Thursday, November 6, 2008
Cream Calendar Can We Go to the Murfreesboro Motel? Hammertorch at The 5 Spot Tonight
Posted by Tracy Moore on Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 11:54 AM
All you gotta do is just chill with us, bro.
Say you like Ghostfinger's achy, bar-steeped country swagger a lot, but you're feeling kind of low-key tonight and you'd rather hang out with Ghostfinger's little brother. You know, someone who's got all the same genes, and most of the same experiences, but who is younger and doesn't know so much, and isn't such a smart-ass about what they do know. Somebody who won't ask so much of you, and who won't care whether you get the joke or not. Sound like you? Then check out The 5 Spot tonight, where Murfreesboro's own Hammertorch are playing.
I've never heard Hammertorch live, but on the scene around town people say things like:
Dude No. 1: "They've been practicing and they're getting better."Dude No. 2: "They've been backing Caitlin Rose and they play their instruments really well."
Dude No. 3: "They're really fun live."
Dude No. 4: "It's some of the people from Shoot the Mountain, and I think it's really those dudes' main thing but it's funny because everyone's all into Shoot the Mountain right now."
Dude No. 5: "They'd be so good if their vocalist was a little better."
Dude No. 6: "They used to be super-Southern but they're branching out a little more into something more pop savvy."
They're also, as I mentioned earlier, from Murfreesboro. If you're like me, you have a love/hate relationship with the one-college town that seems to breed impressive creativity and infuriating directionlessness in equal measure. It's a strange mix, that Murfreesboro. Middle-class kids who waited too long to try for a better school.* Smart, creative types who are real apathetic.* People who, on a whole, like the cheap rent and easy small-town vibe and don't seem to ask too much of themselves.*
All this tension between striving and staving off makes for a shit-ton of good bands. The current musical output down I-24 East may indeed still be in a down cycle compared to the larger scheme of what the 'Boro has produced over the years, but Hammertorch is a perfect illustration of that 'Boro vibe: long, shapeless nights, stayin' put 'cause it's easy, and wondering aloud about what fun might come if you just sip on a beer and wait for it to find you.
All We Seabees and the Bohannons are also on the bill.
* Denotes sweeping generalizations informed merely by my experiences from 1993-1999 that I still apply to the town an entire decade after moving away.
Comments (27)
Showing 1-27 of 27
i'd say you're still pretty spot-on, T-Bone. i moved away 3 years ago, but as of then, nothing had changed.
I thought Hammertorch were god-awful first i heard them at the Temptation Club two years ago. But i caught a listen of their new recordings and was damn impressed.
they get the official casio carbon footprint of approval.
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Hammertorch needs to move up here. We need more bands like this in East Nashville to make up for all the condo yuppies moving in. If they do, I hope they bring the Grand Palace crew and Brent Manous with them.
Murfreesboro needs to move up here to make up for all the condo yuppies moving in. If they do, I hope they bring Davis Market with them.
They should also bring a lot of Dr. Enuf, I can't find that shit anywhere around here...and pick up some jo-jos from Dodge's.
Murfreesboro, easy livin'. easy livin' is good. Plus, where in the hell can you buy Dr. Enuf in Nashville?
Nobody gave a shit about these guys until they started playing with Caitlin Rose and Shoot the Mountain. All the sudden, it's OK to like Hammertorch...but not too much...Unless they're playing with Caitlin Rose. But if you say something good about them you have to insult them in equal measure.
The group think that goes on in Nashville, and at Nashville Scene in particular, is nauseating. The "sweeping generalizations" about the Boro are very cute as well. All the folks in the Boro who "don't ask too much of themselves" could learn a lot from big city folk like yourself who are actually doing something with their lives. Yawn! All this is coming from a half ass journalist who waited too long to get a real job at a real magazine, which is why you spend all day at Nashville Scene blogging about how hip you are. Or is that too much of a "sweeping generalization"?
Piggly Wiggly in Inglewood has Dr. Enuf. Nashville easy livin' with high property tax. Hey Bingham, will you lose your super powers if you move out of the Boro?
I'd like to point out that I was writing some pretty strong praise for the 'Torch in the Scene months before they started playing with Caitlin and back when the Jigsaw Mountain Boys weren't thinking about shooting anything. Maybe, some folks missed out on them early on (as I suspect that you did, "Groupthink") but do a little research before you start talking shit.
And as for the "sweeping generaliztions" about Murfreesboro? Unless something has changed radically in the nine months since, I left I'd say Tracy is dead fucking on. That's why I loved living there and it's also why I moved out...
The generalization I think is fairly apt these days, but I'd say there was a good 2 years when I lived there when people were very not apathetic. This was when Grand Palace was still an idea, SGRRC was in its infancy, and there were house shows galore. I've lived in my fair share of small towns, and the people in those towns typically spent their weekends complaining about how bored they were. Murfreesborans (?) were actively trying to transform the town into a cool place to be. A suffocating city council seems to have snuffed out a lot of that gumption.
Someone asked about what happened to swagger. It's been topically applied to Cool J's armpits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-XBvuwLuEc&eurl=http://hiphop.popcrunch.com/ll-cool-j-old-spice-swagger-commercial-video/
Classic Nashville Cream vibe up in this comments section. Good work, people, let's keep it going.
I'd just like to point out that simply because something is posted under the banner of The Cream, that doesn't mean we are all fans. Typically, we agree on the merits or originality of an act, but that doesn't make us a fan club. For instance, there is a Cream contributor who is an enormous U2 fan. There is another who absolutely fucking hates U2. Same goes for Girl Talk, Space Capone, How I Became the Bomb, JEFF et al. The Cream is a forum; there are no litmus tests or initiations.
Except, of course, for the fact that we all wear capri pants and white belts. But what else would we wear? Black belts and slacks? Fucking puke.
I'd also like to point out that I'm not wearing any pants...but I am wearing a belt.
yep, still in honeymoon mode, but i'm actually at the office. it's been awkward for me, but it must be really awkward for my co-workers...
I love black belts, slacks, and Murfreesboro. Sometimes even all three at the same times.
The Cream is a forum; there are no litmus tests or initiations. Except, of course, for the fact that we all hate me.
Come now, Toby. You know that's not true. The Cream wouldn't be what it is were it not for you.
fuck this who loves who bulletin board.
i wanna see some pictures on the cream from the hallowedding!
Is Hammertorch related to Blueshammer? And if they're in with Shoot the Mountain, where is Anthony Michael Hall?
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