Archives for category: Uncategorized

Secret Stages 2012 From the Cheap Seats

May 30, 2012 //

The Dirty Streets – Secret Stages 2012 – Rogue Tavern

Secret Stages 2012 on May 11^th & 12^th, took over where the first Birmingham Indie Festival left off last year, with plenty of homegrown SXSW style Buzz, this time around with a fully fledged website instead of a hard to find blog.

Black Tusk – Secret Stages 2012 – Das Haus

From Nashville’s Natural Child to Memphis’ River City Tanlines to Chattanooga’s own take on the MGMT formula, Machines Are People Too, SS 2012 had everything from vintage postcard sounds of Frank Fairfield to the Motorhead meats Black Sabbath at a Southern Bar B Que sounds of Black Tusk, most groups were part of the Southeast circuit with all points in between, with several Artists travelling from far reaches of the kingdom.

Break it down

Even a coffee house was throwing down Rappers, DJ’s and Breakdancers next door to Das Haus as an add plus to the list of venues.

Hail The Titans – Das Haus, Photo- Thomas Diasio

Speaking of Das Haus, with the metal machine noise Lou Reed in a Sonic Youth Blender rock of Hail The Titans, Death Surf Punk of Kill Baby Killand the aforementioned Black Tusk taking care of business with an alpine view backdrop and the dense smell of Brats, Kraut and German Beer lingering in all four corners, this was the edge of the Abyss, where as some of the safer acts played at Rogue Tavern.

Machines Are People Too – Rogue / Photo – Thomas Diasio

Rogue, the biggest club of all featured Machines Are People Too getting everybody on their feet dancing then a few minutes later, The Dirty Streets, were throwing down Social Distortion meets Government Mule.

Baby Baby @ Easy Street

There was something for everybody and all ages. Baby Baby, with double the drumming pleasure, played at all ages Easy Street cranking out loud post punk. This wasn’t a bar, just a big empty hall, loud music and a table for buying Cd’s and other swag.

Third Man Rolling Records Store @ Secret Stages 2012

The second day had to contend with constant soft rain that left the vendors and the Third Man Rolling Record Store out in the cold, whereas last year, the main outdoor stage was the place to congregate, this year, everybody was scurrying for indoor digs with a few dancing in the rain at the foot of the main stage listening to blues and jazz.

Lydia Loveless @ Metro / photo- Thomas Diasio

Metro kind of became the Americana beacon with Bloodshot Records’ Lydia Loveless and Taylor Hollingsworth’s new duo with newlywed wife, Kate Taylor, playing songs off their southern roots Fat Possum Records, Deadfingersrelease.

Deadfingers @ Metro

The greatest benefit was this was truly a pub crawl in the Loft District, which has seen a lot of changes over the last 5-10 years. It covered four square blocks where no taxis were needed to get around.

Machine Are People Too @ Rogue / photo – Thomas Diasio

Chuck Leishman, who originally had the idea for the pub crawl, who called together the roundtable that developed Secret Stages stated, “We wanted to have a festival that all these bands that play the circuit could have a platform, a place to get their music heard in one weekend. It would be great if every regional area had a festival like this.”

Ben Lamb w/ Lydia Loveless @ Metro / photo – Thomas Diasio

This truly was what SXSW felt like maybe twenty years ago. There were some local corporate and media support and even a few bands on some Indie labels, but, this was a place where many bands were able to be heard by a diverse crowd.

Hail The Titans @ Das Haus / Photo – Thomas Diasio

Birmingham has seen some success over the last few years, with bands like The Great Book of John and Wild Sweet Orange.

Black Tusk @ Das Haus

It would have been anybody’s guess that Birmingham would host the best Indie Festival in the Southeast with over 100 bands and comedians during two days in May.

Vintage Gibson backline @ Metro

Birmingham is just about the same distance between Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, Mississippi and Northern Florida making it an easy 2-4 hour trip from just about anywhere in the region.

The number of venues has more than doubled in Birmingham in the last ten years.

A little secret Elvis imagery (Taking Care Of Black Tusk) @ Das Haus

The time was right, the place right and the vibe was right. Shine a light on Birmingham.

– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com

Categories Baby Baby, Birmingham, Birmngham Alabama, Black Tusk, Bloodshot Records, Blues Music, Das Haus, Deadfingers, Frank Fairfield, Gibson Amplification, Hail The Titans, Indie Music, Indie Rock, Kate Taylor, Kill Baby Kill, Lydia Loveless, Machines Are People Too, Metro Bar Nashville, Music, Rock Music, Rogue Tavern, Secret Stages 2012, Taylor Hollingsworth, Third Man Rolling Records Store, Uncategorized

King Biscuit Blues Festival Line-up Announcement

May 6, 2012 //

Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe, 1929, she wrote Led Zep’s “When The Levee Breaks”

The Line- up for the 27^th Annual King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas, will take place this Wednesday May 9^th, 2012 at 5:30 PM at the Cherry Street Pavilion. There will be free food, beverages and music for those of you able to be there. The concert is scheduled for June 8^th, Live on the Levee.

This door is at a secret location in Memphis.

We will keep you posted.

– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com

Categories Blues Music, Helena Arkansas, Jimi Hendrix, Kansas Joe, King Biscuit Blues Festival, Led Zeppelin, Memphis, Memphis Minnie, Music, Uncategorized

Justin Timberlake and Hank Jr In Southhaven Mississippi

May 3, 2012 //

Justin and Hank Jr in Memphis Suburb

Justin Timberlake along with his best friend/WilliamRast business partner Trace Ayala were hanging backstage in Mississippi last Friday night with country music legend Hank Williams Jr. Williams was in town doing a concert in Southhaven, Mississippi, where Timberlake along with fiancée Jessica Biel, mother Lynn Timberlake, and buddy Alaya all took in a night of some ‘Rockin Randall’.

“What a great guy! Justin is a friend of my rebel son Kid Rock. He sure is a good country boy. We talked about girls, guitars, turkey hunting, going on cruises and how much we hate them, even though Bobby (Kid Rock) is on one right now and loving it, ugh! Hell, Justin and I even talking about recording a blues song sometime.” – Hank Williams Jr.

When Hank hung with Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson, it was like the Memphis Mafia exploits.

American Recodind – Memphis under restoration

Only got one thing to say, if they do a blues song together, got to do it in Memphis at the currently being restored American Recording.

American, room fit for Chet Atkins or Phil Spector sound

It’s last incarnation was Easley-McCain, with bands like Sonic Youth, Wilco and Jeff Buckley’s final recordings. American started out as Fantasy Productions in the late 60’s with two years of secrecy in what looked like a custom build by Elvis Presley with Marty Lacker as the front man. American has a rare hawaiian lava rock (can we say jungle room) facade and a room replica of RCA Studio B in Nashville where Elvis recorded almost everything for RCA and also features echo chambers like Capitol Studios in California. This will by far be the best old school / new school hybrid studio in Memphis.

Justin, Hank, if you want to know more, get a hold of me, I’ll put you in touch with the owner. It won’t be open to the public till the end of this year, but, will get you there on the Sly, hey,hey, hey.

– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com

Categories American Recording Memphis, Country Music, Hank Williams Jr., Justin Timberlake, Kid Rock, Memphis, Music, Uncategorized

Montgomery Gentry to Headline Kentucky Tornado Benefit

May 2, 2012 //

Nashville, Tenn. (May 1, 2012) — 98.1 WBUL The Bull has announced Montgomery Gentry to headline the Kentucky Cares Concert on May 9 to benefit victims from the recent tornado that ripped through eastern Kentucky in early March. The concert will be held in Lexington, KY at Busters Billiards & Backroom with proceeds to go to the local American Red Cross. Presented by 98.1 The Bull, tickets are on sale now at http://www.ticketfly.com/. Fellow Kentuckian Laura Bell Bundy will also be performing.

Laura Bell Bundy also to perform.

“Our hearts went out to all those family and businesses that were affected by the storms,” says Eddie Montgomery. “We’ve been trying to organize something for a while so we’re real glad this worked out with The Bull. This is our home and we want to do everything we can to help.”

Troy Gentry adds, “We were devastated to hear of the destruction that went through Kentucky. We are honored to help out and look forward to a big hometown party and raising much needed funds for these communities that need it.”

This event would be worth the drive for our Kentucky neighbors, we all know what we went through with the flooding just two years ago in Nashville.

The dynamic duo, known for their hard-core country anthems, have released “So Called Life” as the second single from their seventh studio album, Rebels On The Run. This is the duo’s first album release on powerhouse indie label Average Joes Entertainment. Written by Sean Patrick McGraw and Bruce Wallace, “So Called Life” is the follow-up single to Montgomery Gentry’s Top 10 radio smash “Where I Come From.” The guitar driven, in-your-face lyrics resonate with every hard-working American. Troy Gentry explains, “It’s about putting your nose to the grindstone and busting your butt everyday—doing what you have to do.”

Eddie Montgomery says, “ This (song) is for everybody that works for a living, gets a paycheck and half of it is already gone. It’s just your ‘so called life’ and hell, they want to get to the weekend and have a damn good time.”

The new single has garnered outstanding reviews, receiving four ½ stars from Billy Dukes from Taste of Country. Dukes commented that the new song is “evidence that Troy Gentry and Eddie Montgomery Gentry are back” going on to say, “‘So Called Life’ bares teeth fans haven’t seen in five years. With cut-throat guitar and organ solos towards the end and a rhythm section that grabs hold of you early on and never lets go, this song promises to provide one of the louder slots on the radio this summer.”

Billboard reviewed the new single as a “high-octane number brimming with the edge and attitude country fans have come to expect from the rowdy Kentucky duo.” Referring to “So Called Life” as a “fiery anthem” saying its “relatable lyrics ensure the song’s success.”

Montgomery Gentry have recently been nominated for “Duo of the Year” for the upcoming 2012 CMT Music Awards to be held on June 6. Fans can vote now at CMT.com http://www.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards/categories.jhtml

Categories 98.1 WBUL The Bull, American Red Cross, Busters Billiards & Backroom, Country Music, Country Radio, Kentucky Cares Concert, Laura Bell Bundy, Montgomery Gentry, Uncategorized

Van Halen Diver Down Nashville

April 29, 2012 //

It has been 31 years since I last saw David Lee Roth front Van Halen on the Women and Children First Tour, when Valerie Bertinelli was sitting with the front of house sound guy and we were wondering who she was with, when Van Halen hit the stage at Bridgestone Arena Friday night at about 9 PM.

Kicking it off with a hard core Van Halen fan favorite, “Unchained,” it was definitely an interesting ride that really showed Eddie back on top of his game while David Lee Roth seemed to do a little soft shoe a la Gene Kelly meets Jaco Pastorius.

Wolfgang was wearing the stripes on his bass while Eddie was showing off his latest Ebony neck Stealth Wolfgang. Alex Van Halen sat behind a very classic Van Halen Ludwig kit with the four double deep bass drums in holographic silver. The only thing missing was the fire extinguishers.

It’s kind of a strange ride to see Van Halen come out as the elder statesmen of guitar pyro technic rock when it doesn’t seem that long ago that I saw them burst out as true revolutionaries on their own tour at Utah State University in 1979 the day Van Halen II came out. Back then, my jaw hit the floor as they started into “Light Up The Sky.” David Lee Roth came running off the drum riser at least 10 feet in the air and landed in front of the mic stand just in time to deliver the first line. Even today, that stands as a mark in time like the moon landing or the day the wall came down in Germany.

The things that I found interesting in this set was, that they didn’t shy from playing their Roth era radio hits, “You Really Got Me” and “Pretty Woman.” The first original song to do moderately well on radio back then was “Dance The Night Away,” but, when Fair Warning failed to produce a hit and didn’t sell as well as Women and Children First, it was back to cover Halen, “Pretty Woman,” that turned things around.

Wynona Judd at The VH Show

Okay, impressions on Wolfgang, I had seen clips from the last tour, and seeing him now I thought, how cool is that? He gets to tour with his Dad who just happens to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time and he is only 18 or so. What he brings to the band, is his knowledge of what the fans want to hear and act as a balancing act between his Dad and Roth, who seem to play very well together in the sandbox nowadays. I think their egos are in some kind of balance now.

Eddie and Wolfgang did fine on backup vocals, but, Michael Anthony’s high as Frank DiMino background vocals were a part of the classic sound. Wolfgang doesn’t seem intent to do what Michael did on the bass. Michael was old school in that his bass propelled Alex’s bass drum and was so much in the same frequencies as the kick drum that it was hard to distinguish Michael, like where did the bass go? But, that was because he wasn’t sloppy. He was totally in sync with Alex. What Wolfgang did show off was guitaresque Billy Sheehan harmonies on the new stuff, like”Chinatown.” If I had to try to mind read Wolfgang, it would seem that he is itching to come out on guitar, but, the bass gig with Dad and Uncle Alex is a great place to be.

Alex had a somewhat brief solo, with pseudo big band tracks that reminded me a lot of Neil Peart solos over the last few years. Alex is extremely underrated. He has what a lot of drummers lack now and that is the bridge between the original jazz drummers that is the core of rock drummers back then which was Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa and Louie Bellson then mixed with what he grew up with, Ginger Baker and Keith Moon and then throw in early 70’s contemporaries that had that swing groove, Brian Downey from Thin Lizzy and Frank Beard from ZZ Top. Although it was a good solo, Alex’s high point for me was the Balance (Hospital) Tour. It amazed me when Alex was wearing a collar brace and was literally not suppose to move his neck and I watched his hands snake all over the drums with no neck movement playing like a demented Gene Krupa – Billy Cobham. The Balance Tour is when my respect for Alex was cemented into my brain.

Of the new songs, “Tattoo,” did become somewhat of a sing along and people got it. There were plenty of 40 something Dads with 14 year old sons wearing matching Van Halen Concert T’s. I had a couple of them with Dad in the row in front of me and when Eddie would take off on a solo, they would point and gawk much like I did in 1979. Excellence never grows old. Speaking of excellence, last time I saw Eddie live was the Balance tour and I did enjoy it, but, Eddie was steeped in the Steve Lukather wet-dry-wet-, digital delay and processing and a lot of the edge was gone. For me, the highlight of the Balance Tour was the song “Amsterdam.” Now, Eddie is all about his signature stomp boxes, EVH Amps, his own guitars and the dynamics and definition were there. It sounded phenomenal, very tube old school, loved it. There was only one step better and that was Van Halen II when Eddie toured with the 100 Watt Gazarri’s House Amp Marshall that he recorded the brown sound on. But, this was fantastic.

Back during Van Hagar, Sammy had a clip when he played guitar alone on “When Eagles Fly,” on this tour we get to see Diamond Dave’s champion cattle and sheep dogs in black and white film as they compete and Dave talks about what the dogs could do before going into “Ice Cream Man.” Dave has always been larger than life on and off the road and this was about the most human I had ever seen Dave. It was very cool.

As far as Dave banter, he didn’t say he forgot the words, because he didn’t, but, he did say some great lines like,”A kid asked me if I had ever seen a screen as big as the one in the backdrop of the band?” to which Dave said “Oh yeah, we had one of those in Indiana out in a field, we called it a Drive In Movie.” One of my favorites was an old school reference when Alex kicked in the drum intro to “Everybody Wants Some,” and Dave started singing, “From the land of sky blue waters…” I think that was Hamm’s Beer.

There were definitely some songs I missed like “Light Up The Sky,” “I’m The One,” “On Fire” and “Top Jimmy,” but, “Hear About It Later” and “Romeos Delight” were great deep track shredders.

Eddie was not slacking at all, his solo which was kind of a “Variations on Eruption” thing, showed him spotlighted in front of the amps and then perching in his surfer kid hair cut on one of the drum riser stair steps. It had more the feel of seeing Eddie practicing on the end of his bed as a kid then a rock star running all over the stage. The camera was right on the neck in total focus showing what his fingers were doing on a giant back screen.

This tour has less set design and was more stripped down like the Balance Tour. It’s hard to express this, but, it felt like an intimate post card to true Van Halen fans in a big arena setting. In fact, it didn’t feel like an arena until the last song, ”Jump,” with confetti dropping out of the ceiling and Dave waving an oversized checkered flag. With Dave, there always needs to be something Texas sized about the show.

The band more than made up for Bridgestone Arena’s very poor acoustics. In this town, T-Pac or The Ryman is the place to really “hear” a band, but, if Van Halen did that, they would have been here all week long. The arena was definitely a near sell out.

– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com

Categories Alex Van Halen, Bridgestone Arena, David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Electric Guitar, Guitar, Rock Music, Thin Lizzy, Uncategorized, Van Halen, Van Halen 2012 Tour, Wolfgang Van Halen

Shakedown at The Majestic at Liahonaroo Next Weekend

April 15, 2012 //

Shakedown at The Majestic

Brooklyn, New York’s Shakedown at The Majestic (SATM) heard about Liahonaroo and decided to take a shot at performing their first show in the South.

Liahonaroo will take place April 20-21 at The Wilson County Fairgrounds in Lebanon.

Shantell Ogden

The event was organized by a group of Mormon musicians and music lovers, not as an event to preach, but a family-friendly drug and alcohol free music festival.

Shantell Ogden, event organizer believes it will resonate with all Christians regardless of denomination.

“I have a friend in a punk band that plays clubs regularly, and because of the environment and age restrictions his daughter hasn’t been able to see him perform,” she said.

The name, Liahonaroo, is inspired by a compass called the Liahona that a Book of Mormon prophet Lehi used to lead his family through the wilderness, ‘roo’ has become synonomous with ‘music festival.’

SATM, a Sugar Ray meets Peter & Gordon retro Sixties mix, decided to make the submission and made it into the lineup to make their first appearance in the South.

As Taylor Mintz, percussionist of SATM, puts it, “We’ve got a little bit of the old harmony like The Beatles, The Zombies and The Beach Boys. We are like a band from Long Island that went out to California, learned how to surf and then made a record.”

The group is getting ready to release their sophomore effort in a couple of months.

“Run For Your Life,” “Idiot or Liar” and especially “Recipe of Life” are songs that are really getting the crowds going in New York at places like Sullivan Hall and DC Lounge. These songs will be on the new release.

Aaron Kupferberg, Powerpopaholic.com says about SATM, “We get catchy, danceable, stick-in-you-head songs courtesy of this energetic unsigned Brooklyn band. The harmonies and minor chord shifts on “ Bria” are sweet and compare well to Weezer.”

Acklen Park - photo - Melody Hood

SATM joins an eclectic Liahoanroo lineup that includes Music Row chart toppers, Acklen Park, a duo experiencing success with their recent country radio hit, “Great American Song,” positioned to be one of the country rock summer anthems this year.

Kelcy Lee

Also performing in the nearly 30 acts is country band HWY 52 and singer/songwriters, Kaitlyn Cannon, Kelcy Lee, Kimberly Knighton and Joseph Barrios. For a full line up go to the Liahonaroo website and Facebook pages.

Joseph Barrios - photo - Kaht

– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com

Categories Acklen Park, Country Music, Indie Music, Indie Rock, Joseph Barrios, Kelcy Lee, Kimberly Knighton, Liahonaroo, Music, Music Row, Nashville, Rock Music, Shakedown at The Majestic, Shantell Ogden, Uncategorized

Celebrating Easter in Nashville

April 8, 2012 //

Wanda Jackson at Mercy Lounge 2010

Easter is all about a renewal, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and what it means to us. Nashville itself is a town of resurrection, a place where Jack White has produced two great albums by Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson and where the underbelly that was East Nashville is the place to be.

Speaking of East Nashville, Bob Dylan came here in the Sixties to make a 180 in his career and where Robert Plant came just a couple of years ago to do just the same. Speaking of which, I have heard that he has set up shop with Patty Griffin in Austin since the Band of Joy tour.

What is Nashville to me? A Californian-slash-Alabama bluesman? I started making the drive up to Nashville quite often starting in 2006 from Birmingham. I liked the fact that you could wander from one honky tonk to another and check out all the Telecaster blasters playing through mostly Fender tube amps almost any hour of the day.

I finally made the move after getting positive feedback about my songwriting abilities from a local publishing head at the end of 2007.

It was a very surreal world, where one Saturday morning, wandering around a guitar show, I ended up talking to Scotty Moore about how many Bill Black Combos, Bill really had. The next minute, I am jamming on my 1936 Gibson Electric Hawaiian down on Lower Broad when Little Jimmy Dickens comes wandering out of nowhere and watches me jam for about 10 minutes, throws a $20 dollar bill into the vintage case and says. “Keep it up!” Mind you, I’m not making this up. In fact, if you are from Nashville, you know what I mean and are probably saying, “So what.”

I realized that everybody had a story, whether it was the Baskin Robbins on Lebanon that said Porter Wagoner used to come in all the time, or a snapshot in the window of Robert Plant stopping in to check out the guitars.

So what do I like about Nashville, now that I have been here a few years?

Strange Karma down on Lower Broad celebrating the bassist birthday!

Let’s see, there is more diversity than what outsiders would think, for starters, I have met a ton of Aussies and I, seriously, have never met one I didn’t want to hang with whether it was Anthony Snape or Strange Karma. I wonder if it was like this when Keith Urban first came here and was playing at the Guitar Bar? Did the Aussies start coming after Keith’s success or is Nashville a big magnet?

As far as diversity goes, you can get world class Indian Cuisine, of which I am all about Tamarind on Demonbreun. I’ve ate Indian food all over the place and that is about as good as it gets. There are several ethnic communities here, whether it be Egyptian Coptic Christians or Somalis, the list goes on and makes for Eateries that go way beyond the meat and three.

Something is in the water in East Nashville, with several upstart, one of a kind places like Far East Nashville, not only your typical Vietnamese Pho and Vermicelli bowls, but, the actual family recipes fixed by the owners brother, in a totally unique way.

Porter Road Butcher Shop makes some amazing sausages featuring probably the best Andouille Sausage this far north of Bayou Country. In fact, that is what I had for Easter. I could have whatever I wanted, so, I faxed three eggs with some sharp Vermont Cheddar and some of that Andouille Sausage on the side.

Nashville is a vinyl fanatic’s pipe dream, wandering between Grimeys, The Groove, Phonoluxe and the two Great Escape locations there is no reason to ever come up empty handed. In fact, there is a plethora of radio station promo copies which are usually on heavier, better quality vinyl. Record Store Day is almost like a city holiday where a huge migration descends mainly on Grimeys by the thousands. My only gripe would be, is there no bootlegs? Back when, I used to travel over to Berkeley to Moe’s Bookstore and get vinyl Beatles bootlegs as well as concerts and demos engraved onto vinyl by everything from Queen to Aerosmith to The Clash it was something nobody else had.

Music is everywhere, as I laid down to bed the first few months in Nashville, I could hear music in my head like never before, like ghost radio stations, it seemed like there were thousands of songwriters who had passed on and never left Nashville, they were just trying to get that next big hit. It seemed as if there was singing in the netherworld and all you had to be was a little bit spiritually aware.

Tommy Tutone and Mario at Nashville Amp Expo

I think there are more Telecasters in a 30 mile radius than the whole state of California, where they were invented. If you can’t find the perfect Telecaster, there are boutique builders from Mario Guitars in Murfreesboro to Chad Underwood in Lexington, Kentucky.

As far as electric guitar parts go, Rock Blocks Guitars has a wall of supplies juts minutes away.

Looking at the Musical Instrument section in Craigslist can be eye opening. You never know what you will find, anything from a 1964 Fender Precision sold by the bass player in Cinderella after a career’s worth of touring to a Gold Top Les Paul owned by Duane Allman. If there is a vintage Sho-Bud Steel around, no doubt, eventually, you’ll see it on Craigslist.

Southside Gentlemans Club at Burt's Tiki Lounge, newly acquired Dr. Z Stang Ray in the backline. 2009

My favorite personal story is about my Dr. Z Amplifier. I had been writing and playing my own brand of Ragtime Blues when I moved to Nashville. I had been using a 45 Watt Samamp from Birmingham when I got here and it was just too much. I was ready for a little 30 Watt or less combo. There are so many and I just decided to try them all. I brought my arch top with me and made the rounds from Corner Music to Gruehn Guitars to Rock Blocks. Finally, when I plugged into this Dr. Z Stang Ray at Rock Blocks, I had met my match, a simple tone stack, where you could really fill out the bass and a simple good looking black with white trim amp. The speaker had been changed out to a Cannabis Rex and it had a sound all its own.

The price tag was $2100. I didn’t have $2100. In fact, even with selling some gear, donating blood and street gigging down on Lower Broad, I still probably would be $1000 a way. I needed that amp. I put it in God’s hands. It’s okay to say that in Nashville isn’t it? Well, that’s what I did, true story. I prayed and said, I’ve tried all the amps out that I can think of and that is the one that sounds right then tucked it away.

Well, things looked bleak when I lost my job in 2008, in fact, really bleak, I left Nashville, worked five months in Memphis, then that company went bankrupt and I ended up taking a job with a national company in Utah and moved out of Tennessee.

I never gave up on the music, I got my five piece ragtime blues band together in Utah, playing at Burt’s Tiki Lounge, finding some great musicians from an add I put out in Craigslist. On a whim in early 2009, I looked up the Nashville Craigslist and found that exact Dr. Z Stang Ray for sale. Guitarist, Gary Ishee, had put an add up that read something like this;“I bought this Dr. Z Stang Ray earlier this year at Rock Blocks and I need to sell it.”

It looked identical. I called him up and explained that I was stuck out in Utah, but, that I knew the amp and through our talk, he knew I was the real deal. I wired the money to his bank account including the cost to ship it. I bought it for $1250. I was able to come up with that only because I went out west to a company on a bad stretch, because of the economy, they let me have all the overtime I could handle. I got the amp in a big Roland amplifier box from UPS in Farr West, Utah and it was the exact amp. I sat there and cried. It was the exact same amp, in fact, the only amp I ever prayed about and I will include the picture of my group, The Southside Gentlemens Club playing at Burt’s Tiki Lounge a couple of months later with the amp in the backline.

Thank you Brad Paisley for input on the AC30 hybrid design, what a great amp. I still own it and fire it up almost every day in hopes to lay down some tracks here soon.

Okay tracks, let’s talk about that. I was in Utah almost a year, when I came out here on vacation in September 2009. I had hoped to move back to Nashville someday, maybe when the economy got better, but, on a whim, I had kept in touch with a realtor, who didn’t give up on me, even though, I was out in the Rocky Mountain West. I will drop his name, because Kenneth Bargers is an amazing Realtor. He emailed me faithfully every month some houses I would be interested in. When I was here for a week in September 2009, Kenneth Bargers took me around on two afternoons to look at houses. I felt like I was back home, I wanted to be back in Nashville, I did not want to get back on the plane.

Daniel Turner

We found a house I really liked. The last night I was in town, I was hanging around and moping by the pool at the airport Courtyard over on Elm Hill Pike, not wanting to leave Nashville. I decided I needed to go do something, pull myself up by my bootstraps. So I got dressed and headed over to Commodore Grille to check out some songwriters. Cowboy Jack Clement was in the round and it gave me goose bumps. I thought, if I had stayed at the hotel, I would have missed this. I decided I need to get back and I was heading out the door when I heard somebody call my name. “Brad!” I looked up and it was Daniel Turner, one of my music friends from Birmingham, Alabama walking in. I said to him, “What are you doing here?” He explained that he was going to be playing the next round. It was a great reunion of old friends. I have so much respect for Daniel as an all around musician. He can play, write and sing. If anybody could make a great classic country album, he could. He has such a great voice, but, he had really been influenced by a lot of the Alabama Blues that is around Birmingham.

I went back to my hotel room on cloud nine. I could hardly sleep. I was going to find a way to get back and I did. I interviewed by phone and got a transfer. I found a house on Zillow.com and Kenneth Bargers looked at it for me and on his word, I bought it. In fact, Kenneth represented me at closing in November 2009 and I never walked into the house until the first week of December as an owner. It’s a true story, call Kenneth, if you need a Realtor and you can ask about it. He is the best Realtor in Nashville as far as I am concerned.

Kenny Malone at a clinic at Country Music HOF

Okay, so, I am back. I work hard. I have got to hang with some great musicians and do some great interviews. It’s been a great ride, but, I need to resurrect my own career. Sometimes, I think it would be easier to move down to Pensacola and put together a group from Craigslist and center on a little club or bar to be “our place,” but, there is the dream recording session, the possibility that I can put together, with a little cash or luck, Kenny Malone on drums, “Slick” Joe Fick from The Dempseys on Bass, the violinist I saw at Mike Farris’ in store at Grimeys and get a trumpet player that can play like Al Hirt and get this manic New Orleans meets Memphis circa 1940 music to record. I work hard at the music and I have some great friends. If that part of my career is supposed to “Resurrect,” it will.

For now, I will just enjoy the ride.

– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com

Categories Aerosmith, Alabama, Alabama Music, Alternative Music, Americana Music, Anthony Snape, Australia, Band of Joy, Birmingham, Bluesman Vintage Guitars, Commodore Grill, Country Music, Country Music Hall of Fame, Cowboy Jack Clement, Daniel Turner, Dr. Z Amplifiers, East Nashville, Grimey's, Grimey's New and Preloved Music, Guitar Mill Guitars, Jack White, Kenny Malone, Lower Broad, Lower Broad Nashville, Mario Guitars, Mike Farris, Mollie Garrigan, Music, Nashville, Nashville Amp Expo, Patty Griffin, Porter Road Butcher Shop, Robert Plant, Rock Music, Slick Joe Fick, Strange Karma, The Allman Brothers Band, The Dempseys, The Mercy Lounge, Uncategorized, Wanda Jackson

Dolly Parton and HankWilliams Jr. Partner with New Marketing

April 5, 2012 //

Nashville, TN (April 4, 2012) – Country music Icon Dolly Parton just released her latest project, “An Evening with… Dolly”, which is a two-disc DVD/CD set available exclusively at all Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® locations.

The double-disc set includes live performances of Dolly’s biggest hits, including 9 to 5, Jolene, Coat of Many Colors, Here You Come Again, Islands in the Stream, and I Will Always Love You, among others. The package retails for $11.99 and is also available online at www.crackerbarrel.com.

Cracker Barrel has seen an influx of Bluegrass, Old Time Gospel and Classic Country stars in recent partnerships in the last few years, much like the Starbucks Music Marketing concept, Cracker Barrel is both a restaurant and a store and is very popular with fans of down home food and down home music.

Most recently, the most award winning Bluegrass duo, Daily & Vincent, has been successful with Cracker Barrel promotions.

I’m jealous of Dolly’s guitar on the cover. It looks like a PRS SE single cutaway hollow body, but, it could be a custom build. If anybody knows, let me know. The price point of the DVD-CD combo is ridiculous. Everybody should have a copy of this. Dolly started with promotion this week on Nightline and Inside edition and has upcoming appearances scheduled.

Friday April 6^th, catch Dolly online for a special one-on-one question and answer session with Billboard.com as well as on the entertainment news magazine show EXTRA!

Saturday, April 7^th, Dolly sits down with Rebecca Jarvis on CBS This Morning and Katie Cook for CMT Insider.

On Wednesday, April 11^th Dolly will be featured on the mid-day syndicated The Better Show.

On Saturday, April 14^th Dolly sits down with Governor Huckabee for Fox News Channel’s HUCKABEE. The show will re-air on Sunday, April 15^th.

In the coming weeks, Dolly Parton will also appear on ABC’s The Revolution with Tim Gunn, The Dr. Steve Show, Lifetime Television’s national morning show The Balancing Act, among others.

On the same date, a major announcement came from one of the last true rebels, and I wasn’t talking about Hank III, I was talking about Junior!

Mike Dennison, President of Blaster Entertainment, Hank Williams, Jr. and Tom Porter, CEO of Blaster Entertainment, sign exclusive agreement to distribute Hank's new CD.

Nashville, TN (April 4, 2012) – Blaster Entertainment, one of the country’s leading talent management and entertainment labels, and award-winning Country music recording artist Hank Williams, Jr. announced that they have entered into a worldwide exclusive three year licensing agreement. The new partnership comes only months before Williams’ highly anticipated new studio album release, which will hit retail in June. The deal, which was signed this week, licenses Blaster Records, a division of Blaster Entertainment, to distribute Bocephus Records’ new release for the next three years.

“When I started Blaster Records a bit over five years ago, my goal was to create an entertainment company that became home to some of country music’s biggest stars,” said Tom Porter, CEO of Blaster Entertainment. “Hank Williams Jr. is a giant in the business and we are beyond excited to welcome him into the Blaster family.”

“I’m excited about this new album we’ve been working on,” Hank Williams Jr. said. “When looking at labels, I had several choices. When my team brought me the opportunity from Blaster and with the soon to be announced distribution deal, it was the best deal in town. My fans will be able to find my music in places that common folks shop. This is gonna be fun!”

With more than 70 albums to his credit, sales of 55 million records, countless awards including 5-time Entertainer of the Year awards (ACM & CMA), BMI Icon Award, a Grammy, and most recently in 2009 the Academy of Country Music “Pioneer Award,” Williams is a living legend. His discography chronicles a bold profile of growth from adored offspring of a legendary father, to titan of the modern country rock movement in his own right. For two decades, America came to its collective feet each fall Monday night when this larger than life superman of a musician looked into the camera and unleashed the national anthem for viewers of Monday Night Football – ‘Are You Ready for Some Football.?’ Those simple words have won Williams an entirely new generation of fans and given him the distinction of being the first country performer to ever win an Emmy.

Blaster Entertainment is known for their unconventional, untraditional and by most people’s perception just plain fun way of doing business. The blending of Blaster and Williams is a perfect pairing. The mission of Blaster Entertainment is to service and support artists in all aspects of the business while creating new outlets for their music. The company prides itself on the ability to provide one-on one attention to all of their artists while developing new opportunities and alliances along the way.

A partnership with a combination, promotional and distribution arm seems to be the way to go nowadays. Hank Jr. was able to stay in the news with, so-called controversy and right or wrong, he stuck to his guns and has to be admired for that.

– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com

Categories Country Music, Country Music Hall of Fame, Country Radio, Cracker Barrel, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr., Music, Uncategorized

SIX Opening Night Goes on Despite Branson Tornado Disaster

March 1, 2012 //

Branson Mayor, Raeanna Presley, went on CNN to let the public know that although there was significant damage in Branson, Missouri to the entertainment strip known as 76 Music Highway, out of Fifty Theaters only five to six suffered major damage. One of the theatres that escaped unscathed was The Mickey Gilley Theater, the new home of SIX where opening night is tonight.

SIX in Branson, photo - Jen Renaud

I spoke with Lynn Knudsen, one of the six brothers that make up SIX yesterday afternoon as he was driving along Music Highway after rehearsals. Lynn noted, “We had to take back roads to get to rehearsals earlier in the day because most of the strip was shut down.”

It appeared that all the members of SIX as well as family and the Mickey Gilley Theater made it through and were ready for opening night. SIX recently signed a new contract with the Mickey Gilley Theater and had put together a completely brand new show and were anxious to get the 2012 season started.

Wednesday was a time to make sure everybody was okay and travel to the theater under difficult circumstances to finalize preparations for opening night. Kevin Knudsen went on the air at an early morning radio show in Springfield, Missouri to let fans know that SIX would be on for opening night the following night.

The Branson Hilton - courtesy Branson Chamber of Commerce

Lynn Knudsen kept in contact while surveying the damage travelling east from the Mickey Gilley Theater, the biggest amount seemed to be on the first half of the strip as well as down by the river front. Lynn described a surreal scene when a parking lot was full of two inch landscaping rocks that had tore up cars and businesses, “It looks like these rocks came from a landscaping business, if somebody had been around here with these rocks travelling 130 miles per hour, they would have been stoned to death.”

Damaged Theater on Music Highway- courtesy Branson Chamber of Commerce

Some of the worst damage was across the street from Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. The Stampede was fine, but the businesses across the street including Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater were almost totally obliterated.

The tornado seemed to be narrow and skip from one place to the next picking off random hotels, small businesses and the six or so theaters that sustained heavy damage.

Shoney's - courtesy - Branson Chamber of Commerce

Lynn finally had to detour off the strip where there was cleanup going on fixing tilted and bent over power lines. Branson is working day and night to get clean up under way as the tourist season begins.

SIX has been winning over fans and garnering awards every season since they opened a few years ago. SIX even has their own booth at the local Fuddruckers in the groups’ colors as well as memorabilia surrounding the table.

SIX brought their high energy all vocal performance to Branson from Las Vegas to a receptive crowd being the first headlining group in one of the major theaters to do it all with six brothers, six voices and six microphones. In the past they have showcased everything from U2 to Frank Sinatra but this season seemed to be the most ambitious of all with all new music and production.

Opening night is tonight and as they say “The show must go on!”

Hit the Lights! photo - Tammy Grice

Brad Hardisty – Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com

Categories Branson Missouri, Branson Tornado, Fuddruckers, Mickey Gilley, Mickey Gilley Theater, Music, SIX, Uncategorized

Darrell Scott at Grimey’s In-Store

February 10, 2012 //

Darrell Scott at Grimey's, Jan. 31, 2012

Darrell Scott celebrated the release of Long Ride Home, what he describes as his most Country album to date with an in-store appearance at Grimey’s on January 31^st. Darrell Scott who has been nominated for a Grammy three times as well as collaborating with writers such as Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Guy Clark, was enjoying a rocking duet in the rear of the store.

Darrell reminisced about working with his father in his teens back in California saying that two of the songs on the CD were written on a retreat to Big Bear in The San Bernardino Mountains with his Dad when he was sixteen. The two tracks, “The Country Boy” and “You’re Everything I Wanted Love to Be,” have that pure California Country swagger having been written before mechanical bulls and Urban Cowboy.

On a personal note, this work could not have come at a more important time. After the completion of the project, Wayne Scott was the victim of a car accident in Corbin, Kentucky on November 25^th, 2011. The project became a loving tribute to his father and the musical heritage that has been passed on from father to son.

Having been able to hear the new songs with a full band at Station Inn a few months back, it was exciting to hear the final work, probable his most collaborative yet, working with his long time percussionist Kenny Malone as well as Patty Griffin and Guy Clark to name a few.

In the midst of The Band of Joy tour, I had the opportunity to interview Darrell, not wanting to go after the obvious, “How is it working with Robert Plant?” question, I decided to look at where Darrell was at working as a “utility” player, a man with all kinds of string instruments, a gun slinger. It reminded him of how it was playing in his Dad, Wayne Scott’s band back in the Inland Empire of California.

That interview turned out to be a harbinger of his next album, returning to his roots, turning full circle. The article was set to publish in a national publication but was cut before publication at the end of 2010. In a way, the article fits more what Darrell did with this project even more than what he did with Robert Plant.

I now present the never before published work.

Darrell Scott: From California Honky Tonks to Band of Joy

Darrell Scott was back in Nashville for some down time from touring with the Robert Plant project Band of Joy named after the band Robert and John Bonham were a part of before starting Led Zeppelin with Jimmy Page.

Brad Hardisty: Are you working on some song demos since you’re back at home?

Darrell Scott: I should be but with the tour and everything, I just can’t think about it right now.

BH: You don’t get much of a chance to be the sideman?

DS: I am so busy with my own songs that I’ll play for friends but that is about it.

Darrell had been touring solo in support of his recent release A Crooked Road, a collection of personal post cards about family, his children, and relationships. It was a personal effort by a well known Nashville songwriter that has written songs that have been recorded by a diverse roster of performers.

BH: Your songwriting has that real depth to it, reminds me of Jimmy Webb (“Galveston”, “Wichita Lineman”)

DS: Oh definitely, my two favorite writers are Jimmy Webb and Guy Clark, but I like all kinds of well written Country, Pop, whatever.

Darrell has had dozens of songs recorded by Major Artists. In fact the song “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” a tribute to songwriter, Harlan Howard was recorded by several different artists including Brad Paisley, Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea, Red Molly and even former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist, Zakk Wylde.

Darrell was born on a Tobacco Farm in London, Kentucky, the son of Wayne Scott who passed down a love of Country Music. After a few economic based moves Darrell’s family settled down in an area known as “The Inland Empire”, San Bernardino County just 60 miles east of Los Angeles but a world away from the Sunset Strip and glitz of Hollywood where back in the day there were still remnants of Nashville West.

DS: I played Honky Tonks, Bowling Alleys whatever in my teens. A lot of times we were the backing band for Country Artists that were traveling the circuit like Ernest Tubb (The Texas Troubador) or we were the headlining band.

BH: A lot of people don’t realize all the Country Music that came out of California.

DS: Yeah, I mean all those people that came out from Oklahoma and the south for work brought the music with them.

BH: So you were gigging a lot?

DS: I would end up sitting at the Pedal Steel with a Telecaster in my lap.

BH: A lot of music gear in Country music came out of California.

DS: Leo Fender, the Telecaster and his Electric Steel Guitars. Then there was Paul Bigsby (The Bigsby Vibrato), Mosrite (guitar builder for Joe Maphis) and even the Dobro Company was out in California, Guy Clark worked for Dobro.

Darrell was a “Nashville Triple Threat” before he moved to Tennessee, developing his skills as a Performer, Musician and Songwriter. He had an unreleased New York Singer/Songwriter album done that his label never released before deciding to move to Nashville

BH: So how did you end up in Nashville?

DS: My wife was as a school teacher, I figured I could keep the music going and housing was cheap. I really didn’t want to move here at the time, but, it was the logical decision.

Darrell brought a lot to the table when he moved to Nashville in 1991, becoming a go to session musician and stellar songwriting. Eventually he was able to re-record the never released New York album thirteen years later. Theater of the Unheard garnered Album of the Year at the 2005 Independent Music Awards.

B H: I know Robert Plant spends a lot of time in Nashville. Did you know him before joining the Band of Joy project?

D S: No I didn’t. In fact he had never heard of me. Buddy Miller made the recommendation and Robert wanted to hear me play before making a decision. They flew out to San Francisco to see my set at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (Oct 4, 2009 at 11AM on the Banjo Stage).

BH: On Band of Joy you’re kind of like Dave Lindsey “the utility guy” that can play anything with strings.

DS: I didn’t know what to bring, so I brought everything including my fretless Banjo and Accordion. I didn’t know how it was going to turn out. We just had a short time booked over at Woodland Studios (in East Nashville) to see what would happen.

BH: A couple of the tracks especially “House of Cards” and “Central Two-O-Nine” remind me of Led Zeppelin III.

DS: I wouldn’t know. I don’t know much about Led Zeppelin. When I play it’s my own interpretation. It is what I would do.

BH: That reminds me of when Jerry Lee Lewis was recording “Rock and Roll” for Last Man Standing, Jimmy Page tried to tell Jerry Lee he was playing the rhythm wrong and he said this is the way I play it. He had never heard the Lep Zeppelin song before. The band is playing some Led Zeppelin on this tour; I always loved “Tangerine”

DS: Yes, we’re playing “Tangerine” and “Misty Mountain Hop”. But, we are playing a lot of different things live. We really are becoming a band out on the road. I mean the album experience was phenomenal, but, we are really becoming a great band.

BH: It reminds me of how Led Zeppelin really gelled on the road and you can tell the difference between the first two Led Zeppelin albums. Are there any plans for another album?

DS: No, no plans. It could happen but who knows. Robert is a moving target; he doesn’t like to look back. He is always thinking forward.

Darrell seemed excited to get back out on the road with Robert Plant/Band of Joy, having gone full circle he is back at the pedal steel with a Telecaster cradled in his lap just like playing with his Dad and his brothers back in California. The only difference is that he is touring the world with Robert Plant and the cream of the crop of current Songwriter/Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee.

BH: So when you’re done what’s next?

DS: I have been working on a couple of projects and it could go either way. I have wanted to do a classic country album pre-70’s style, but, I also have a songwriter album done.

BH: If you had to describe Band of Joy what would that be?

DS: Two words, Buddy Miller and organic. The thing was totally organic. If it had not come together it would not have happened. There was no strategy. We had such a short window and it was incredible.

Buddy Miller put together a band to support Robert Plant in his current musical path. Darrell is leaving this weekend for another six weeks of touring with a planned stateside return of Band of Joy next year. Darrell enjoys being a part of such an original sounding band, a master musician, songwriter and performer in his own right, the future is wide open and full of promise.

– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com

Categories Country Music, Darrell Scott, Grimey's New and Preloved Music, Guitar, Guy Clark, Indie Music, Kenny Malone, Patty Griffin, Patty Grififn, Robert Plant, Uncategorized