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!
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
The music of Les Miserables in a concert benefitting YEAH: tonight & tomorrow at Mercy Lounge
December 7, 2011
It’s been a big season of benefit shows for YEAH! but this one is probably the biggest- a bunch of local musicians/artists have teamed up to present the music of Les Miserables live in concert two nights in a row at Mercy Lounge. It kicks off tonight, tickets are $18, and it will be awesome. With Larissa Maestro and Jordan & Alex Caress at the helm and a huge cast of local musicians from such acts as Uncle Skeleton, By Lightning!, Ponychase, The Privates, Umbrella Tree, The Non-Commissioned Officers, Happy Little Trees, Blue Heart Hour, and many more, this is quite the undertaking. Again, this is a two night stand, but I have a feeling tonight will be the biggest of the two since Hall & Oates are at the Ryman tomorrow night. YEAH! is just about the coolest non-profit in all of TN and I’m proud to be an active volunteer with them. They deserve your support!
On a completely separate note (but still relevant to this blog), I’ve been approved by YEAH’s music programs director to start a new workshop at the Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp this year- the Science of Music. Here’s the description I came up with, with the help of fellow volunteer (and former camper/fellow nerd) Alyssa Scheele:
How does an electric guitar work? How does a microphone work? How does MUSIC work? Learn this and much more in the brand new Science of Music workshop. This workshop will give campers a crash course in the science behind music and how different instruments and audio equipment create and amplify sound. This workshop is ideal for campers who might be interested in the production side of music. The Science of Music will empower campers to pursue science as well as music by showing them how science is an integral part of art.
I’m ecstatic about getting to teach kids how basically everything, let alone modern music, would not be possible without science. I want to get them to make that connection and realize that science isn’t all far-off labs, atom smashers, and old dudes in white coats. It’s also a part of literally EVERYTHING. I think that focusing on how science makes music possible is the best way to make it “hit home” with them. AND it will hopefully jumpstart some of them in the direction of music production, both studio and live.
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.
Weekend stuff/DAAS/Turbo Fruits get p-forked/beer
December 11, 2009
The A.V. Club takes a look at some of 2009’s strangest/craziest/most ridiculous band names. Some of my favs- Bitches With Instruments, the Whore Moans, Pabst Smear, Gay for Johnny Depp, the Christopher Walk-Ins, OMG! Check it out.
Turbo Fruits’ latest album Echo Kid got a 6.4 on Pitchfork today. I’m a little surprised at how late they reviewed this record considering that it’s a Be Your Own Pet-related project, and that Pitchfork lost their shit over both BYOP and the first Turbo Fruits record… (Echo Kid has been out for at least a few months now…) It’s a damn good record though, and I suggest it.
One of my favorite electronic music artists is actually from right here in Nashville- Makeup & Vanity Set, aka Matt Pusti. He’s recently started a side project called DAAS, and the debut album RASLP is available on Bandcamp for free. Go grab it for a blippy, experimental, atmospheric good time. My bandmate and friend Seth Graves has been doing some fantastic video production work recently, and since the two share some influences Pusti asked Seth to do a video for a song from RASLP. The result is a 4 1/2 miutes of data-moshing AWESOMENESS:
That holiday porter I was telling you about a few posts back is now officially ready for consumption. I tried it for the first time last night and while the spices didn’t come through quite as much as I wanted, it’s still by far the best batch of beer I’ve made thus far. You can buy a 6-pack for 6 bucks, just email/facebook/call/come up to me at a show and I’ll hook you up.
As for this weekend, I’m really stoked to be seeing Apollo Up! tonight at the 5 Spot for the first time in several years. They took a hiatus back around 2007 and I’ve missed their awesome live shows ever since. So that’s where we’ll be tonight.
Saturday we’ll be in Murfreesboro to check out the big YEAH benefit show featuring Those Darlins, Six Gun Lullaby, and special VIP storyteller performance from Caitlin Rose. YEAH is pretty much the best thing to happen to youth in middle TN. EVER. So they are more than worth your monetary support, therefore I highly suggest going.
Sunday night I’ll be taking pics and having a total nerd-gasm at the Star Wars interactive/orchestral event Star Wars: In Concert, which is at the Sommet Center (soon-to-be-Nashville Arena).
Other shows of interest:
Friday- La Paz Late Night w/ DJs Potamus and Hippo @ La Paz. Shoot the Mountain, Hands Down Eugene, & Hammertorch @ The End.
Saturday- Brendan Benson & Cory Chisel @ Exit/In (I wish this were on a different night so I could go!).
Have a great weekend!
steve cross loves music and science 