Ten Out of Tenn Christmas Show @ Exit/In 12/13/09

I arrived at the Exit/In at just a few minutes after 8:00pm, right when doors were opening, and as I approached the venue in my car I began to see the line that wrapped around the block. This sold out performance by Ten Out of Tenn could only be described as phenomenal. This immensely talented group of ten songwriters, friends, and musicians came together to perform each others original songs as well as some remarkably refreshing versions of older Christmas songs. In order to get a feel for some of the songs that were performed, this incarnation of Ten Out of Tenn is made up of Matthew Perryman Jones (right above), Katie Herzig, Tyler James, k.s. Rhoads (left above), Andy Davis, Erin McCarley, Jeremy Lister, Butterfly Boucher, Andrew Belle, and Trent Dabbs with a surprise performance from former touring member Griffin House, who just got back from touring with The Cranberries.
In addition to being great musicians, these people have their hearts in the right place and strongly support Mocha Club by going out of their way to use their beautiful music to promote this wonderful cause. Mocha Club is based on the idea that if you gave up $7 a month (the price of two mochas), you could contribute to different projects that would have an incredible, positive, impact on the people of Africa who could benefit so much from just a little help from each of us. Click on "Mocha Club" above or follow the link below to learn more.
As the band wrapped up their individual songs, they came together for one last song, and brought the crowd in on the singing, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon. It was an incredibly moving moment and a perfect one to end the night on.

Artists in picture from left to right (k.s. Rhoads, Tyler James, Andrew Belle, Matthew Perryman Jones, Jeremy Lister, Trent Dabbs, Griffin House, friend, Erin McCarley, Katie Herzig)
Links:
www.myspace.com/tenoutoftenn
www.myspace.com/mpjmusic
www.myspace.com/katieherzig
www.myspace.com/tylerjames
www.myspace.com/ksrhoads
www.myspace.com/andydavis
www.myspace.com/erinmccarley
www.myspace.com/jeremylister
www.myspace.com/butterflyboucher
www.myspace.com/andrewbelle
www.myspace.com/trentdabbs
www.myspace.com/griffinhouse
www.mochaclub.org

Other pictures from the night:

Brendan Benson and Cory Chisel @ Exit/In 12/12/09

On Saturday night I walked through the door at the Exit/In just as Cory Chisel (left) was hitting the first note of his first song to kick off what would be my first Cory Chisel live experience. Chisel, originally from Wisconsin, had a great voice, great band, great songs, and the perfect stage demeanor to make his set nothing short of superb. Checking in with the audience with a quick "How'ya doin out there" or "Everybody feeling good?" every couple of songs, the crowd cheered back with an extact "WOO" that typically translates to "Yeah I'm having a fun time", but this wasn't the only thing that Chisel asked of the audience. When it came time to do an acoustic guitar/vocal duet with keyboard player Adriel Harris, Chisel asked the audience to quiet down promising that if we were quiet enough to hear Harris sing it would be worth every minute of silence and he was right. The two performed a beautiful duet to a nearly quiet crowd that exploded with applause at its conclusion. From full out rocking songs to beautiful duets to a song that was heavily influenced by Otis Redding, Chisel has staked his claim in the Nashville rock scene. If you haven't heard his latest release, which was recorded at Blackbird Studios with a whole host of Nashville musicians most of which are of the Raconteur crowd, then as Chisel recommends, "...go to Grimey's and pick up a copy." As Chisel finished up his set, the Exit/In became more crowded and if it wasn't sold out by the time Brendan Benson took the stage then it was pretty close.
Benson (right), one of the founding members of The Raconteurs, has been touring this fall and winter in promotion of his new record, "My Old Familiar Friend" which is out on ATO records. Performing many of the songs from this record, Benson and his band were the personification of rock and roll. Some of my favorite songs from his new album that went over especially well with the crowd were "A Whole Lot Better" and "Garbage Day". While Benson is a founding of the Raconteurs, the songs are distinctly different from the Raconteurs, which makes his set a fun, new way, to see into Benson's creativity. In addition to playing a laundry list of incredible original tunes, Benson invited Chisel to join him on stage for a two song Tom Petty encore that consisted of "American Girl" and "Listen To Her Heart", which was an instantaneous crowd favorite. If you were unable to get to the show on Saturday night try your best to keep tabs on when Benson is playing in town again and be there.


Links:
www.myspace.com/thewanderingsons
www.myspace.com/brendanbenson


Other pictures from the night:












(Cory Chisel)






























(Brendan Benson)

A Very Delta Christmas @ The Mercy Lounge 12/8/09

It 'twas a Very Delta Christmas at The Mercy Lounge on Tuesday night, as The Delta Saints (pictured above) brought together some of Nashville's best up-and-coming acts to bring in the holiday season with a bang. Even though the whether was cold and rainy, that didn't stop hundreds of fans from coming out to support their favorite locals and making the night one of my favorites of this chillier season.
The first of four acts were The Westbound Rangers. Joined initially by the incredibly talented Greg Hommert of the Delta Saints on harmonica, the Rangers and Hommert did a rendition of "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree" that got everyone in the Christmas spirit. While they were the one of only two bands to play a Christmas song it was fun and sufficient in fulfilling the need for at least one Christmas song at this Very Delta Christmas. For those of you not familiar with The Westbound Rangers, they are a four piece americana/folk band that features guitar, mandolin, banjo, and upright bass. While the guys are hesitant to be called a "bluegrass" band, which they aren't, there are some definite roots in bluegrass in their music. What makes them different from bluegrass bands is that they pull from many different influences outside of that genre in order to make it much more of the americana variety. In addition to their great stage banter, the Rangers have many songs that the crowd was familiar with, including a theme song that has everyone screaming "WESTBOUND RANGERS" at the top of their lungs during the call and response part of the chorus. After the ruckus Westbound Rangers finished up their set, it was time for The Hollywood Ten to take the stage.
The Hollywood Ten are one of the most unique and powerfully emotive rock bands in Nashville. Period. With the incredible principal lyricist and songwriter Ben Ford (right) at the helm, the band has gained acclaim from many local fans and American Songwriter Magazine. When this powerhouse of a songwriter is teamed up with his equally talented brother, Michael Ford, Jr. (left) on bass and background vocals, the combination is magic. The brothers share an energy with the crowd that I have yet to see be matched by any other band in Nashville. That being said, if you have been following The Hollywood Ten at all in the past year you know that ever since Michael Ford began focusing more on his band Michael Ford, Jr. and The Apache Relay, his presence at a Hollywood Ten show as a band member is never certain. With a cast of incredible musicians rotating through The Hollywood Ten right now, Ben Ford is beginning to re-nail down a band that I think will continue to be one of the best in this town. The band performed song after song that had the entire crowd singing and dancing; and the singing and dancing would only continue as the Delta Saints took the stage next.
Being the only band that I know of in Nashville that, with unparalleled creativity, takes the delta blues and redefines it by mixing southern rock, heavy rock, delta blues, and a little hip-hop feel, this band is seriously one of the most talented groups out there right now. Every single member of this band is extremely talented and they don't hold back. The ground moving vocals of Ben Ringle(center), complimented by the dueling slide guitar and harmonica of John Shaw (far left) and Greg Hommert (left), and backed by one of the funkiest, hardest hitting, rhythm sections consisting of Ben Azzi (right) and David Supica (left in band picture above), this band is practically unstoppable. From crowd favorites "Steppin" to their closer "Momma" fans were dancing, drinking, and having a blast, so much so that the Saints got an encore as the third band of four, which allowed them to do their incredible rendition of "I Want You" by the Beatles that transitioned flawlessly into "I Feel Good" by James Brown. Leaving the crowd screaming and cheering "Delta, Delta, Delta", the band headed back into the greenroom.
Following this act is something that I would never want to do, but bravery is one of the many great virtues of the well-rounded and exceptionally talented Steve Moakler, who is destined to be one of the next big pop acts out of Nashville. Moakler, originally from Pittsburgh, PA., has a knack for writing pop songs that are exquisitely catchy and guaranteed to get stuck in your head, which in all honesty works well for me because I don't mind hearing them on repeat along side my other thoughts. As Moakler powered through his set playing one great song after another his Nashville fan base showed their support and enjoyed every moment of the rare full band performance.


Links:
www.myspace.com/thewestboundrangers
www.myspace.com/thehollywoodten
www.myspace.com/thedeltasaints
www.myspace.com/stevemoakler

Other pictures from the night:

















(Westbound Rangers)



















(The Hollywood Ten)































(The Delta Saints)

Soundforest.org Xmas Tree Ball @ The Mercy Lounge 12/4/09

Friday night Soundforest.org had their first annual Christmas Tree Ball at the Mercy Lounge as part of the Sweet Water sponsored concert series called "Winter of Dreamz II" that has several more featured events for the month of December and one in January. As a part of this night three Nashville acts got together to help out Soundforest.org, which is a local non-profit company that brings together a community of people that are interested in planting trees to try and offset carbon emissions. The "sound" part of Sound Forest is referring to the fact that a large part of this community is musicians who are all coming together to support this great cause. If you go to their website you may even see some familiar faces sporting the company's new t-shirts that, when purchased, pays to plant a tree. Because the night was themed as such, there were several Christmas trees surrounding the Sound Forest table and fake snow falling as, the appropriately named Tallest Trees, Karius Vega, and The Protomen brought fans at the Mercy Lounge a taste of some of the unique music that this city has to offer.
Kicking off the night were Tallest Trees, whom I extremely enjoyed. This being my first time seeing them, I did not know what to expect as the three members took the stage, one being the drummer, and the other two being singers that had platforms holding an array of electronic instruments that were foreign to my eye. In addition to this, one of the members played electric guitar and a mini piano, the other played acoustic guitar, and at some points both added additional percussion. The band's unique mixture of live and electronic instruments was superb as they sampled in recorded vocals on top of their own, while building songs from basic drums, keys, and guitar, to full fledged multi-layered beings. With the addition of Karius Vega's background videos covering the entirety of the back of the stage, the band's songs felt as though they were the soundtrack of life.
Following the conclusion of Tallest Trees, Karius Vega continued playing the video but began spinning some of his own tracks. The video that Vega used was designed and created by Vega and added to his infectious dance music. The dance music continued pumpin until The Protomen came on.
The Protomen put on one of the most unique live performances of any band in Nashville. Beginning with an intro hyping up the crowd, who fervently pledged their allegiance to The Protomen, the band took the stage decked out in the all black attire, face paint, and helmet that have helped them to develop their image and garner avid support from their dedicated fan base. The Protomen's version of rock and roll has its influences in 80s rock, hard rock, and hair metal, with an overall hint of rock opera. With this blend of influences the band took their fans into rock and roll battle and, as their hypeman so epically declared, "On this night we battle for trees" and I'm pretty sure they won.

You can catch Tallest Trees and The Protomen for free on Thursday, December 17th with Majestico and Parachute Musical for the Miller Made Music Showcase at the Exit/In, as well as Karius Vega on new years eve for the Moon Taxi New Years Eve party at the Exit/In.

Links:
www.myspace.com/tallesttrees
www.myspace.com/kariusvega
www.myspace.com/theprotomen
www.soundforest.org

Other pictures from the show:

















(Karius Vega)


















(Tallest Trees playing percussion on top of looped instruments)


















(The Protomen with Santa)

Roman Candle, Wild Sweet Orange, and Madi Diaz @ The Mercy Lounge 12/3/09

The Mercy Lounge filled up on Thursday night as three bands from three different cities came together to provide an impeccable night of music.
The first of 3 is one of the best local artists in town, Madi Diaz (pictured above). With her extremely talented and well rehearsed band, Madi Diaz has developed a sound that is full, yet allows her beautiful vocals to sit perfectly within her highly emotive pop songs. In addition to performing many of my favorite songs off of her latest record, Ten Gun Salute, Diaz also featured several new songs off of her upcoming full length release, which she is currently tracking at Smoakstack Studios here in Nashville. If you live in Nashville and haven't been out to see Madi Diaz, make it the number one item on your list of things to do, and once you see her, you will be so happy that you did.
Once Madi Diaz and her band finished up their set, Wild Sweet Orange took the stage. Wild Sweet Orange is a five piece band from Birmingham which consists of bass, drums, 3 guitars, and 5 band members that can sing. The fact that there were 3 guitar players, and at least 3 people singing for the majority of the set, provided the band the opportunity to create some deep and intricate textures within their folk-rock sound. As Wild Sweet Orange brought their set to a close, I walked backstage to hang out with Madi and her band for a moment as we waited for the final act to take the stage, Roman Candle.
Roman Candle, based out of my hometown Chapel Hill, NC, brought new meaning to the word "rock" with lead singer Skip taking the stage by force with his high energy stage maneuvers which consisted of some pretty impressive jumps and spins, as well as man-handling of the mic stand; all of which only served to add to the band's catchy indie rock and roll sound. While the band is based out of my hometown, this was actually my first encounter with their live show. As I stated above I was very impressed with their level of energy, but what I was also impressed with was the band's control over their dynamics and the accessibility of their songs. Being one of several hundred that were in attendance at the show on Thursday, it was fun to watch dedicated fans singing along with most every word out of Skip's mouth. Also, another point of note is that this band has been extremely busy recording, when not on the road, releasing 3 EPs and 1 full length album in the past year. While the band is done touring for 2009, you can find out about tour announcements from their website or myspace.

Links:
www.myspace.com/madidiaz
www.myspace.com/wildsweetorange
www.myspace.com/romancandle

Other pictures from the night:

WRVU Benefit Show @ The End 11/19/09

Thursday night at The End was the WRVU benefit show, which featured several local Nashville rock bands and DJs in between sets. In addition to this, it was the Cheer Up Charlie Daniels vinyl release show.
The first band of the night that I caught was Power Brrrd, a trio that reminded me very much of some older punk bands that I saw while I was in high school where it is all about the pure energy of the performance. The band rocked out for their entire 40 minute set, switched instruments 3 or 4 times during that period, and congratulated each other at the end of each song by saying "Good job Power Brrrd". After melting as many faces as possible, Westfolk took the stage.
Westfolk, formally known as Oscar Anthony and the Westfolk Band, is a 6 piece rock and roll band that is heavily influenced by the 1960s and 70s rock era. While the feel of their tunes are of that era, they bring a modern edge to the genre, which allows them to rejuvenate the older style and bring new life to that sound.
After Westfolk was Cheer Up Charlie Daniels, whom were celebrating the release of their new vinyl record "Live from '79". Some of you may be confused for a second about this title, I know that I was, but what they are referring to is "Welcome to 1979 Studios", an all analog studio, where the band recorded their live performance straight to 16 track analog tape. Covered in face paint with a movie projected over the stage right wall of The End, the band kicked off their set with the first song off of their new record and never looked back.

Below are some other pictures from the night.































Links:
www.myspace.com/powerbrrrd
www.myspace.com/westfolkband
www.myspace.com/cheerupcharliedaniels

Paleface & Michael Ford Jr. and the Apache Relay @ The End 11/16/09

If you were looking for a night of fun americana music, Monday night at The End was the place to be. Nationally touring act, and Ramseur Records recording artist, Paleface brought their unique and undeniably fun show to the stage as the acoustic guitar/drum duo played songs from their new album "The Show Is On The Road" as well as other tunes. With obvious roots in folk and blues, Paleface brings that familiar feel to his songs but with a new twist that is based on the edginess of their live performance and the rawness of the fact that it is just a duo performing them. One thing that I liked in particular about their set is that they were visibly having a lot of fun playing the show. Paleface was dancing and running around the stage nearly the entire time while Mo was holding it down on the drums and bgv's. This energy was definitely felt and given back by the audience as they danced and sang along with Paleface.
After Paleface ended their set, Michael Ford Jr. and the Apache Relay took the stage. As always, the band brought a high level of energy to their performance, but also changed up their set a little bit this night with a few new experiments that I very much enjoyed. One of these experiments happened about halfway through their set as all of the band members playing stringed instruments stepped to the front of the stage, in front of the mics, and performed a song sans PA, which had the crowd silent as they intently listened to the band. In addition to this, they tried out some new songs, all of which went over really well. The band does not currently have any other Nashville shows booked right now, but keep an eye on their myspace for announcements about new shows.

Links:
www.myspace.com/mfjrandtheapacherelay
www.myspace.com/palefaceonline


Other pictures from the show:

Brett Dennen @ The Cannery Ballroom 11/13/09

Sadly, on Friday night I arrived at the Cannery Ballroom just in time to hear Grace Potter end. I had figured at the time that showing up at 9:20 or so on a Friday night the opener would surely still be rockin, but I was mistaken. Fortunately I have seen Grace Potter before and know how awesome her set is, nevertheless I was still slightly disgruntled by the fact that I only got to hear one song and that it was totally my fault. Luckily, although I didn't know it at the time, I was in for a new live music experience that would push aside all of my disgruntled feelings and replace them with the sweet sounds of California.
Before attending this show I had only heard a few of Brett Dennen's songs, but ever since leaving the show I have had my favorite songs from the night on repeat.
Dennen, whom is based out of Oakdale, California, brings an eclectic mix of influences to his insanely catchy pop songs that had the audience at the Cannery singing and dancing from start to finish. Not only were people singing on their own, but Dennen's crowd interaction was phenomenal with several great call and response parts and some of his own lyrical riffing that made the night a unique experience.

Another unique thing about the night was the demographics of the crowd. Observing this allowed me to realize that Dennen's music transcends age groups from younger college age students to people of my parents generation. This may be due to the fact that Dennen's brilliant blend of California rock with diverse rhythms and vocal tones that are reminiscent of Paul Simon, make Dennen's peaceful perspective on life accessible to pretty much any audience.

If you have friends in any of the cities that Dennen is playing in on the rest of this tour, be sure to let them know that this is a show that they don't want miss.

www.myspace.com/brettdennen






Other photos from the night:

ASCAP Rocks The Basement @ The Basement 11/11/09

This ASCAP night at The Basement was nothing short of great! With indie/americana acts taking the stage all night, the display of incredible talent never ended.
While I happened to not make it in time for the first act, the second act that played was Jill Andrews of The Everybodyfields, which was really a special treat. Her songs were beautifully done with great dynamics and feeling, which were conveyed through her lyrics, vocals, and backing band in such a way that you actually found yourself seeing and feeling the imagery described in the songs.
The next act was Keegan Dewitt, a local song writer whom I have seen play on several different occasions and am always excited to see is on the bill of any show that I am attending. Dewitt performed this night as an acoustic duo, which allows the audience to hear his indie-folk songs in a raw, almost elemental, way as his record has a full band and gives insight into how the song may have been when he originally wrote the tunes. He also announced that he will soon be doing a European tour.
After Dewitt was one of my favorite local bands, Michael Ford Jr. and the Apache Relay. These guys bring a level of excitement and passion to their music that is absolutely infectious. From the moment this band steps on stage you can feel their energy as they bring a rock and roll aspect to the americana genre. If you aren't doing anything on Monday, November 16th, make sure that you are at The End seeing them perform with Allen Thompson and Paleface.


Links:
www.myspace.com/jillandrewsmusic
www.myspace.com/keegandewittmusic
www.myspace.com/mfjrandtheapacherelay

Mikky Ekko Showcase @ The Basement 11/10/09

If you were one of the many people in attendance at The Basement on Tuesday night, you will be able to attest to the fact that this packed out show was one of extremely high energy. Mikky Ekko delivered his performance with commanding stage presence and powerful vocals. With songs that have an unique, emotive, spacious feel that envelopes the audience, while also weaving in textures of pop and rock, listeners couldn't help but feel the energy and bob their heads along with the beat. Be sure to check out the next Mikky Ekko on December 17th @ 12th and Porter with Sarah Silva & We The Living.
www.myspace.com/mikkyekko