Danny Ellis, House Concert, Nashville, 11/8/09

When Laurie McClain was a guest on my radio show "Never Too Old" back in September, she was raving about an artist she had met named Danny Ellis. She brought his CD "800 Voices" with her to our interview and asked me if I'd play something off the album. I did and was quite impressed. So, when she invited me to a house concert she was hosting for Danny, I was happy to accept.

Dublin-born Danny Ellis held a group of about 25-30 of us in Laurie's living room totally enthralled with his stories and songs from the "800 Voices" CD about his life in the Irish orphanage Artane Industrial School, run by the Irish Christian Brothers. Due to his parents' divorce and his mother's illness, Danny, his twin brothers and sisters were placed in orphanages. Danny was placed in the Artane School at age eight. As one of 800 boys at the school ranging from ages 8-16, he had to learn to adjust to life in an institution with an infamous reputation. Yet, it was here that he discovered his love for music. He told stories and weaved in songs of how it got him through his time at Artane, listening to it sung in chapel ("Tommy Bonner") and playing trombone in the band ("The Artane Boys Band"). There were also many songs and tales about shenanigans with bullies and buddies ("Who Trew Da Boot?"). Music also became his ticket out of Artane when he turned 16, taking his trombone skills to several show bands.

A couple of fascinating stories: shortly before Danny left Artane, he learned that two of the twin boys he helped teach music to were his lost brothers. After "800 Voices" was released, through a series of circumstances, he managed to also track down Tommy Bonner, the school's chapel singer that he admired so much.

Danny's songs and performance of them were moving and inspiring. There is talk of possible theater and film adaptations of Danny's story.

A memorable afternoon of music, potluck food and fellow music lovers. Turns out I knew several others who were there besides the folks who invited me. That's small town Nashville for you. Thanks, Danny and Laurie.

George Adams, Red Tree Coffee 11/5/09

It's all about the vibe. It doesn't matter whether it's a large or a small crowd. When everyone's on the same page and paying attention to who's playing on stage and the performer's feeling that, drawing on it and giving it back to the audience, that's when the magic happens.

Tonight was one of those examples. In the cozy setting of Red Tree Coffee, George Adams did one very fine set consisting of several songs from his "Anthology" CD and some of his favorite cover songs. The first time I caught him live, which was just over a year ago, I thought he had one of the finest voices I've heard in Nashville. His set proved that once again and showed his wide vocal range well.

A few highlights: "Fuel To The Fire" (Think Marc Anthony with a band on this one. Well, yours truly did dig the rhythm egg out of her purse and played along...); "Hold On To Love", a beauty of a song from George's "Secrets" band days; "Stronger Than Words", a keyboard-driven song that also worked well done on guitar and with that great falsetto toward the end; very nice renditions of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and the Larry Gatlin song "I've Done Enough Dying Today". George was also joined for a duet by his friend, local singer/songwriter Annie Sims.

George heads back to sea in December for another run as a cruise ship featured entertainer. Check out more of his music at his MySpace page.

Weekend Roundup 10/17-18

The Fillin' Station - Kingston Springs, TN

I'm not one that's real comfortable with going to bars a lot unless there's someone I really want to hear play. I don't even drink and bars are not the place I would go to find the guy of my dreams who would have my non-negotiable ideal traits. But the Fillin' Station in Kingston Springs, just a couple of stops over from my other favorite area hangout, Red Tree Coffee, is a bit different. It's a nice bar, as bars go. It has a friendly, "Cheers"-like atmosphere, small, intimate, and features a lot of great music 4 or 5 nights a week. In fact, the owner, Patrick Weickenand, played harmonica with the group War during the 80s and you can catch him filling in on harmonica behind the bar now and then when someone's playing.

On the previous week there, my friends and I caught a great crowd-pleasing set by Mark Elliott and Gary Culley, and the first of two gigs George Adams played in the area since being back in town after five months of performing on the Carnival Legend cruise ship. This weekend, we made a special trip out to the Fillin' Station to hear more from a group with a regular Friday gig there: the Mohawk Slim Band, a blues power trio led by guitarist/vocalist Sandy Blair (sporting the mohawk!), with Terry Browne on bass and Mark Willoughby on drums. Sandy's an awesome guitarist who likes to wander through the crowd playing and when the spirit moves he'll even jump up on the bar and play. This evening the group was also joined by friends sitting in for a few numbers, one being blues vocalist Miranda Louise, who impressed us a lot. We had such a great time that we stuck it out till the end of the evening... a little late for us but a lot of fun!

Doak Turner's 3rd Sunday

As I normally do, I headed for Doak Turner's 3rd Sunday songwriter potluck get-together. This month Doak celebrated 7 years in Nashville and being an encourager and positive influence on songwriters and those who love them (my kind of person!). Even the weather cooperated for this one...the sun came out and a lot of us were able to enjoy food and friendship outdoors before evening. Many people I know that I haven't seen there for a while also showed up...which meant lots of hugs to and from me. I love it.

Usually my mode of operation there is to jump restlessly from room to room and try to catch as many people play as possible. But this time my buddies Sam Cooper and Mary Hartman were both here, so I decided to follow them to whatever room they were playing at. Before long, we were joined by Don and Karen McNatt, Patti Higgins (debuting her first completed songwriting collaboration with Karen--a special moment for her and us), our buddy Anyta and other talented folks whose names I didn't get but they know who they are (and will of course if they see this!). There's always a great chemistry when friends and collaborators Sam and Mary team up to play. This time, though, there was such a special spirit in the room with all of us coming together and really getting into what was happening that I wasn't going anywhere.

Speaking of debuts, this was also my debut as a round-playing musician. Some time ago I picked up one of those percussion "rhythm eggs". I've been having fun playing it along to songs. (I did make an earlier appearance playing the egg while on stage with my radio buddy T.J. Kirby when we emceed the band intermission at Music in the Park at Pegram Park. We played CDs for the kids to hula hoop to--T.J. sang along on stage and I played percussion.) Sam, Mary, Karen and Don were very encouraging to me to take out my egg and play percussion. Also, special thanks to Jack Boucher for the rhythm sticks he gave me. You know what...it worked and it sounded good. I also felt great...now I sort of understand the rush my musician friends get while playing. Do I have a future here? Who knows! :)

Only in Nashville can a gal who claims to have no musical talent find a place in the band. I love this town.

Orleans and Friends 9/25/09-Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb 9/26/09

Back to back concerts on a weekend in Nashville = late nights with little sleep = one very interesting Sunday morning radio show with a host running on fumes. But hey, it was worth it.

I went to the Orleans and Friends "Rock The Power" concert at the War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville. All of the net proceeds from the show went to support You Have the Power, Nashville's Crime Victims' Support and Children's Advocacy agency. We were royally entertained with hits galore from Orleans (who served as house band along with other stellar players), Jimi Jamison of Survivor, John Cafferty of the Beaver Brown band (who really rocked the house and got the crowd engaged, Joe Bouchard of Blue Oyster Cult, Wayne Nelson of the Little River Band and a surprise appearance by Tommy Tutone (of 867-5309 fame). Linda Davis, Kathie Baillie and Jonelle Mosser sang vocal backup and each got a solo turn (though I do wish they each could have done more than one song). The dance floor by the stage, and occasionally up in the balcony, was jumping. I had forgotten about a lot of those songs the performers did, so it was great to hear tunes like "Tender Years", "Take It Easy on Me", "The Night Owls" and others you just don't hear much anymore on radio these days. Good stuff!



I also had an unexpected opportunity to attend the last evening of a three-night concert series by Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb with the Nashville Symphony at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Seeing them together performing those songs that Jimmy wrote made famous by Glen ("Wichita Lineman", "Galveston") was a thrill. Let me just tell you that Glen Campbell still has it -- great singer, awesome guitar player (even played with the guitar on top of his head!) Jimmy Webb in his solo segment was also quite charming, sharing stories about "Mr. Sinatra" recording his song "Didn't We", and performing other hits like "All I Know" (recorded by Art Garfunkel). The Nashville Symphony opened the evening, conducted by the charismatic Albert-George Schram. I also had a chance to go backstage and meet Glen Campbell, who was very nice and friendly.

The cool thing was that now it seems whenever I go to these events, I'm bound to run into at least a couple of friends of mine and the same was true on both these nights. I also got to attend both concerts with some dear friends. Special thanks to Lance Hoppen of Orleans and Mark McCormack of the Nashville Symphony for making this possible.

I love this town.

A "Birthday Bash" To Remember: 9/9/09

I looked back at my blog entry from my birthday last year when I wrote about spending my birthday at the Commodore Grille writers night. I'd forgotten about the fact that it was my first time at one of Debi Champion's writers nights and met her initially then. But I'd never forgotten her kindness to me that night...how she gave me a piece of chocolate cake for my birthday and had the crowd sing happy birthday to me.

This year, Debi took things a step further by indulging my crazy idea of booking some writers friends of mine on her calendar for my birthday—she gave me an hour to send up a round or two of writers. With all of the dear talented friends in this town, it was for the most part a difficult choice. But I settled on some who didn't have a chance to play often at the Commodore and others who were significant in that I'd heard them there for the first time.

The lineup I chose was Brandon Maddox, Beth Browne, Dr. Jay and Miss Diana, Randi Perkins, Louise Mosrie and John Velora. As luck would have it, 9/9/09 just happened to fall on the regular monthly spot for the Wild Oats Records round, which would precede my round. My good friends and fellow Radio Free Nashville DJs Steve Haggard and Kimberly King were kind enough to indulge my pleadings to book themselves for that round and included with them talented labelmate Joel Alan Lehman and an impressive guest they had on their show earlier that week, Kenny McGeorge, in town recording a CD. The artists were very sweet to plan their playlists around the birthday gal.

I expected that many would have the same dilemma that I face most evenings in Nashville: too many events all happening at once. Would anyone come to my birthday bash? Happily, people did. The place was full of dear friends of mine and fans of those who were playing. I was very glad that all three of the rounds had a good attentive audience. Of course, there were some who weren't there who were noticed and missed...but that's how it is in a town full of choices. It was as perfect an evening as it was possible to be. I wish everyone could have at least one evening in their lives like I did. We should strive to show our love to our friends while they are surrounding us.

Love you, Debi, love you Commodore, love you my friends, and I love this town.

3rd Home Happenings

If the Commodore Grille is my "second home", then the area of Pegram/Kingston Springs has to be my third. Pegram is, as many know, the home of Fiddle and Pick and its great old-time and acoustic music programs, and Friends of Pegram Park writers nights. In the early part of this year, I was led to Kingston Springs via Red Tree Coffee and its great music lineup and homey atmosphere. I discovered that the area had its own very rich music scene going on and met more people who kindly took me into the fold and accepted me as one of their own.

I had a last minute invite this past Friday to go to the Just Plain Folks awards shows. Since I was a judge for the JPF awards process for the better part of a year, I ordinarily would have gone, and at first thought perhaps I should. But I had made other plans. Sometimes you need to be at the smaller bashes, and those many times end up having a more important impact.

I had no doubt that whoever showed up to play at Jon Conley's birthday bash at Red Tree Coffee would be musically awesome. Jon is an extraordinary guitarist, singer and songwriter, husband and brother in law respectively to Red Tree co-owners Katie and Amy, and dad to an up and coming budding teen talent, Savannah Conley (who he called "his future retirement fund"). I think he's right about that. As I noted the last time I heard Savannah sing, you could hardly hear a pin drop in the audience. She had the audience on background vocals for an acapella song she wrote, "Tick Tock", which was quite remarkable.

Some of the others who entertained were a few of the members of Calico Trail (including Jon and brother in law Cole Bruce, drummer David Racine), guitarist Todd Woolsey, Linda McRae (performing at Red Tree on September 11), singer/songwriter/keyboardist Vic White of the Pitchmen (a group I raved about last time they played here), the duo Carolina Story, Chelsea Bills, a singer from Paragould, Arkansas (who was a huge hit with the folks who were sitting with me!) and sisters Amy and Katie themselves. All these people just tore it up in a packed house.
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I have more or less become an "honorary resident" of Pegram. Thanks to the Fiddle and Pick writers nights, Facebook and my WRFN DJ friends T.J. Kirby, Steve Haggard and Kimberly King, I've come to know many of the folks who are active in the Pegram community and have made me feel a part of it all. In fact, I'm now part of the Pegram Special Events Commmittee. One of the events we're doing is a series of concerts in Pegram Park. The series kicked off last week with the band Alchemy 3 and Ronnie Lee Twist and the Future Cats. Ronnie is a rockabilly enthusiast and a very solid entertainer.

This past Saturday's show featured the band Craggie Hope, who were victims of a thunderstorm during the 4th of July festivities and forced to shorten their set then. This time, the weather cooperated and they had lots of time to entertain the families who turned out to hear them and enjoy the park. In between sets, T. J. emceed a segment for the kids, getting them up and dancing and hula hooping. Yours truly got in on the act as the music spinner (once I figured out how the boombox worked) and "Action Kid dancer" (Remember them? I always wanted to be one). The rest of the schedule:
Sept. 12 - Caught Looking Back
Sept. 19 - Pipe Dream
All shows run 7-10 p.m. in Pegram Park--cheap eats and great fun.

I love this town, and all three of my homes.

9/9/09--coming soon!

So what is so special about this date besides it being 9/9/09? Just a couple of weeks away, but for those in the Nashville area, mark your calendars now...I'll be having a "birthday round" at the Commodore Grille(www.myspace.com/commodoregrille) on Wednesday, September 9. Debi Champion so very kindly allowed me to have some very fine writers to be in a round to celebrate my birthday.

Festivities start at 6:30 with the regularly scheduled Wild Oats Records round with my dear friends Steve Haggard and Kimberly King and guests. My birthday round follows at 7 p.m. with Beth Browne, Dr. Jay and Miss Diana, Brandon Maddox, Louise Mosrie, Randi Perkins, and John Velora. Other great rounds to follow throughout the evening!

Hope you can make it for all or part of the evening!