My Writers Night Weekend

I was supposed to be in Louisville, KY this weekend at the National Quartet Convention (Southern Gospel music gathering). But in my present situation, it's not a wise thing to be spending big dollars on a hotel room, so I had to cancel those plans. Just as well, as it turned out. I got to make a dream happen and start a radio show (go to this blog for the details). Also, there were a couple of events here at home that would have been going on at the same time as NQC that I just didn't want to miss.

9/12/08 - Bluebird Cafe

This was one gig I really didn't want to leave town to miss. Steve Craig once again put together a fine round of folks with Elizabeth Runde, Clara Oman and Tom Shinness.

I've said before that I think Steve's one of the top songwriters I've heard in town. He is also a fine accomplished singer. Whether he sang his compositions himself, or handed a song over to Elizabeth or to Katha Harris, a new singer who joined the round on two songs, they were well interpreted. I hear Steve often at either these gigs or at Doak Turner's monthly get together, so I am probably more familiar with his songs than some of the audience and at this point have some favorites to look forward to. A couple of those had a fresh spin with the additions of Tom and Katha. "If You Could See What I See" had a lovely break with Tom on cello. "Frequent Liar Miles", which Nikki Cole sang at Steve's last Bluebird round, was also enjoyable as sung by Katha.

I too share Steve's obvious admiration for Elizabeth Runde's talents. Her voice combines vulnerability and power in a sweet package. This was evident in one of Steve's newer songs, "Snowed In" and a song in which the night wouldn't have been complete for me without her singing, "That's A Different Story." I also really enjoyed the vocal harmonies that Steve and Elizabeth added to each other's solo turns.

Simply put, Tom Shinness is an extraordinary musician. His expertise is to mix elements of the many instruments he plays with one another to create an unique effect. One of his showcased instruments is a 1913 guitar harp with 10 bass strings. On this one, he did "Echo Song", in which he put the instrument through an echo effect ("that way, I don't have to play as much", he joked). He also played a guitar with a drumstick inserted in the neck to create a Japanese music effect. On top of all that, he's a good singer and enjoyable songwriter. (I had the pleasure of hearing Tom for two nights in a row--more in the next section.)

Clara Oman is a singer/songwriter/pianist who has had some success in overseas markets. She brought a very tasty jazz/pop/Broadway feel to her songs, vocals and piano style. Her humorous song "Percy the Priest" showed off her jazzy vocal phrasing. My favorite of hers (and judging from crowd response, also of some who were more familiar with her) was "Forgetful Me", which had a nice melody and again, very well sung.

The highlight of this evening, though, was the instrumental duet by Steve and Tom on Steve's composition "Storm In the Desert". Steve is a classically trained pianist, but this was the first time I'd ever heard him play. Accompanied by Tom on cello, Steve displayed another superb dimension to his talent. This piece was incredible and it held the audience spellbound.

After this round, then I was off to...

9/12/08 The Commodore Grill

... to hopefully be in time to catch a round with two other new songwriter friends I met at the Bluebird a while back, Mike McQuerry and CJ Garsee (readers will recall that evening here). I got there early enough to hear part of a very good round featuring Susan Shann, Gary Gulburgh and Michelle Dawn. Mike and CJ were joined by Leslie McDaniel and Monty Warren. All four were very good and I was glad to get to hear more of young CJ's talent (and thanks, my dear, for taking my "request" to do the touching and powerful "I Was Left".)

I was going to stay just a short time but ended up staying two hours. There's something about the Commodore that makes me feel like I belong. Once again, I felt so much fellowship and warmth from the other songwriters, those I already knew and some I met for the first time, to even the wait staff.

Eventually, I did have to go home, so I left a tired but happy and lucky gal to have experienced such a great musical evening in two spots.

9/13/08 Christ Lutheran Church Writers Night

It seems that every time the CLC writers night comes along, it happens on a date where I am originally scheduled to be someplace else but something falls through and it doesn't happen. And every time, it proved out that the writers night is where I really belonged in the first place. This evening was no exception.

Randi Perkins started off the evening with two songs from his new CD "Life Is Good". I've waited for this one to come out and earlier this year I was lucky enough to sit in on a recording session for some of the instrumental tracks. This is a lovely album and you will be hearing more about this one (for starters, Randi will be the first guest on my radio show on Saturday the 20th between 3-4 pm).

This was the evening for father-daughter combinations. The "newgrass" duo of Sisters Grimm (Jordana Greenberg on violin and Rebecca Reed-Lund on banjo) were joined by Jordana's father David on guitar and vocals. David wrote all the songs they performed that evening (and he was a very witty guy!).

For the second night in a row, I got to hear Tom Shinness and his musical magic. This evening he was joined by his lovely and talented daughter Jasmine, who played just about every instrument Tom played aside from the harp guitar (which Tom did bring with him and play), including guitar, upright bass and cello. She is also a very fine songwriter with a lovely smooth jazz vocal style. The apple does not fall far from the tree.

Many people were familiar with Aubrey Collins. At only 20 years old, she's racked up some impressive accomplishments. She was featured on NBC's Most Talented Kid and ABC's The One: the Making of a Music Star. Most recently, she spent a year as lead vocalist with Trick Pony and is now co-writing with notables such as Sheree Austin. Randi mentored her for a number of years, so this show was a homecoming of sorts for her. She talked about the challenges of songwriting and performing, and her "excuses" if her songs didn't come over as expected. None of those excuses mattered--this young lady's enormous talent is quite evident.

To sum up this weekend: this town is rich in talent. All are in various points on their musical journey. Some are close to where they want to be, others are still waiting. But all of them bring something valuable about who they are as artists to the table, and I think Nashville is a brighter place for having them here. That's why I love this town.

Debi Champion Writers Night, Commodore Grill 9/9/08 (Wendy V's Birthday!)

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.

Tokens, "The Politics of Jesus" 9/2/08

What started out as Lipscomb University professor Lee Camp's "crazy idea" is turning out to be one of the hottest tickets in town. "Tokens" is becoming so popular that it had to expand to a second performance for its third outing, "The Politics of Jesus", due to a quick sellout. Another sign of the show's rapid growth is that it's also now a paid admission show (the first two shows were free admission).

Camp noted "why anyone would go and do something as stupid as talk about religion and politics in the buckle of the Bible belt while the fall conventions are in full swing is beyond me...but it sounded like a good idea when we were planning episodes." "The Politics of Jesus" took a thoughtful and often satiric look at the contrast between Christianity and politics.

The house band for Tokens expanded in name and personnel. Now referred to as "the most outstanding Sinai Mountain Boys", the band (bandleader Jeff Taylor, Buddy Greene, Aubrey Haynie, Chris Brown, Byron House, Pete Huttlinger) welcomed the addition of Bryan Cumming on sax and percussion (I also heard Bryan the previous Friday evening in Bellevue Park, playing as part of the "Wanna Beatles"). The band more than lived up to its "most outstanding" reputation throughout the evening.

Derek Webb, Buddy Greene and Odessa Settles provided the other musical highlights. Odessa in particular rocked the house with a spirited song, "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)", and earned a standing ovation singing "The Lord's Prayer". The only thing missing for me musically this time out was the informal vocal groups that were a wonderful part of the last two shows...but that's a minor quibble.

The Tokens Radio Players (Lee Camp, Merri Collins, David Fleer and Barry McAllister) are academics by trade, but their characterizations and humor are as entertaining as any you'd hear on "A Prairie Home Companion". They poked gentle fun at politics and Christianity with new audience favorite segments as "Dear Preacher Man", "Adventures of Jane", and "Tales of the Ancient Near East" ("did he say the enemy peed or planted weeds on the land?").

The featured author interviewees were Randall Balmer (God in the White House), Steve Claiborne and Chris Haw (Jesus For President) and Jim Wallis (God's Politics and the Great Awakening). The full interviews are now available on the Tokens website. Other segments from the show should be posted there in a few weeks.

As I predicted in my first write up on Tokens, the show is now needing a bigger venue due to its growing popularity. "The Christmas Revolution", set for December 9, will move to the Collins Alumni Auditorium at Lipscomb University.

Lee Camp continues to bring a great mix of brilliant thinker and multi-talented entertainer to his hosting duties and vision for Tokens. Way to go, Lee--you've got a well-deserved hit on your hands and I can't wait to see how the show keeps developing.

Commodore Grill 8/14/08 (Deb Ziems' Birthday!)

I first met and heard Deb Ziems a year ago at the JPF showcase at Lyrix. It was her birthday and she gave me beads. It was hard to believe a year had passed since then. When I got her MySpace invite to come down to the Commodore Grill, I decided to stop by. It had been a while since I've gotten out to a writer's night other than at the Bluebird, so I went to wish Deb well and also see the newly remodeled venue. The outside of the Holiday Inn is still a work in progress, but indoors it's looking and sounding good, the food is great and the waitstaff is very attentive.

Deb was gracious to invite me to sit with her other friends and her magnificent birthday cake. I met some other really nice folks and other artists. Deb started the evening with a very fine solo set (although she wanted some others on stage with her!).The lineup included many new to me artists and a few familiar faces.

Since the main mission of this blog is to bring recognition to these singer/songwriters, sometimes the toughest part for me with covering writer's nights which feature many artists is getting down all the names of who is playing when. Often times, people just get up on stage and don't introduce themselves or no one does it for them. I appreciated that Debi Champion, who ran sound, introduced everyone frequently, but from where I was sitting I still missed hearing a few names. This is where MySpace really comes in handy. I went to Deb's page and saw that among the friends on her page were some of the artists who played that evening. Then, I went to those artist pages and found some of the others they played with. (Of course, I added as many as I could find to my page!)

So with all that out of the way, let me give you the names of those I know that I did hear when I was there. In the "those I've heard before category" besides Deb were Scott Jarman, Frank Knapp and David Seger (I know I heard David somewhere--hopefully I will remember where!). "Heard of but not heard live" before were CJ Watson and Don and Karen McNatt. I recognized Don right away because I often watch his songwriters show on local cable. I'm sure I watched it while I've visited town before I moved, because I recall thinking "wow, if I lived here, I could see these shows all the time!" So of course, now I do and I do. Accompanying CJ was Jeff Jergenson, who was a member of the Dillards and who blew us away with his playing. Others new to me were Mike Mayo, Vickie Raye, Lisa Shaffer, and Jon Eben. My apologies to any whose names I didn't get or who I may have missed after I left. It was a musically solid evening.

I've got a birthday coming up next month (the 9th). I can't think of a better way to spend it than to go to a writer's night here in town, so that's what I plan to do.

Thank you, Deb, for your hospitality and for introducing me to all the great new artists and people I met and heard that evening. It was a sweet evening and it's a sweet town.

SoGospelNews.com Fan Festival 7/24/08

One of my annual concert "must-dos" every year is the week long series of concerts which are part of the SoGospelNews.com Fan Festival at River of Life Church in Smyrna. If I could, I would have gone to each one. But with having just moved and getting settled (and yeah, gas price consideration, as I'm a little further now from the Smyrna locale), I had to choose just one evening this year. I went with Thursday's lineup, which for me held three "get me in the door" artists: Beyond the Ashes, Sunday Edition and Johnny Minick and Friends (Alison Durham Speer, Aaron Minick, Mike Allen); and those I hadn't heard before, Eighth Day and Brothers Forever.

Before the concert, I was talking with Chris Unthank of Sunday Edition and also one of the event organizers, about the diversity and style of all the acts on the evening lineup. Indeed, each one was effective and unique in how they ministered musically.

Trio Eighth Day, consisting of husband and wife Scott and Joni Robinson and Dave Mann(who did a standout solo on Dottie Rambo's "Sheltered In the Arms Of God")did well with upbeat gospel songs.

You can't go wrong with perennial crowd favorites Pastor Johnny Minick, son Aaron Minick, Alison Durham Speer and Mike Allen (also joined on one tune by Johnny's wife Sherry). This popular combination earned several standing ovations.

Beyond the Ashes is a fairly new trio that I first heard at their showcase a few months back at Edgehill Cafe. Emotional and passionate in expressing their faith in song, these guys continue to grow and get stronger. Group leader Anthony Facello is a powerful tenor who reached out and engaged the audience. They will have a new CD release very soon.

After hearing Sunday Edition for the first time at last year's fan festival, I went to their product table and bought everything they had. Chris, Amy Marie and Deon Unthank were smoking red hot this evening as well. Chris and Amy Marie are two powerhouse singers who when tying in with Deon for family harmonies brought it with a soulful stir. This group is the best kept secret in contemporary Southern Gospel as far as I'm concerned.

Brothers Forever were up to the task of following Sunday Edition's strong performance with a contemporary progressive gospel flair and original material with great hooks ("I Feel A Blessing Coming On").

The evening even had a little comic relief by Al Mahan as a chubby Elvis impersonator with parodies of Elvis songs relating to food...but with the message at the end that God looks at the inside and there is really only one "King".

I'm not a fan of long night drives, but there was no way I could bail out early...there was just too much good stuff going on this evening. Doesn't matter to me how it's being packaged these days--traditional, progressive, contemporary or modern--I love Southern Gospel. I love being here.

In The Round at the Bluebird- Scooter Simmons, Steve Christopher, Mike McQuerry, Jon Robbin

If you've never been to a show at the Bluebird Cafe, let me give you the general scoop of what my experience has been. I find that most or all of the singer/songwriters in a round know each other, or know what it's like to be a singer/songwriter in Nashville. That makes for a kinship in which they will blend well with each other onstage or in the round. That synergy also opens the door for a lot of humor during the show. I don't think I ever laughed so much at a Bluebird round as I did at this night's show which featured Scooter Simmons, Steve Christopher, Mike McQuerry and Jon Robbin.

I was looking forward to meeting Scooter, having found him on MySpace (where you can find pages on these writers). I knew of him because he is the writer of a number of songs that Mark Lowry recorded, such as "Some Things Never Change" and "Jump Across Jordan". He was wonderful to talk to and hear--aside from his better known Christian songs, he has lots of strong material and a soulful voice which grabbed the crowd. I was pumped to hear one song, "Over My Head", which he and Steve Christopher co-wrote for Mark's next album. It's a beauty which will be a hand to glove fit for Mark--can't wait to hear his version.

Steve Christopher was the guy I laughed the most at, particularly his songs "God Bless The Boys Who Work For Beer" (which he dedicated to the others in the round!) and his ode to a devoted dog, with such classic lines as "like trash I'd been dumped" and "fired for the 3rd time this month", but yet he was still a winner in that dog's eyes. Mike McQuerry told us about all the compliments he gets on his MySpace by people who thinks he sings his posted demos (he doesn't). But that's cool-he sounded just fine to me and I learned from him yet another phrase that was a new one on me: "couple of sandwiches short of a picnic." Jon Robbin had a good mix of light-hearted and more serious songs, and brought one written hit to the round: "I Breathe In, I Breathe Out" which was big for Chris Cagle.

A little deja vu: like the last round I went to at the Bluebird, I had a beautiful young woman sitting next to me who sang in the round and was terrific. Last time, it was Natalie Tidwell. This night, it was CJ Garsee, a new artist who Mike is managing. She brought a very touching song, "I Was Left". I've added it for a week to my MySpace profile, so do check it out. There is so much talent here in Nashville that needs to be supported and encouraged.

It's great to be here and it's also fun to be in this town.

Bluebird, Rock Heroes and Gospel

Sometimes I can't stand this town.

No, I haven't fallen out of love with Nashville. It's just that I tend to have what some would consider a "happy problem", especially this time of year. There's just too doggone much going on at the same time around here. These past couple of weeks, I had to make some tough choices about shows and events I really wanted to go to. Others, like the Songwriters Festival, I had no choice but to say no to because I have a home purchase on the horizon at month end and some things had to be done (in fairness, the mandatory homebuyers class was fun, though). What all this means sometimes is little sleep and even less free time...but I guess I thrive on this sort of thing when it all comes down.

I took in a most enjoyable round at the Bluebird last Thursday. I met Gary Talley at Randi Perkins' recording session a while back, so I thought I'd check him out. Again, this was one of those evenings where you go to hear some you've heard of but end up being also blown away by folks you hear for the first time. In that category were Corley Roberts, Susan Anders, Joe Truman and a guest vocalist Susan co-wrote a song with, Natalie Tidwell. All of these artists brought something strong and unique to the table and as a fan of strong vocals, I have to say this was one of the best rounds I've been to. You can find everyone on MySpace, so do most definitely track them down and give them a listen.

On Sunday I had to say no to two other invites and skip out of church early to do one of my "double header" gig runs. I found out that one of my 60s rock heroes, Al Kooper, would be doing a book signing at Borders. In 1977, I bought the first edition of his very funny memoir, "Backstage Passes". He's updated it twice since then. I had all three editions of the book with me, and Al was gracious enough to autograph them all. Al took questions about his career and the book. It was fun to see people there who had some of the old vinyl albums I did and who were knowledgeable enough to ask good questions. I've been a fan of Al's since I was 13...the first Blood Sweat and Tears album and the early Blues Project albums along with Al's solo work helped get me through my nerdy teen years. I noted that it was great to have the opportunity to share that with him through the internet and events like the book signing, and I asked Al if he's heard many similar comments from fans about how his music impacted their lives. He said that he did benefit from getting regular e-mails from fans and many of them have made his day...proving once again that even if you are a rock and roll legend, encouragement is important. It was a thrill for me to be there--thanks to Beverly Keel of the Tennessean for getting the word out on this.


My second event of the day was a "mini-Homecoming concert" with many of my friends from the Gaither videos: Woody Wright and his wife Vonnie, Reggie and Ladye Love Smith, Stephen Hill, Mike Allen and the legendary Ben Speer (and a cameo from his sister Mary Tom). It's been quite a long while since I've seen Reggie and Ladye and Stephen, so it was great to hear and see them again. Much like the concerts that were part of "Mark Lowry's Senior Trip", it was a "living room" type atmosphere with group sings and mini-sets from each artist. It was fun (and you can always count on that when Woody's around!), musically excellent, uplifting and encouraging. I also met two very dear people who, like me, had lived in Minnesota--Mary and Gary, who sat up front with me. I felt a lot of love that evening. These are the kinds of concerts I like--no pressure, no fan drama, where you can just go and love these folks and everyone will get loved back the same.

Even though it's hard to have to make choices sometimes about what to do when everything happens at once, I really do love this town and all the opportunities to do what I love.