shyness, meekness, or not singing to or connecting with the judges. But somehow they missed the guy who is a seasoned enough performer to channel his nerves at being an almost finalist on a national tv show by using his god-given charm that has stood him in such good stead when he needed to man up to a scary situation for his whole life. And maybe, yes, maybe it came across as a little heavy handed.

But frankly, I think there might have been a little more Mother Hen than Mama Judd in Naomi's final comments to Leith. I mean, who are we kidding? Producers talk. I have no reason not to think that her feathers may have been understandably ruffled when Leith left cute, unspoiled, talented little Ashley stranded in the green room.

So here's what I have to say: Leith is an exceptional prospect for Music Row. He's got a lot of raw talent and performance skill. He has some natural gifts that will be a powerful tool as he works with the support of a label to build an audience. And he has some real chops as a songwriter -- more than most new artists, I dare say. I think Naomi's response was more tough love than a denouncement of his talent -- and a denouncement is exactly how it came across on tv.

Big personalities drive big emotional responses...and maybe Leith needs to work a little bit on managing that phenomenon to his benefit, at least until he makes it big and can be a jerk with impunity. (Why did you think I said John Rich out loud? I didn't say anything at all about John Rich.) He needs some Bill Clinton/Garth Brooks lessons on how to read a room and come out on top even after a (sometimes inevitable) gaff. What he doesn't need is an unnecessary and unwarranted indictment of his talent.

I really hope that Leith is able to leverage this experience with someone -- another producer, A&R rep, or label rep -- to get the support and artist development that would take his talent to the next level. He's got the stuff. He just needs the right team. He might still be a little rough, but Can You Duet is supposed to be finding the diamonds in the rough and helping to polish them. That's kinda the point.

The whole season was filmed, over, and in the can before the premiere, so everyone involved is sworn to secrecy about the outcome. We, the audience, will just have to follow along to find out what has already happened with this cast. I still have very high hopes for lots of the performers who made it to the Top 10 Duets. But in the meantime, throw a little love out for Leith. He really took it on the chin for no good reason.

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Rachel Williams's CD Release Party

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:33:00 +0000

All right, Rachel is hot. I gotta give it to her...the girl can sing. And today is Rachel's day. Today she is releasing a new 7 song EP called Lovers and Liars. It is available for download on her site and on Amazon and coming soon to iTunes.

I recently saw Rachel sing most of these songs at a songwriter's round at the Bluebird Cafe. The round was organized by Karleen Watt -- an exceptionally gifted young writer on the Nashville scene that always introduces me to great talent! (you'll hear more about her, I promise!)

Rachel is one of those singers who has found her voice...she can pull you into the song with her and take you on the ride. You could totally envision her voice and these songs in rotation on the radio. It really just comes down to what kind of support she gets on the Row -- which comes down to what kind of support she can get from fans like us.

So let's hit a few of the highlights so you will find yourself supporting our young artist before you realize what has happened.

The title song Lovers and Liars starts with the line

You took a wrecking ball to my heart
without even blinking

Now who among us hasn't been there???
This one is an anthem about lessons learned the hard way.

You'd think that I'd know better by now
But it's always too late by the time I find out
And I'm startin' to wonder
If I'll ever know the difference between
the smoke and the fire
Lovers and liars

It's universal, it's up tempo, and it's catchy. That's got the makin's of a hit song. It could hold its own against any country diva on the radio. (editor's note: It turns out Karleen is a co-writer for this one. I KNEW I liked this song!!)

A Woman to Love is an enjoyable female definition of what love ought to look like. Women everywhere will sing along at the top of their lungs, nod their heads and then look wistfully away and wish it were so.

Unboken Ground manages to take a real life relationship with warts and all and take it to an upbeat place with a morale to the story that reminds us that the good things don't come easy.

We'll never find the truth
with the words unspoken
or get to the love
with the ground unbroken.

You Let Me is a speech that any of us have given to a lover on their way out the door who left you heartbroken and strung along when they were just passing through all along. It manages to use a 3 minute song with a good hook to tap into the complicated feelings of anger and betrayal, loss and blame, and self doubt for having bought into the fairy tale to begin with. And it sticks with you...humming the chorus far longer than you would think.

Where My Line Is tells all about how "you won't cross that line again on me." You get the idea of that one. It's an uptempo diva song with an emphatic tone that women will take as their own when they need a little extra umph to hold the line in their own life.

So download a tune, go to the release party and hear my girl Karleen play her own compositions, and generally rise to the challenge to support an amazing young singer/songwriter as she travels the gravel paths on Music Row.

CD RELEASE PARTY
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24TH
3rd & Lindsley
Nashville, TN
6PM-9PM

Special performances by:
Karen Staley
Mark Narmore
Sara Beck
Karleen Watt
Bruce Wallace
Bonnie Baker

Joanna Cotten -- my favorite new find of Tin Pan South 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:11:00 +0000

TPS is rife with talent. This year I got to see the incomparable Jeffrey Steele, the hot delta rhythms of Rivers Rutherford, the always impressive Jonell Mosser, and even a surprisingly good song from Nashville Star alum Lance Miller (listen for a Faith Hill single called Unjaded in the indefinite future). But frankly, I knew I would love these guys before I ever walked in the door.

Joanna Cotten took me by surprise. She has a unique sound...with just plain rediculously good vocals. She tells her own musical story in Funkabilly:

If you wanna know where I'm comin' from
You gotta cross that bridge into Memphis, son.

and later

From the cotton fields of Arkansas
Down the mighty Mississippi to the Mardi Gras
Let me hear you yell from the country to the city
Gimme that deep down funkabilly!!

and of course the line that speaks to the genre gumbo that is my soul:

Gospel or Country
Rhythm and Blues
Ain't nothin' but a Southern girl showing off her roots!

There are some other gems in her repertoire...no shortage of them, actually. But I'm going to do you a favor and just point you in the right direction. Download them and pepper some soul into your iPod playlist...or burn a CD to liven up your morning commute.

Tin Pan South - the Best Annual Event in Nashville

noreply@blogger.com (Drea of NashVegas) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:41:00 +0000

The end of March/beginning of April heralds a festival that isn't particularly well known outside of the songwriter community...even to the locals. Tin Pan South brings together some of the biggest hitmakers in the industry to raise money for the intellectual property rights of songwriters -- you know, the folks who get screwed out of royalties when people illegally download music.

The festival is a fundraiser for legislative advocacy efforts of Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). They partner with anywhere from 7 to 12 local venues to do 2 shows a night for 4-5 nights. And frankly, you can't go wrong in picking a show. If you threw a dart at the schedule you could be pretty confident that you would see a good show.

I don't make it every year because it really is an investment of money as well as time and focus. See, in order to get into the best shows you have to have the weeklong pass which is only sold in advance. This year the pass cost $90 for non NSAI members, $80 for members. They tell you that you can go to the door at a given venue and see a single show, but I have seen many, many people turned away because the people with passes have already filled the place to capacity. The pass does help you avoid most cover charges (except the Bluebird which still has a $7 minimum per person). And of course, you don't want to go alone. So by the time you have spent $180, you kind of want to get your money's worth, which means really commiting to the week long musical pub crawl. Luckily, it's not that hard to get excited about!

It is fairly common to see some guest performers at these shows...artists you have heard from radio play that are trying to help draw a crowd for the cause. Here's a hint...by the end of the night the person you thought was going to be the highlight of the night will have succeeded only in turning you on to a little known songwriter who entranced you all night long.

In the tradition of Songwriters in the Round/Row, performers are constrained to only sing songs they have written...with a little leeway given to artists who don't happen to write but want to be part of the party anyway. Each writer takes a turn and they continue down the row/ around the circle until each has had as many turns as they can fit into the show. Often, several of the writers have written together, and in these cases you may find them playing along or singing harmonies -- which is cool! And it is not unusual for them to call up their friends from the audience to sit in for a song, which means you are likely to get exposed to even more talent than was advertised.

The performances are generally acoustic...just a singer and a guitar or a singer with keyboard...so even if you have some bias against country music, you will be fine in this environment. First of all, you will have access to most genres of music, and secondly a guitar is not a banjo...you have to really work to make it twang. It'll be ok, I promise. Good musicianship and a well told story is captivating in any genre.

It takes a little strategy to plan your transportation from the first show to the second. If you can pick shows that are near each other you will be much more likely to get an earlier place in line and thus, get into the second show. And yes, they clear out the whole place before the second show, so even an attempt to beat the system by going to the same club for both shows comes with some amount of risk.

To get into shows at the Bluebird Cafe, generally acknowledged to be the premier songwriter venue in Nashville, you will still need to either make a reservation or stand in their standing room only line...the pass won't help you there.

By the end of the week you will be exhausted -- happy and filled to the brim with musical satisfaction -- but exhausted. So make sure to plan a day or two to recuperate from your vacation.

What can I say? Magic takes a lt of energy.