Ghetto blasters
Ghetto blasters
By Jim Ridley and Bill Friskics-Warren
A Signing Up Ahead
After a battery of private performances for record execs on both coasts, The Evinrudes are reportedly close to signing a major-label deal. Lead singer Sherry Cothran, who founded the band with her husband, guitarist-songwriter Brian Reed, says the group has pretty much narrowed its focus to three labels, all of which sent dealmakers to Nashville to check out the band. The group is understandably nervous. “We’ve heard so many horror stories that we want to make sure the whole staff is behind us, down to the receptionists,” Cothran says. “Otherwise, we couldn’t be happier.”
Songwriter/composer Steve Dorff recently produced CD tracks for the group at Woodland Studios, with a mix by Chris Fogle, who helped give Sheryl Crow’s and Alanis Morrisette’s records their radio-ready sheen. If the Evinrudes take off, Cothran says she hopes labels will check out other Nashville bands such as the Shapeshifters and Joe, Marc’s Brother. “In New York, they seem to think Nashville is the ghetto of the music industry,” Cothran notes. “That means this is where they should be looking for new music.” Evinrudes tracks can be heard on both KDF and WRLT; the band’s next local gig is at Summer Lights May 31.
Backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin spots an immaculately coifed and composed Ricky Skaggs walking by. Nursing some real or imagined slight, the wrathful Martin sizes up Skaggs and bellows a greeting: “Is that the BIGGEST ASSHOLE in Nashville?”
This deathless moment is captured in a piece that can only be described as “Fear and Loathing in Opryland,” a jaw-dropping encounter between Martin and writer Tom Piazza (with photographer Jim Herrington along for the ride) that proves just how dull most other country-music reporting is. The piece appears in The Oxford American’s lively double-issue on Southern music, which will disappoint anyone looking for glossy puff pieces and celebrity recipes. The magazine interprets “Southern music” to include more than just Southern rock and what editor Marc Smirnoff terms “the odious Nashville radio sound.”
Thus follow interviews with Lucinda Williams, Dionne Farris, neo-folkie Kate Campbell, jazz singer Cassandra Wilson, and Memphis producers Jim Dickinson and Willie Mitchell, among others. Offsetting these are expansive essays by ace music writers: John Morthland on shout bands, Nick Tosches on minstrel singer Emmett Miller, Peter Guralnick on bluesman Skip James. And if that’s not enough to pique your interest, the magazine is packaged with a superb 21-song CD (produced by Nashvillian Rick Clark) that samples everyone from Steve Forbert and the Squirrel Nut Zippers to jazz prodigy Phineas Newborn Jr. and the gospel brass band the Graceland McCollough Tigers. The magazine is hard to find around town, but you can probably pick up a copy at Davis-Kidd or Tower Books.
Don we now our hard-hats for the second annual Wrecking Ball this Saturday night at Marathon Village, 1305 Clinton St. Under the supervision of foreman John Sieger, the crew of entertainers includes the Delevantes, Phil Lee, Duane Jarvis, Tommy Womack, Kevin Gordon, Angela Kaset, Greg Trooper, Karen Faulkner, Victor Mecyssne, Bobby Bandiera, and more. A special guest will be new Nashvillian “Southside Johnny” Lyon, whose late-’70s LPs with the Asbury Jukes remain some of that decade’s smokin’-est white soul. A silent auction of goodies—featuring a new Les Paul guitar, CD box sets, a Hard Rock Café leather jacket, and dinners for two at the Bound’ry and Sunset Grill—and door prizes will also be on hand. Tickets are $20, which includes food and beverages. For more information, call 292-2027.—Jim Ridley
Whereas most P-Funk fans only get to hear George Clinton ask, “Do fries go with that shake?” from the concert stage, local funkateer Doyle Davis, host of WRVU-FM’s “D-Funk Show,” recently got a personal invite to dine with the funkmeister himself. According to Davis, Mark Mason of BMI, a fan of his show, called to ask if the deejay wanted to meet Clinton for dinner the night after the P-Funk All-Stars’ April appearance at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym. The only problem was that Davis didn’t get the message until Clinton and company were well on their way to their next gig. Talk about bad timing.
Fortunately for Davis, P-Funk returns to Nashville later this summer as part of the House of Blues’ Smokin’ Grooves Tour, at which point he hopes to interview Clinton on the air—or at least get Dr. Funkenstein to record a promo for his show. The “D-Funk Show” airs Fridays from 8 to 10 p.m. If you’ve never tuned in, you’re in for a treat: Davis mixes obscure and well-known grooves into a seamless, no-nonsense flow.—Bill Friskics-Warren
Elliptical dispatches: In last week’s note on Inside/Out, a group booking underground multimedia shows Wednesdays at Victor/Victoria’s, we listed Jason Moon Wilkins as one of Inside/Out’s founders. Although Wilkins is helping package some shows, Inside/Out’s founders are actually Christopher Moon of Anhedonia Recordings and Chris Grainger of the band Schfvilkus. Sorry. Moon did want us to know, however, that Inside/Out’s first evening of short documentaries and spoken-word performances is coming up June 18 at Victor V’s....
Nigerian bandleader and producer O.J. Ekemode is readying a new album at his Afro-Beat Studios for release this spring. The record adds steel guitar to Ekemode’s mix of horns, keyboards, and percussion for a sound that band member LaToya Gill-El describes as country-influenced. In between recording and mounting his weekly Saturday-night dance parties at Marathon Village, Ekemode hosts Afro-Beat Videos, a world-music video show on InterMedia’s public-access Channel 19. (You were expecting CMT?) It airs Saturday nights at 9 p.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m....
Bummed Out Roxie, one of Nashville’s newest indie-rock clubs, has changed its name to The Jam Room. That’s OK, though, since nobody knew what the hell the old name meant....
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