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Bob Dylan backstage at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, his first electric concert.

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Where we’ll be all day.

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*Rare photograph.

1969 Ken Scott and Paul McCartney working in the studio

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Greatest Combo Ever

Was talking to my roommate tonight and we said, "How funny would it be if there was a 1920s dance video set to a modern song?" So I looked up a random dance video from the 1920s and started playing "Talk Dirty" by Jason Derulo and they MATCHED UP ALMOST PERFECTLY. 1. Mute the dance video.

2. Begin playing "Talk Dirty" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbtPXFlZlHg&feature=kp

3. Immediately switch to watch the dance video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psch9N4PmO4

4. LAUGH  YOUR ASS OFF. 

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Every single band should read this and take note.

As an assistant talent buyer at a 350 capacity venue in Nashville, I see all kinds of stuff from people wanting to be booked here. In transition between website URLs, a booking email was created for our new website but no one had access to it until yesterday. So I spent the rest of the evening and...

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A friend called me with last minute tickets to see Imagine Dragons. Think I went? Fuck yeah I did.

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“Addicted to You” is a song that is about exactly what the titles states: being so in love with someone that you’re addicted to them. You feel like your world would be upside down, that you wouldn’...

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Music City Pizza has basically become my office. I have one table I ideally like to sit at every time I show up, and the arrangement is always the same: iPad propped up towards the end of the table...

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For those of you who have been to the midtown area of Nashville on a weekend, you know that is oftentimes becomes so crowded that you’re more likely to die of suffocation than to actually enjoy you...

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Video Posted: February 6, 2014 Director: That Go Producer: Sonya Sier   Childishly beginning with clapping and a furiously spinning camera, Lily Allen grabs the lens and holds on tight for a b...

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It was a sold out show, which is to be expected when the headliner reached fame with a song peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. I managed to squeeze into the last spot available on the ba...

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Road to Bonnaroo 2014: Round One

If you have never been to the Road to Bonnaroo competition, let me prepare you for what lays in store...

http://www.the99centbin.com/2014/02/05/road-to-bonnaroo-2014-night-one/

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Tom O'Connor, Marjory Lee and Beau James Are Your New Best Friends

Tom O’Connor

                          In a room packed full with the bands’ friends and family (and a few people just looking for some fun on a Friday night), Tom O’Connor seemed relaxed and easy. Strumming his acoustic guitar, he spilled his heart and soul out to the crowd as if we were all his best friends. Wearing a baseball cap, a button-down shirt and sipping on various alcoholic beverages he seemed every part the stereotypical country boy determined to make it Nashville.

            O’Connor’s music, however, made it clear that he did not see himself as one of the wannabe artists that flood this city by the hundreds. Covering the song “Another Song Nobody Will Hear” by Will Hoge, O’Connor takes advantage of the lyrics to tell us that he does not want to write music that will necessarily make the Top 40 radio charts. While it is ironic that he uses someone else’s words to emphasize his desire to be different, one can understand his point. Not that O’Connor lacked original content - with songs like “Lie” and “When You Get Home”, he plays out his life story for the audience and immerses himself in his musical flashbacks. Ultimately, his songs are what most listeners hope for them to be – personal, but easily relatable and able to be interpreted to suit the listener’s needs.

            Marjory Lee

              When Marjory Lee took the stage, she seemed perfectly at home and in her element. Her personality is endearingly goofy. She has no problem cracking jokes and teasing the staff (“Also, be really nice to Joseph…he’s the worst bartender I have ever met in my entire life and I love him so much…He’s just not that good”).

            Lee’s self-proclaimed genres include pop, soul and rock, but I would easily put her in the soul category simply due to the passion in her vocals. True to this genre, Lee performed a cover of “I Will Survive” with Clark Singleton of The Heavy Heavy Hearts and made it her own. Not even aware of what song it was until the chorus, I was struck by Lee’s reconstruction of the track. She sang the lyrics as if they were written specifically for her. This is no easy feat with a song as well known and liked as “I Will Survive.”  

            To say that Lee is talented would be an understatement. This is not a woman who thinks she is a good artist; this is a woman who knows she is, and she wants you to know it, too. Despite bringing Singleton up on stage with her, all eyes were on Lee as this funky girl in a brightly colored sweater belted out the lyrics to songs like “Shake It Off” and “Criminal Kinda Love.” Charismatic, talented and quirky, Marjory Lee has all the appeal that a professional artist should have.

  Beau James (featuring The Heavy Heavy Hearts)

              Men in their 50s wandered by me wearing Lynyrd Skynyrd hats and worn Pabst t-shirts and I thought, “Well, this will be interesting.” Beau James, dressed in a black T, jeans and sporting black hair that, while swiped to the side, hung in his face, hopped up on stage and introduced himself. Clark Singleton was to accompany him on bass, and with that they launched into the first song of the set.

            James’ influences were clear during his performance. Jack White, Skynyrd, B.B. King, Eric Clapton…the list goes on of who has impacted him in some way, shape or form musically. With a voice packed full of emotion, Beau James (also known as Beau Wigington) doesn’t just sing his songs – he truly feels them, which is evident in his performance. Confidence strikes through the core of a tune about hitting on a girl at the bar; sadness drips off of each lyric describing having to sell off a beloved guitar to pay the bills. James’ voice seems to be a combination of Jack White’s pitch and Marcus Mumford’s raspy-ness thrown in with a distinct style that is all his own.

            It was when James invited his band mates from The Heavy Heavy Hearts (self described as “The Rock n Roll equivalent of fighting a bear) to join him on stage, though, that the night took a truly passionate turn. While Beau James clearly has more talent in his pinky finger than most of the Nashville wannabes have in their whole body, the members of this four-piece band proved that they will blow away any crowd. With a very Mumford & Sons-styled performance, Beau James, Clark Singleton, Ralph Alexander and Anthony Mancini inspire fans to commit the band’s show schedule to memory. I know I will have their next show marked down in my calendar. 

  Tom O'Connor: www.tomoconnormusic.com

Marjory Lee: http://www.marjorylee.com

Beau James: https://www.facebook.com/beauwigingtonblues

The Heavy Heavy Hearts: http://theheavyheavyhearts.com

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Adam Hambrick and Morgan Dawson Brave Freezing Cold for the Sake of Music

The Venue

            The Basement is very aptly named. The brick venue is, as the name states, the basement portion of Grimey’s New & Pre-loved Music. When I first walked in, I noticed immediately that the temperature within the building hardly varied from the cold front breezing through Nashville on the outside (the artists had to retune their instruments several times). If you choose to go here for a show, be prepared to bring a coat and wear it during your visit. The chairs scrape loudly against the floor, which can prove distracting, and it is certainly an intimate space – I ended up sharing my little table with three (very kind) strangers.

            The Basement is decorated with a hodgepodge of musical paraphernalia – posters from older shows insulate the ceiling and walls, and the backdrop for the stage is a variety of different colored velvet curtains and cheesy Christmas lights. The sound is almost too intense for the space, but because the Basement is primarily a venue and not a bar, the crowd was engaged in the performance. So if you’re in the mood to witness a show in a creative, unique location, this is your place.

  Morgan Dawson

            This is an artist worth checking out. Clad in curls, pearls, and a little black dress, Morgan Dawson was the only one brave enough to face the freezing temperature without a coat. She was accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, which allowed for her voice to be the focus of the set. While she has a couple of more years to really cultivate her talent, Dawson is no doubt a talented songwriter and singer. She has a Carrie Underwood type power in her vocals that allow her to go from a sultry, low range to a thunderous roar.

            All of her songs related to love or heartbreak and were easily relatable. Her standout tune among the five performed was called “Something Borrowed”, which put a creative spin on the age-old belief that a bride should wear something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue on her wedding day. It is creativity like this that shines in the small venues of Nashville, and Morgan Dawson is well on her way to capturing the hearts of avid music lovers well beyond just this music city.

  Adam Hambrick

            Adam Hambrick climbed onto the stage with his Buddy Holly glasses and I knew it was going to be a fun time. Personable, funny, and overall charming, he knows how to interact with his audience and keep them engaged. He seemed truly humble and appreciative of the fact that he was on stage in a place packed full of people eagerly waiting to hear his music. With quips such as “If y’all came here to hear jokes tonight…I’m not very good at that”, Hambrick comes across as the type of guy you’d like to call your best friend.

            Personality aside, Adam Hambrick’s music is beautifully written and catchy. With a country/pop influence, his songs have the ability to easily cross from Top 40 radio to climb the country charts. What he does particularly well is give his audience a unique experience. When you go to a show, you want something different then what you’ve heard on the recorded CD. Hambrick provides this by creating an intense musical adventure that causes one to become immersed in the art. The entire crowd was wrapped up in the performance – not one person was able to sit still, and whether or not you wanted to move along to the beat of the music, it happened. Hambrick and his band made the audience forget the freezing cold and instead made everyone join together in the universal thought of “this guy is good. Really good.” 

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Lenny Cooper Showcase Wows Crowd

“I keep it country

            Wherever I’m at”

              Lenny Cooper’s lyrics explain it best: clad in a black t-shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots, he embodies the laidback country boy image; but don’t expect his show to be that way. You would never have known this was his first Nashville concert with the way he dominated the stage. Intense and certainly entertaining, Cooper and his band played for the modest 350-capacity venue as if they were the headliners at Bonnaroo. A mixture of various genres creates a whole new musical realm that is almost undefined. Combining rap and rock (and at times a hint of electronica), he sings about songs with country-raised content: “Big Tires,” “Mud Digger,” and “Backwood Tailgating” are just a few examples. The backwoods-born artist and his band (comprised of a guitarist, drummer and a back-up vocalist) are certainly helping to redefine what one would consider the typical country boy. His confidence is absolutely to be admired. Lenny Cooper knows where he came from and that is evident in the way he carries himself across the stage - he paced across the flooring as if he was an agitated tiger in his cage. With this kind of intensity in a show, there’s no knowing when he’ll break the lock and escape into the wild.  

www.lennycoopermusic.com