With CD compilations, regular club shows, and a strong presence at the annual NEA Extravaganza for the past two years, Nashville’s rap and urban music scene is emerging from the underground as a source of excitement and pride—a positive force that has nothing to do with gangsta bloodshed and media-fueled feuds. All day Friday, you can check out some of the city’s diverse hip-hop and urban talent at a couple of back-to-school celebrations.
The party begins at 1 p.m. with free food and giveaways at The Zone, a hip-hop clothing store at 3110 Clarksville Hwy. that carries apparel from Wu-Wear, Shabazz Brothers, and others. From 3 to 4:30 p.m., local singers, MCs, and DJs will perform, among them The Grits, Mindkind, Centsdaweedhead, Anthony McCulough, vocalist Kim Rae, Crooked Eye Q, and DJs Diz, C-Wiz, Tommy Illflava, and Rotation. The special guest is DJ Baby G, a champion DJ from Dallas known for his seamless mix of house music, reggae, dancehall, and Latin grooves.
Most of those artists will also appear that night at the second annual Back to School Jam at 328 Performance Hall. Like the daytime show, the concert is being promoted by Arbor Entertainment Group, which services records to DJs across the state. Its young founders, 21-year-old David Meador and 22-year-old Carl Crawford, want to give underage Nashvillians an alternative to sitting around in parking lots or cruising.
“We do a lot of get-togethers, and they’re totally mixed and comfortable,” says Meador, a UT student. “We’re doing a positive hip-hop show. Kids really look up to these artists, and that’s a step in the right direction.” The Back to School Jam at 328 Performance Hall begins at 7:30 p.m. with an all-ages show; from 11 p.m. on, it’s strictly 18 and over. Tickets are $8 at the door.
Last year, in its first Nashville appearance, D.C.-area group the Make-Up turned Lucy’s Record Shop into a revival tent for “gospel yeh-yeh,” a nebulous religion that incorporates mod hairdos, James Brown-style jams, and testimony from lead singer Ian Svenonius that oozes more showbizzy sincerity than Jerry Lewis at telethon time. If your faith in gospel yeh-yeh has backslid since then, the group returns to Nashville this Sunday at a house party organized by 91 Rock deejay Chris Davis.
Viewers of the indie film Half-Cocked, part of which was filmed at Lucy’s, will remember Svenonius’ scene-stealing performance as an obnoxious rock-star wannabe. He was also a founding member of the D.C. band Nation of Ulysses with fellow Make-Up applicants James Canty (guitar, organ) and Steve Gamboa (drums). Stylish bassist Michelle Mae came from Olympia, Wash.’s the Frumpies.
Last year at Lucy’s, for all Svenonius’ conceptual lunacy, the Make-Up didn’t sound too different from a skilled frat-soul band; the act really wore thin on the group’s LP debut, Destination: Love; Live at Cold Rice, although its new Dischord Records album Make-Up After Dark is said to be a substantial improvement. At any rate, live is the best way to experience the band’s punky R&B rave-ups—especially with Svenonius’ born-frontman stage moves and those nifty matching costumes thrown into the mix. The Make-Up performs Sunday with The Warmers and the Franklin teen group Calypso for a $5 cover; call 297-6460 for directions to the party.
Thirty-five years ago in Britain, if you’d declared yourself a mod—a devotee of American R&B, natty threads, and Vespa scooters—you’d’ve been cruising for a bruising from leather-jacketed rockers, who swore allegiance to rockabilly. Small wonder mod style resurfaced during the punk uprising of the late 1970s—a revival that led a teenaged Mark Casson to tool the streets of London on a Vespa with a stack of Jam records under his arm.
The influence of slinky Memphis soul and post-punk pop is obvious on Hey, What’s Your Style, the first LP by Casson’s band The Cheeksters. That record was recorded in 1994 while songwriter/guitarist Casson and his wife, bassist Shannon Hines, were still living in Knoxville. Casson and Hines live in Nashville now, and The Cheeksters’ music has given up some of its R&B flavor for a less appealing Britpop sound. Nevertheless, The Cheeksters will attempt to revive a bit of mod frenzy with a “Mod Revue” Tuesday night at 12th & Porter. Knoxville’s The Nevers, led by founding V-Roys member John Paul Keith, round out the bill.
Elliptical dispatches: Sufferers of writer’s-night burnout can get recharged Tuesday at Caffé Milano, when the legendary Jack Clement holds court. In his roller-coaster career, Clement recorded Jerry Lee Lewis’ epochal hits at Sun Records, launched the careers of numerous Music Row hit-makers, produced U2’s “Angel of Harlem,” and wrote hits for Johnny Cash, among others. He’s also a colorful storyteller and as warm a person as Nashville ever produced. He’ll be joined by artist-songwriter Dickey Lee, songwriter Paul Craft, and guitarist Thom Bresh....
Watch for vocalist Rebecca Stout at Thursday’s Dancin’ in the District show downtown—the tape she’s been circulating around town is mighty interesting....
