It's going to be an active week on the "Blend", y'all. Three events are on my schedule this week and here's the first of them to talk about.
With this night being my birthday, I decided there was no better way for me to celebrate than to go to a writers night...so it was off to the Commodore Grill. I came better prepared from the last time I went to the Commodore Grill writers night. This time I did my homework and got the names of the lineup from MySpace (and added a few of those artists to my page ahead of time to get familiar with their music and their faces). Another lesson learned from last time was to sit near the speakers so you can hear who's who up there.
Debi Champion is a great host who takes great care to let you know who's up there. This evening we got the pleasure of hearing her play as well. And, she's as dear a person as you can imagine. I just met her for the first time that evening and got several hugs for my birthday. Later on she also had the crowd sing happy birthday to me. (That was very sweet, as were the pieces of chocolate cake I got from her and Brandon Maddox, who stopped by to join me. Thanks, guys.)
Here's the lineup of those I heard play: Melanie Sue Mausser, Ben West (a real sweetie of a country gentleman who recognized me right away from MySpace and gave me warm happy birthday wishes), Kyle Ryan, Daniel R. Ziemba, Stephenie Hargrove (with Jamie Dickinson), Jarod Doucet, Greg Jones, featured artist Michelle Little (co- writer of "The Storm" for Travis Tritt) with Tim Smith, Darren T, Laura A and Andy, Nashville Independent Music showcase with Debi, Ronny Criss and David Ryckman; Dana Romanello, Joel Turner, Dan Hutson and Corey Crowder.
I enjoyed every last one of these writers...I heard a lot of strong vocals and songwriting in their three song rounds. Again, as I often do, I notice a nice camaraderie within these sets as artists encourage one another or check in with a guitar lick that fits nicely into the song. One particular moment that came to mind was the loud cheer that went up in the room when Greg Jones announced he had finally gotten a cut (with Carolina Rain). Debi amazed me with how many of these artists' songs she knew enough to fit in some good harmony vocals from back at the sound board.
I'm here to tell you that from my view, Nashville is a town full of love. I haven't been here all that long, yet people who didn't even know me until that night showed lots of that love to a birthday gal. Thanks, everyone. I love you all...and I love this town.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment