As you probably know, I’ve been involved with YEAH (Youth Empowerment through Arts & Humanities) for many years and try to help them out in any way I can. I’ve volunteered for SGRRC and TNTRC multiple years and can say from experience that it’s AWESOME. It’s easily the most rewarding volunteer work I’ve ever done and it honestly changed my life forever. Unfortunately I can’t spare the time off from work to volunteer for them this year, but that doesn’t mean YOU can’t! I strongly STRONGLY encourage you to checkout their volunteer form and see if any of the positions interest you. Remember, you DON’T have to be a musician or even musically-inclined to help out! There are plenty of non-musical needs as well. You get free lunch every day, a cool t-shirt, and most importantly the good feeling of helping foster the love of music and the arts in some of coolest kids you will ever meet.
So what are you waiting for?!?! Go sign up now! Click here for Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp, or here for Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp.
A Few Good Shows: 10/12/12
October 12, 2012
It’s yet another busy weekend in Nashville for indie/local/rock shows. I’m a little bummed that I can’t make it to the Nobility/Non-Comms show tonight, since I’ll be in ATL playing a show. Haven’t seen those dudes play in far too long…
FRIDAY:
The Nobility, The Non-Commissioned Officers, and The Kernal @ The High Watt. 9pm $7
The Queers, Blooddrunk Shenanigans, Random Conflict, and Commonwealth of American Natives @ The End. 9pm $12
Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Kurt Wagner @ The Cannery Ballroom. 8pm $20
KDSML Review Ft. Protohype @ Exit/In. 9pm FREE for 21+, under 21 $5
SATURDAY:
Cry Baby EP release show w/ Snakeyez, Ghost Light and Vacation Bible School @ Owl Farm. 8pm $5???
D. Watusi in-store show at Grimey’s. FREE Postponed, according to Grimey’s website
Horror Hootenanny ft. The Creeping Cruds, Forbidden Dimension, & Alucard @ The End. 9pm $6
Scale Model, Creature Comfort, and Girls & Money @ The Labyrinth in Murfreesboro (529 Crossway Ave., near Ewing)
SUNDAY:
Skeleton Witch, Black Tusk, Havok, and Early Graves @ The End. 8pm $14
That’s it for now. Have a great weekend!
A Few Good Shows: 4/13/12
April 13, 2012
This fine Friday the 13th weekend is shaping to be a good one for shows in Nashville. Take a gander at my picks:
FRIDAY:
Colour Revolt and Sleeping Bulls @ The 5 Spot. $8 9pm 21+
Diarrhea Planet, Couched, Guntherdoug, Linear Downfall @ The End. 9pm $5
RR Release party ft. D. Striker, Little Bandit, The Tendoor, and Roy Ira @ The Basement. 9pm $5 21+
SATURDAY:
Night Beats, D. Watusi, and Ranch Ghost @ The End. 9pm $5
Sparkle City DJs at the 5 Spot. 9pm $5 (Ft. Jonas Stein, David Bermudez, and some others… I think…)
Tour De Fun, Murfreesboro. This thing was totally kick ass last year, so I hear. Kinda wish I could go this year but I’m an old man. You ride your bike around Murfreesboro going from house show to house show, seeing a bunch of bands and drinking a lot of beer. Pretty cool idea! Bikes! Bands! Houses! Beer! FUN! Check out Lance Conzett’s critic’s pick on it in the Scene.
A Few Good Shows: 3/23/12
March 23, 2012
This weekend has some quality show offerings, especially of the local variety, so get your ass out there and see some good local bands!
FRIDAY:
Ponychase, Evan P. Donohue, Jasmin Kaset @ the 5 Spot. 9pm $5
Spongebath Night ft. Seth Timbs Thing, Jason Moore (of the Katies), The Hellens, Marc Scibilia, and Cory Chisel @ The Basement. 9pm $5 21+
Gardens & Villa, What Up, English?, and Hanzelle at the High Watt (in Mercy Lounge). 9pm $5
SATURDAY:
Red Bull Music Academy’s Nashville session ft. Eliot Lipp as guest speaker. 4-5pm @ 12th & Porter. FREE
Boom Bap ft. Rob Swift @ the 5 Spot. 9pm $10 Yes THAT Rob Swift.
Y2K ft. Kidsmeal, Coach, Hands off Sam, and Handi-Snacks @ the High Watt. 10pm $3(21+) $5(18+) Girls 21+ free till 11. The High Watt is the new home of DJ Coach’s immensely successful DJ night Y2K. Come out and help them celebrate the a new era!
Scale Model, King Arthur, Mize & The Drive @ Wall Street (in Murfreesboro). 9pm $5 Yea, this one’s down in the ‘Boro but my band is on it and I gotta shamelessly self-promote, dig?
SUNDAY:
Mind Spiders, Cy Barkley & The Way Outsiders, The Cannomen @ The End. 9pm $5
That’s it. Have a great weekend!
Shows this weekend in Nashville
July 22, 2011
So this weekend is rather “meh” with the show offerings around town. But here are a few I suggest.
FRIDAY:
Delicate Steve and Colorfeels @ The Basement. 9pm $10 21+ (I mean, how can I not include Delicate Steve?!?)
SATURDAY:
The Non-Commissioned Officers w/ The Royal Bangs and Spiderfriends @ The End. 9pm $10
Boom Bap @ The 5 Spot. 9pm $5 21+
If you’re in Murfreesboro I’d recommend checking out Neutral Skate Supply. They’ve tapped PUJOL, Single Mothers, and King Arthur to celebrate their grand opening. Starts at 5pm.
And I leave you with this:
Have a great weekend!
The Summer of The Features
May 11, 2011
As reported today on the Nashville Cream, Nashville/Murfreesboro’s hometown heroes The Features are prepping for the release of their 3rd full length album Wilderness on July 26. Their last album Some Kind of Salvation was simply fantastic, but this next one seems as though it will be the “perfect” Features record. I’ve heard absolute rave reviews from the first few local folks who got a promo copy to review, and hopefully *ahem, Rory/Rollum/somebody* I’ll have one to review soon as well. I can remember having a somewhat drunken conversation with producer/vacuum tube wizard Brian Carter one night at Mercy Lounge late last year in which he excitedly said something like “this is the record the guys and I have always wanted to make.” Basically I get the feeling this album was done the way the band wanted to do it, where they wanted to do it, and with whom they wanted to do it. Mad props to the Kings Of Leon for signing them to their own 429 Records and allowing the band to do what they want, when they want, and how they want.
Building up to the release, the first of probably many promotional items to whet our appetite is a 7″ single with the track “Rambo” b/w “This Much I Know.” The video above it a promo for that release, set for May 31st.
Remember Grand Palace records in Murfreesboro? While Chuck and Bingham have kept the screen printing business going full steam-ahead, and Alex Norfleet kept the recording studio up and running, the record store, venue and label have all gone somewhat dormant. As a matter of fact, (most locals know by now) the whole operation is moving out of the charming old building on the square that’s been its home for the past 6 or so years. Word is they’re moving to Nashville, but that’s as much as I know.
The point of all this is that Rod from the awesome Boro-based band Bows and Arrows is working with some friends to revive the label portion and has some new releases planned for this year under the GP moniker. Leading up to it, his own band is releasing a series of free digital 7″‘s. Here’s the news straight from the horse’s mouth:
Us and Grand Palace Records have a bunch of really exciting physical releases planned for most of the year, and to lead up to them Bows and Arrows will be releasing a Digital 7″ every week and they will all be downloadable for free on our bandcamp page at the bottom of the email. This first Digital 7″ consists of two covers, “Leave Me Be” by The Zombies and “All I Wanna Do” by The Beach Boys. They were each recorded in a couple hours in the house our debut album is named after, 1010 Eaton Street. Side B features our roomates on vocals, electric guitar and bells. Future Digital 7″ releases will include more covers, demo versions of songs, brand new songs and collaborations with other artists among other things.
So do yourself a favor and go grab the new digital 7″ from their bandcamp, and keep an eye on all things Grand Palace. They’re back.
This weekend: what to do
January 7, 2011
Sorry posting has been scarce this week. I’ve been busy at both work and at home. Here’s a quick rundown of shows I recommend seeing in Nashville this weekend.
FRIDAY:
Hands Down Eugene, Shoot the Mountain, and The Sleep-Ins @ the Basement. STM has a new drummer: Patrick Rodgers (Scene writer and drummer of And The Relatives). All-around solid lineup. 9pm, $5, 21+
John Carter Cash, the Early Evening, Shane Ownby @ the Rutledge. 8:30pm, 18+, I can’t seem to find a price anywhere…
SATURDAY:
If you’re in Nashville:
The Clutters 10-year anniversary show w/ Cheap Time @ the Basement. It’s hard to believe they’ve been bangin’ out garage-punk for 10 years now but it’s true. 9pm, $5, 21+
Ryan Truso & Family benefit show ft. Brandon Jazz & His Armed Forces, The Worsties, Cheer Up Charlie Daniels, Jesse Coppenbarger (of Colour Revolt) & more @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm, $7 min. donation. Mr. Truso is an excellent producer, recently shaping the sounds of Brandon Jazz, Dozen Dimes, and many more. He’s also an awesome dude in general. He recently became the victim of the housing crisis and applied for a fraudulent assistance program for middle-class homeowners called HAMP. Now they need $8,000 by Jan. 20th or Ryan and his wife & son will be forced out of their home.
If you’re in Murfreesboro:
Children of Spy, Powerbrrrd, Animal City, and Seth Moore @ the Boro. $3, 21+. I have to shamelessly self-promote for a moment… this show is the first time Powerbrrrd has played in Murfreesboro, and Children of Spy is Nick Naoti’s (of Zombie Bazooka Patrol) new band, who are getting back from a short tour. I know there are a few friends left down there, so please come out of the cracks and make your way to the Boro to see what Seth & I have been up to with this new(ish) band.
Have a great weekend!
Tonight Murfreesboro/Nashville will get a rare musical treat. sElf frontman/genius Matt Mahaffey is in town and will be joining his long-time friend Seth Timbs (of Fluid Ounces and Hot New Singles) on the stage of The Boro Bar & Grill in Murfreesboro. This week is the Boro’s 25th Anniversary celebration, and this is one helluva way to cap it off. From Seth Timbs’ Facebook:
Tomorrow night at the Boro Matt Mahaffey and myself will be performing our songs in a manner befitting the venue and it’s[sic] proud history on it’s[sic] anniversary.
While I’m not as big of a fan of the Boro as I used to be (how can they take a cut of the door money from a band when they don’t even have a PA system or house sound guy?), that place will always hold a special place in my heart as it’s where I was introduced to the local music scene when I first came to MTSU 10 years ago. If a bar/venue can hold its own for 25 years, they must be doing something right. As for Matt, I’ve also confirmed via a few Facebook comments that he’s indeed planning to move back to TN soon (yea yea I know, they’ve been saying that for years, but this time they’re looking at houses!).
Sorry to any other shows happening tonight, but in my eyes seeing Matt and Seth together on the same stage pretty much trumps EVERYTHING.
As for the rest of the weekend, here’s a little rundown:
Saturday night Jesco White “The Dancing Outlaw” invades Mercy Lounge, along with Les Honky More Tonkies and Pick Up The Snake. If that’s not your bag, check out Imogen Heap at the Ryman, or The Alcohol Stuntband at the 5 Spot.
Sunday has a couple of good options as well- Twilight Sad/Mono at the Exit/In, and Shellshag/Pujol/Deluxin’ at the End.
Have a great weekend!
Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger/Benefit show in M’boro
January 26, 2010
I’m not quite sure whether to breathe a sigh of relief, or still be worried about the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger. I haven’t really had a chance to fully think the outcome through yet. But the news is: the merger is on, but with special provisions mandated by the government to prevent a full-on monopoly on the entire live music business. Basically, AEG Live will get to use Ticketmaster’s software, and Ticketmaster’s Paciolan ticketing and software services unit will be sold to a division of Comcast or another possible buyer. I guess the biggest worry here was that the merger would go on unchecked and that did NOT happen, so I guess we can all sigh a breath of relief… for the time being. More details at Business Insider.
There’s a pretty cool fundraiser/benefit show happening in Murfreesboro this Thursday 1/28/2010 for YEAH. (If you’re unfamiliar with YEAH, which stands for Youth Education through Arts & Humanities, please click on the flier to visit their website and learn more about their AWESOME program.) The show lineup is Shoot The Mountain, Hammertorch, and How I Became the Bomb, and there will also be Yazoo and New Belgium beers! (The beer part is a big deal because normally this space is alcohol-free because it’s an all-ages venue/hangout.) It’s obviously an 18+ event, and your attendance will help out one of the best local causes I can think of.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of local electronic/8-bit wizard Matt Pusti. We went to MTSU together and he was mostly responsible for my introduction to electronic music in general. Before that, I thought drum machines were evil and anything not made by a “real” instrument was terrible. I recently mentioned his newer, more experimental endeavor DAAS and was quite glad to see him getting back to producing that genre of electronic music. (His material before Makeup & Vanity Set sounded much more like the DAAS material.) His Makeup & Vanity Set project has been somewhat idle for a couple years, but that has just changed with the release of his new Jambox EP on Bandcamp. GO GET IT NOW FOR NOTHING MORE THAN YOUR EMAIL. This is apparently just a taste of the goodness to come on his next full-length, due out later this year. I will probably do an interview with him as my first “official” interview on here… one of more to come.
steve cross loves music and science 