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: 6/29/12
June 29, 2012
As a TNTRC volunteer and long-time supporter of YEAH (Youth Empowerment through Arts & Humanities) I must first plug this Saturday’s Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp showcase at Marathon Music Works. Doors are at 2:30pm and show starts at 3. We have 16 bands this year, and unlike past years where campers could choose between doing a cover song or writing their own, this year all bands wrote their own songs together. It was a big step but it has paid off, and believe me when I say there are some good songs this year! There will also be a raffle with tons of goodies! Being involved with this organization is one of the best things I’ve ever done and they need your support so please come out- the door and raffle money all goes right back into supporting the mission. Now for the rest of the listings:
FRIDAY:
The Mynabirds, with Sean Bones and Matrimony @ The High Watt. $10 9pm
Bitchfest Night 1 ft. Fancytramp, Slutever, Dirty Dee & The Sweaty Meat, and How Cozy! @ The End. 9pm $5
SATURDAY:
Nikki Lane, Jasmin Kaset, and Jimmy Stewart @ The 5 Spot. 9pm $5 21+
Bitchfest Night 2 ft. Birdcloud, Thelma & the Sleaze, Hot Cha Cha, and White Mystery @ Exit/In. 9pm $7
SUNDAY:
Bitchfest Night 3 ft. Crybaby, I am Sabot, and Lurancy Vennum @ Springwater. 9pm $5 21+
The debut of Sunday School, a new free weekly series alternating between Exit/In and The End. This Sunday features The Paperhead, Denny & The Jets, and Prince Coyote & the Dogmen. $FREE and it STARTS AT 6PM. DRINK SPECIALS AND DAY DRINKIN’ Y’ALL.
Have a great weekend and stay cool!
Kelley Anderson leaves Those Darlins
February 27, 2012
Copyright 2010 Steve Cross
Whoa. Just whoa. I just read on Brooklynvegan that Kelley Anderson has left Those Darlins. A bit of a shock to me, really, but at the same time, I’ve known Kelley (and all of them) for years and I know that Kelley is a very driven and ambitious woman with lots of talent. I’ve no doubt she’s got some awesome projects up her sleeve and I can see how the rigorous touring of Those Darlins may have become a bit too much. I mean, look what she did by founding the Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp! That grew into Youth Empowerment through Arts & Humanities, one of the coolest non-profits around, and a cause well worth your support & time. I have no doubt that Those Darlins will power on ahead with the talents of Jessi, Linwood, and Nikki, plus whomever replaces Kelley. The above photo is from a documentary project in which I spent a few days on tour with them, as is the one below. These haven’t been published anywhere else, and I intend to keep it that way- so please don’t download and/or use these!
Copyright 2010 Steve Cross
A Few Good Shows: 2/17/12
February 17, 2012
Nashville’s got options this weekend! Here’s some stuff I think is worth your time and money:
FRIDAY:
A Valentine’s Prom at the 5 Spot, benefitting Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp ft. Jason Thomas, Jason Eskridge, Kansas Bible Company, and DJs Matt Smith & Chris Doubler. $4 if you dress the part, $7 otherwise. I will also be there doing a very prommy photobooth, so I recommend coming out to the east side and helping out a very special cause!
Caitlin Rose, Buffalo Clover, Evan P. Donohue @ The Basement. 9pm $8
The Clutters, Cy Barkley, Bad Touch @ Dino’s Bar & Grill. 9pm $???
My So-Called Band @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm $10
SATURDAY:
By Lightning album release show w/ Cortney Tidwell, Glossary @ The Basement. 9pm $5
Sex Cult, D. Watusi, Useless Eaters, Dirty Dreams @ Little Hamilton. 9pm $5??
Fly Golden Eagle, Little Viking, Forwards Edwards, Winnebago @ The Other Basement. 9pm $3
Screaming Females & Girl Scouts @ Grimey’s (in-store show) 4:30pm FREE
Shows to see this weekend
July 15, 2011
My life is being dominated by Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp, for which I’ve been volunteering all week, so this will be a quick one:
FRIDAY:
The Greatest Decade Vol. III: A Tribute to 70’s Glam Rock @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm $5. This will be one glam-tastic evening featuring several allstar/one-off collaborations between members of Superdrag, the Shazam, Matt Friction and more.
PUJOL, Demon Beat, Ranch Ghost, Leather Nightmare @ Mt. Swag. 7pm $3 All-ages.
SATURDAY:
Toro Y Moi, Coma Cinema, Tallest Trees @ The End. 9pm $12
Nobunny, Useless Eaters, Slammers, (insert random local band that always gets added to Springwater shows last-minute) @ Springwater. 10pm 21+ $??
Johnny Corndawg, Andrew Combs, Nikki Lane @ The Basement. 9pm 21+ $5
And of course: Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp showcase @ Mercy Lounge. DOORS @ 2:30pm SHOW @ 3pm. I know that’s insanely early for most of you, but trust me when I say it’s worth the effort! I’ve been working with these kids all week long and they have some very impressive talent. We also have an amazing array of raffle prizes including 2 VIP passes to NBN’s Soundland, a Daisy Rock electric guitar, signed posters & CDs from Those Darlins, OK Go, Old 97’s, and Black Joe Lewis, a prize pack from Antique Archeology (aka American Pickers) and so much more.
SUNDAY:
Spongebath Records Night @ The Basement, Ft. Self (acoustic Matt Mahaffey), Seth Timbs Thing, Jason Moore + special guests. Now that Matt Mahaffey is living in Franklin hopefully awesome things like this will happen more often. This will be blissful nostalgia for possibly the greatest era of Murfreesboro’s music scene.
Have a great weekend!
Weekend shows/other music tidbits
April 8, 2011
Sorry posting has been scarce this week. I’m effin’ BUSY.
A quick show rundown for what’s cool this weekend show-wise:
FRIDAY:
“Night of the living cover bands” TNTRC benefit ft. Protomen as Queen, A Secret Policeman’s Ball as Hall & Oates, Hanzelle as Outkast, and TNTRC Team Awesome as Blondie. Minimum $6 donation. 9pm, 21+. Seriously, this is gonna rule. I mean, Hall & Oates? Protomen doing Queen? This is gonna rule your life tonight. I’ll be there. And it’s pretty much the best local cause you could possibly support.
This might seem like an odd thing for me to plug, but I highly recommend Tortured Soul w/ Mindub at 12th & Porter. Waaaay back when I was part of MTSU’s Student Programming Committee, we brought Tortured Soul to play in the KUC Theater. Granted, that tiny stage and small theater style setting was an odd place for a band to play, and the show wasn’t that well attended mainly for that reason, but I did see them play and was impressed. They basically do house music, but as a live band. It’s very smooth, funky, and highly danceable without being overly jammy. And you should know about Mindub.
SATURDAY:
Destroyer w/ War On Drugs @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm $12 adv/$15 DOS.
Tour de Fun in Murfreesboro: an all-day bike rally/house show extravanganza. There are literally 40+ bands playing at various houses and other DIY venues. Some highlights: Hanzelle, We Were the States, Famn Damn. A pretty cool idea, in it’s second year of existence. Check the link above to the Scene Critic’s Pick for more details.
Some other tidbits that need mentioning:
- We Own This Town has brought back their video performance series. The first one is D. Watusi, the new-ish project from former Kindergarten Circus frontman Dillon Watson. WOTT helmsman Doug Lehman, along with the help of Andy Snyder and Jeremy Ferguson, brought back the series, and I look forward to seeing who they bring through in the future. Since the self-proclaimed hiatus of the Lake Fever Sessions, there’s been a need for someone to step in and fill the void. Watch D. Watusi perform “High School Baby” and “Summer Nights.” BONUS- D. Watusi-Summer Nights MP3
- As the A.V. Club reports, Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, Damian Kulash, and Neil Gaiman are participating in an ambitious project as part of the Rethink Music Conference. They’re going to write 8 songs in 8 hours, record them in a marathon session, release them through Bandcamp, and perform them at a show the next day. Oh, and the songs will be based on topics sent to them through twitter. I think this is fascinating idea, and it’ll be interesting to hear the results.
Have a great weekend!
TNTRC showcase Saturday at USN
June 25, 2010
So I did a little guest post over at Nashville Cream regarding my experience this week at the Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp at USN. Check it out. That will suffice as my Friday post this week. Please do come to the showcase and support this amazing cause.
steve cross loves music and science 