Buddy Greene - Station Inn 8/22/07

After a long day of work, I was pumped to be heading downtown for a gig I long looked forward to: Buddy Greene's CD release show at the Station Inn for his new bluegrass/acoustic album "Happy Man".

First, I'll disclose that I have the honor of doing radio promotion for Buddy Greene's "Happy Man" CD. But even as a regular fan, I would not have missed this show for any reason. It's been way too long since I heard Buddy play live--I think it had been at the last Gaither "Praise Gathering" event I attended a couple of years ago.

The place was sold out to capacity and people were being turned away. All of us lucky people who made it in were treated to an incredible evening of true virtuoso musicianship by Buddy and his two bands (yes, two sets with different bands!). All of Buddy's bandmates for the evening appeared on the "Happy Man" CD: Pat Flynn (guitar), Kenny Malone (percussion), Byron House (upright bass), Jeff Taylor (keyboards, accordion), Luke Bulla (fiddle), Bryan Sutton (guitar), Aubrey Haynie (fiddle, mandolin), Dennis Crouch (upright bass).

Some guest musicians stopped by also...it was great hearing Sonya and Ben Isaacs back Buddy on vocals on "Wrasslin' Jacob" and "Walkin' In Jerusalem" (joined also on this tune by Todd Suttles). "Hambone practitioner" Keith Compton sat in on "Little Rabbit". At one point in the evening, Buddy stepped aside and let his players shine on a little "Hillbilly Jazz", led by guitarist Richard Smith.

Along with the stellar musicianship, there was a lot of fun. The guys joked throughout the set and everyone had fun with the good-natured "Denomination Blues", a song described as an "equal opportunity offender."

My personal highlights: a beautiful rendition of "Hard Times", featuring Buddy and Jeff Taylor; Cajun boogie with "Happy Man"; and "Bonaparte's Retreat" which featured Buddy's harmonica wizardry and solid picking by the band.

I told myself I really should leave a little early because I did have to get up for work the next day. But there just was no way I could. I'm glad I stuck it out and opted for getting by on little sleep. Just like at "Praise Gathering", when we'd go out to eat after the evening concert and make it a late one, but got up early the next day because Buddy was doing the music for the early worship service. Sleep deprivation's a small price to pay to hear artistry like Buddy's.

Rick Stewart Writers Night - Lyrix 8/15/07

So far, I've been to a few singer/songwriter events here in Nashville, but this was the first regularly held "writer's night" aside from the Bluebird Cafe that I've gone to in Nashville. This one, hosted by Rick Stewart, took place at Lyrix Cafe. This is a great little place to hear music and the food is excellent--do plan on having dinner if you go there for an event.

I didn't get to hear everyone on board to play as I was only there for the early part of the evening. The "small world department" was my reason for choosing this one to come to. Among the many talented people I heard when dropping by at Doak Turner's get togethers was a fellow named Brandon Maddox. I started a temp job across town recently and someone I was introduced to looked quite familiar. It was indeed the same Brandon I heard at Doak's. Thus I wanted to drop by and give him some support. Backed by a rockin' harmonica player, Patrick Hovious, Brandon was musically solid lyrically, vocally and on guitar. I think he's got the whole package to be a success, and he's a terrific young guy as well.

Also part of the same three song round set were Deb Ziems (celebrating her birthday!) and Mary Hartman, who had a good crowd following, both very strong, diverse songwriters and vocalists.

The evening kicked off with a round featuring Jesse McRae, Diana Kelley and Rob Wolf. Diana was another of those I first heard at Doak's, sitting in a den room with a few of us, playing a couple of her songs. I remember being very impressed with her voice and her songs (as did the others in the room), and she showed again this evening that she is a very strong talent to keep an ear on. Jesse and Rob also had some fine material, and Rob's ode to the Titans was a hoot.

Even as a non-songwriter, I easily pick up on the support and encouragement that singer/songwriters in this town give each other...not just by showing up, but also by those on stage with one another stepping up to add a musical part or backup vocal to kick someone's set up a notch. It's great to see them help each other out to achieve the same goal.

By the way, all those I've mentioned have MySpace pages, so do look them up if you have the chance. And as with these and all the singer/songwriters I've mentioned in the Blend, look for their names next time you are scanning the writer's night listings and go give them a listen.

JPF Showcases 8/2, 8/4/07

I will always remember the Just Plain Folks (JPF) roadtrip showcase I attended in St. Paul a couple of years ago. Many of the musicians taking part were those I knew of or were friends with from the clubs and coffeehouses in the Twin Cities. I was so proud of everyone who played. They were all on their game that night and I met many new musicians, some I stayed in touch with for awhile. So now that I am here in Nashville, I knew I had to take in both of the showcases planned for Nashville this year, at the Bluebird Café and Lyrix, respectively.

The Bluebird Café showcase featured some of the multi award winners from the JPF music awards in a set of two rounds. The first one featured Melody Guy, Cheley Tackett, Chris Young and Kim McLean, who were all very compelling songwriters. I know many people were there to see Chris Young. At 15 years old, Chris would post questions to the JPF message boards about songwriting and getting started in the business. Looks like a lot of that good advice has paid off, since his career is growing steadily since winning "Nashville Star". The second round featured Bob Malone (a hot piano player/singer/songwriter), vocal powerhouse Erika Luckett and the legendary Janis Ian. It was a thrill to hear her perform "At Seventeen" live.

The Lyrix showcase featured over 30 artists who signed up for a one song spot. I didn't realize how many artists come from other parts of the country to play at a JPF showcase in a particular city. Quite a few came from the Massachusetts area. I wish I could say something about every single one of them, but with that many playing, it was just too hard and this entry would go on for days. I will just say they were all uniquely wonderful to watch. But, I did attempt to capture the names of all featured artists who played. JPF founder Brian Austin Whitney (pictured above) kindly let me grab his clipboard once or twice, but if you were there and you see anyone whose name I butchered or left out, let me know and I'll fix it. Anyhow, here goes:

Joe Wickersham, Alan Ross, Tori Sparks, Julie Grower, Judy Klass, Donnie Witt, Jacob Israel, Lisa Lawrence, Mike Dunbar, Lisa Martin, Hal Benoit, Guy-Michael Grande, Harriet Ames, Jack Swain, Susan's Room, John Stoecker, Herbie Gaines, Cowboy Slim, Shelia Quattlebaum, Carolyn Rose Wilson, Joe Wraybek, Melody Guy, Cheyenne Medders, JoAnne Lurgio, Brian Keith, James Norris, Rob U, Ka'hryn, Greg Austin, Lance Allen, Vondelle Hebert, Lee Quick, Barbara Cloyd

This evening was also a great networking opportunity and chance to meet new people. In the end, we capped off the long evening with the traditional JPF group photo. These showcases were just another testament to the great talent to be found out there. Perhaps you will be hearing more of these names again in the future, so take note of them...also try looking them up on the web or MySpace and check them out.

SoGospelNews.com Fan Festival

As promised, here are a few notes on the SoGospelNews.com Fan Festival concert series of the past week. I went to two of the five nights of the concerts (Thursday and Friday), held at River of Life Church in Smyrna. Both had very strong lineups.

Thursday had Mercy's Mark, TK and McRae, Everyday Driven, the Prophets, Johnny Minick and friends and Ann Downing. I'd been particularly looking forward to seeing Ann Downing. I first saw her on the Gaither video "What A Time" doing "Jacob's Ladder". I thought, who is this vivacious woman? (I must note that I've only been a Southern Gospel fan about six years, so I learned about the Downings, Speer Family, etc. long after the fact). Thus I became one of her "FANNtastics". "Ann D" closed the show in her very personal style...and yes, she did "Jacob's Ladder". Johnny Minick, who pastors the church hosting the Fan Festival, brought with him Alison Durham Speer, Mike Allen (who also sang with the Prophets) and his son, Aaron Minick, who's been gathering quite a buzz with his big band style.

Friday's lineup was equally impressive: the Freemans, Blackwood Gospel Quartet, Joyce Martin-Sanders, Sharron Kay King, Sunday Edition, the Quicks and the Pathfinders. Joyce Martin-Sanders looked and sounded vibrant. The Freemans were great crowd pleasers. I was new to the Quicks, but enjoyed their Manhattan Transfer-like arrangements on a couple of songs. I had not heard Sunday Edition (Deon, Chris and Amy Marie Unthank) before, either...I was very impressed with their performance, enough to buy a couple of CDs and make note to see them again in the future.

I wish I'd been able to attend the last day's concert with the talent contest. I would recommend saving up gas money and gearing up for the rush hour traffic to do this again next year. It's a great series of gospel music concerts that's worth supporting.

Christ Church Choir concert 7/19

July is a wild month for gospel music fans in Nashville...even more so if you're an artist seeking to learn more about your musical craft. There are three music schools that take place over the month: Christ Church music conference, Steve Hurst school and Stamps-Baxter school. All three of those include concerts. I heard so many great things about these shows from people in past years, so I hoped to be able to take in some of those now that I'm here. Unfortunately, this year it was hard to get timely information...many of those concert lineups seem to be secret or are not widely publicized, so I was a bit disappointed to learn after the fact I missed some folks I really wanted to hear.

I did catch one well publicized concert by one of Nashville's greatest musical treasures: the Christ Church Choir. The choir gave us a preview of its upcoming release, "He Still Leads", due in January. As always, it's a treat to hear the choir tear it up and watch choir director Landy Gardner boogie down and get totally absorbed in the music. I also found his testimony on seeking God's direction and the steps that brought him where he is today quite inspiring. The Christ Church choir is known for having superb soloists and there were many, standouts among them Gaither video favorite Joy Gardner, daughter Dionne Gardner Dismuke, Maurice Carter and Christ Church Pastor Dan Scott. Dan Scott in particular impressed me at Mark Lowry's Senior Trip in Asheville last year and I promptly bought his CD. I would go hear him in a solo concert anytime.

Before the Christ Church portion of the concert, there were sets featuring vocal group Higher Ground, the Voices of Lee and Gordon Mote. I knew Gordon has a new CD out, so part of my reason for going to this show was to hear him and get the CD. Gordon told the audience he was working through some laryngitis, but you'd hardly been able to tell. Gordon did the title track of the new release "Don't Let Me Miss The Glory"(which earned a standing ovation), "Adoration", backed as on the CD by the wonderful Voices of Lee, and always crowd-pleasing favorite "Old Gospel Ship", where he cuts loose on piano. But country radio, listen up: Gordon has a potential smash hit on his hands with the song "Wake Up Dancin". I heard this song about a year and a half ago as a demo on one of Mark Lowry's website shows, and I told Gordon then I thought this song could do big things. I'm glad he recorded this one...we'll see what happens.

The fun continues for Southern Gospel fans with the SoGospelNews.com Fan Festival. I'll report on one of those concerts in the coming week.

Sunday at Doak's: Boomer and a Room Full of Daves

Some items from one of my favorite monthly events, Doak Turner's 3rd Sunday gathering of songwriters (and those of us who love them):

First, an item for the "who knew?" department. Growing up in the mid 60s and being a loyal 16 magazine and Tiger Beat reader, amidst a lot of coverage on the Monkees, I often read about some fellows closely associated with them, the Lewis and Clarke Expedition. The act was fronted by Michael Martin Murphy (later of "Wildfire" fame) and Boomer Castleman. I also do remember their hit "I Feel Good (I Feel Bad)". Boomer Castleman is now in Nashville and I got to meet him at Doak's gathering. He was really surprised that I remembered the Lewis and Clarke Expedition connection (and thanks, Boomer, for saying I wasn't old enough to remember, but really, I am). I mean, how cool is being able to meet someone you read about back in the 60s? Boomer is quite active these days, and this article will bring you up to speed on where he's been and what he's doing now.

Making the rounds, including a refuge into the air conditioning, I listened to some excellent songs by a roomful of Daves (Dave Saunders, Dave DeMay, Dave Stone) and Bill Luigi. I ran into or heard some folks I remembered from past gatherings: Joe Hrasna, Brandon Maddox, Jesse Goldberg. I also heard many talented people in the rounds outside, such as Gary Lynn Williams from TX, Don Gaylord...those were a few names I caught; unfortunately, sometimes it's hard to get all the names straight in that large a gathering.

I also had the pleasure of meeting renowned songwriter Marc-Alan Barnette, a regular organizer of the event along with Doak, who like so many of the songwriters here each month, went out of his way to make me feel welcome and take an interest in what I'm doing and why I'm there. He also premiered a new song, "Chicks and Salsa", co written by Marc-Alan, Desiree and Adriann Corso of Canada and Clifford from California.

A few other notes on some songwriters at the gathering:
"Simpli Lauri" Merrow has a new CD, "Leave the Porch Light On", with CD release shows at Music City Bar and Grille on July 20th and the Broken Spoke on July 21.

And, congrats to Doak Turner--a song he co-wrote, "Talkin' Part", recorded by Ryan Weaver, is starting to get some country radio buzz. Well deserved!

As I noted before, this is one of the nicest events in town and I sure look forward to doing this every month, even when I can only put in a few hours. Great music, great people, great food. Can't ask for much more than that.

Uncle Dave Macon Days

This weekend I headed out to Murfreesboro and checked out the Uncle Dave Macon Days festival. Set in an old fashioned village, the event features bluegrass and old time music competitions and impromptu jams, plus lots of craft and food vendors.

But, I blew my chance to learn to become a banjo picker. I happened to meet up with the person teaching the workshop and arranged to stop by. However, because I somehow had it in my head it was happening at noon, I got engrossed in the mandolin competition (my favorite instrument) and went for chow after it was over. Then I happened to look at the sheet and saw the banjo workshop was at 11. I hurried over to where I thought it was, but found a locked door. Oh well. If it had been a mandolin workshop, I'd have been there a half hour early. Maybe it's just not in the cards for me to actually be a musician...guess I'll continue applauding.

I circled the grounds over and over looking for the WSM booth, but no one could tell me where it was. I was hoping to get my "Stubbs" shirt, but no luck. Then it started getting too hot and too crowded to hang out for long, so I headed out. But if you love bluegrass and old time, it's a nice place to check out some good music and encourage some up and coming players.