Love-Hate Mail

No problem hereWhile I found Tracy Moore’s article (“Not Playing Here,” April 10) on why many bands choose not to play Nashville informative in a broad sense, it begs the larger question: What is hip? Does anyone who’s been on an Atlanta freeway between 4 and 6 p.m. really want Nashville to become the new Atlanta?

While the music business insiders and certain yuppies are lamenting not being able to have sweaty body contact with masses of drunken frat boys and sorority girls at a Radiohead concert, I have recently been treated to stunning rock ensemble playing by the local Kenny Vaughan trio, Funkwrench, while comfortably enjoying the excellent beer at the Family Wash. And after leaving the Dirtbombs show at Mercy Lounge early, out of boredom, I saw East Nashville fave Richard James & the Special Riders play a far more exciting punk show at the tiny Foobar the same night.

Most any week, I could hear a world-class performance by Dave Cloud at Springwater, The Time Jumpers or the Hot Club at the Station Inn, maybe Kristi Rose at the Wash, or be uplifted by the Cherry Blossoms.

As for visiting bands in the recent past, we’ve had Damo Suzuki and Plastic People of the Universe at Springwater and Pere Ubu at the End. Is that hip enough?

Earlier today I was driving my 79-year-old mother back to East Nashville, where she’s lived her entire life, from a doctor’s appointment on the west side of town. I pointed out the new high-rise condos going up at the end of Main Street and smiled at her comment, “Yes, they’re trying to fix up East Nashville. I never thought anything was wrong with it myself.”RUSTY CHESTjackierogers2@bellsouth.net (Nashville)

Zoned outIn reference to Tracy Moore’s article “Not Playing Here” (April 10), might I add another, potentially lame, reason that Nashville is not a slam-dunk market for concert ticket sales? Simply put: Central Time Zone. Most of us office schlubs have to report to our cubicles by 8 a.m. Our nearby Eastern Time Zone friends have worked out a lovely 9-to-5 schedule, and I think that bands/promoters assume that we are lucky enough to have the same leisurely morning routine. So for my office-drone buddies and me to see a headlining band take the stage at 11 p.m. just isn’t that appealing on a weeknight. Sure, it’s a little lame of us, but I imagine that if more bands took the stage by 10 p.m., we’d have a more reliable ticket-buying public.ASHLEY BRIGGSashleybbriggs@yahoo.com (Nashville)

Rhio grandTracy Moore wrote a great article (“Not Playing Here,” April 10), but the story might have missed its own point: Apparently, the value of Music City is measured not by artistic quality and rugged creative individualism, as we have been led to believe, but in terms of market ranking, ownership interest, economics of booking, revenue capacity, demographics and designated market areas. This article should be a must-read for anyone interested in the music business or in a musical career, especially if you’re thinking about launching it from Nashville.

Moore stripped away the dreamy romanticism of the single artist (or band) trying to break into an industry town by putting their idealistic ambition in the context of bookers, agents, promoters, shows, tours and production fees. For anyone with eyes to see, the story also provided a wealth of great song titles. For example: Right at the Bottom of the Top, Warm Bodies, Location and Cold, Hard Cash, Hashing Out the Numbers, Pack It in With a Six-Pack and I Think I’m Bigger Than I Am. The last word on this is that Tracy Moore hit a home run with this story: The article is to Nashville Music City mythology what the subprime mortgage meltdown is to the housing crisis.RHIO HIRSCHtalkingzen@gmail.com (Whites Creek)

Careful what you wish forIn the recent article “Not Playing Here” (April 10), Mike Grimes is quoted as saying “Nashville is a tough crowd. People don’t get up and go crazy at shows here”—ostensibly implying that if people were more enthusiastic at shows, bands might be more excited about playing here in town.

Assuming I’m not reading too much into his quote, I couldn’t agree more with him. In fact, it just so happened that a few months ago, a friend of mine and I were at The Basement watching Six Gun Lullaby play. Six Gun is a very loud and energetic band, and the two of us were disgusted at the fact that no one there was getting into the music. Instead, they were content to stand at least five feet from the stage, motionless, with their arms crossed. So what could we do? We were obligated to show the disaffected hipsters how one was supposed to behave at a loud and fast rock show. We danced, we screamed, we went crazy, as you said people don’t do here.