At the very beginning of 2010, I discovered that my radio show was one of the first of many to be cancelled. As we all now know, The Man soon pulled the plug on WRVU, killing one of the purest and most diverse media outlets of any major city. Once my anger and frustration with the situation subsided, I realized just how grateful I was to have been given the chance to DJ at the station. I was exposed to some truly amazing music that otherwise would have never tickled my earholes. Much of these tunes either flew under the radar of our city’s music scene or have been collecting dust in our collective memory. Combing through the old WRVU playlist archives (here and here) brought back so many great bands and songs that I had completely forgotten about. It wasn’t easy to pick just five, but nonetheless, here's my contribution to the Cream's Best Local Rock Songs Ever series — some of the Best Local Rock Songs Ever that you’ve possibly never heard.

• Winning caption goes here

Last we heard from local county- and punk-rooted coed indie rockers Those Darlins, they were playing an installment of Ovvio Arte's Bianca's Upset series and working on their follow-up to 2011's Screws Get Loose with noted local producer Roger Moutenot. Word comes to us from the Darlins' camp that they've wrapped up recording their next effort, and they'll be celebrating with a performance this weekend at the East Side Hootenanny in East Park alongside Magnolia Sons, The Vespers and more (FB event page). The event is free, but the Darlins really want folks to come out, and that's why ...

Blammo, caption contest. In order to get the word out about the Hootenanny, Those Darlins have offered us a whole bunch of stuff to give away. "What stuff?" you ask. Well, shut up; I'm trying to tell you if you'd stop interrupting me. How's about a poster, a copy of the Darlins' "Summer's Dead" 7-inch, a copy of Screws Get Loose, a T-shirt, a sweatshirt and a pair of goddamn underwear? That enough swag for you? You know how our contests work. Come up with the best caption you can for the image (via) you see above and post it down there in the comments section. Be sure to include your email address in the appropriate field. We won't publish it, but we'll need it in order to contact our winner. I reckon we'll email you on Friday afternoon. Sound good? OK, go!

• Logo by Mike Clausius

It's Episode 133 of The Chris Crofton Show, and you know what that means: weird questions coming at you from a very plush studio at the top of a very tall building in Nashville, Tennessee. Don your wrestling-singlet-style bathing costumes and dip in after the jump.

Turns out, there’s a lot of overlap between my favorite contenders and those of my colleagues. That’s only natural, as a good portion of us are peers, but it did mean that my list got whittled down pretty damn quick. As has been accurately pointed out, the Aughts are far from the only time that we’ve had a strong non-country scene; several of our entries have reached back to the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, and today’s the day I join in with some striking cuts from the Mid-State of Yesteryear(s), even if they weren’t so very long ago.

• 'Dad always said that bacon … really suited us,' Alex said between sobs as his therapist handed him a box of tissues.

A little over two months ago, Randy Blythe — that's the frontman of Virginia-based metal outfit Lamb of God — was acquitted of manslaughter by a Czech court. The charges came as the result of a young fan's death at a LOG show in Prague on May 24, 2010. Now that Blythe has been cleared of all charges, he and his band are embarking on a roughly monthlong tour that kicks off tomorrow night in Asheville, N.C. The tour's third stop — slated for this Saturday, May 18 — will be at Marathon Music Works, where LOG will be joined by Decapitated and ANCIIENTS. (Scheduled openers Terror dropped off due to "unforeseen health issues.")

So, that brings us to where we are now — staring down the barrel of a fresh caption contest. We've been offered a pair of tickets to Saturday night's show, and we'd like to give those away to the funniest metalhead among us. Have a look at the image you see above, which comes to us, fittingly enough, courtesy of Heavy.com. Dream up the most clever, gut-busting caption you can, and leave it down there in the comments section. Be sure to include your email address in the appropriate field — we won't publish it, but we'll need it in order to contact our winner. We'll pick our fave around noon on Friday, so be sure to keep an eye on your email — if we don't hear back within a couple of hours, we'll have to go to the next person in line. All right, everyone ready? Go!

Update: We have our winner. Thanks for playing!

• Logo by Mike Clausius

Well, it's been a minute since we heard from the Crofton Crew! What say you, boys? Everybody can take a flying leap, right into Episode 132. Hear it after the jump.

I got hit by musical lightning three times in my life: First, when I discovered college radio in the late '80s. Second, when I had a boyfriend who owned a meticulously curated collection of 400 rock records. Third, when I went to college in the 1990s in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at the height of its "emerging music mecca" heyday. The songs for the next musical installment of Best Local Rock Songs Ever are drawn ever-so-nostalgically from that era.

Noting the relative dearth of local pre-2000 sounds in my own collection, I made a stop at Grimey's Too recently, where Features drummer Rollum Haas happened to be serving as counter master and DJ. His turntable selection that afternoon: Rock 106 Presents: Homegrown, a compilation LP I'd never heard of, featuring artists I'd never heard of, sponsored by a radio station I'd also never heard of, despite living in the mid-state from birth.

The tracks themselves don't necessarily amount to a treasure chest of lost gems: As Rollum accurately pointed out, they're mostly competent applications of what were popular tastes then, bearing the influence of Blue Öyster Cult, The Cars and second-phase ZZ Top, with a little KISS in the mix. The comp itself isn't rare — Grimey himself happened to be nearby when I was checking out, and mentioned that a copy turns up at the store once every few months. But discovering that a hard-rock scene existed here and was strong enough to make a semi-pro-grade 10-song comp is a little like finding out that one of your relatives is actually Mr. T.

Curious to discover what else there might be to the story, I snagged the other copy they had on hand. Take a jump with me to hear and see for yourself what else I learned about Homegrown.

• "Back away from my family! Or you'll meet the same fate as my shirt sleeves!!"

Like we said, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James — who released his debut solo LP Regions of Light and Sound of God back in February — will play Cannery Ballroom on Thursday, May 2. We'll have a bit more on that in this week's forthcoming dead-tree issue of the Scene.

Now, James' show is of course sold out. So if you don't have tickets already, you're shit outta luck, as they say. Right? Well, not necessarily. It's time for another of our beloved caption contests! We're prepared to give away a pair of tickets to Thursday night's show, and by now, you ought to know the rules. Dream up the most clever, gut-busting, side-splitting or otherwise creative caption you can for the image you see above (which comes to us courtesy of AFP). Post that down there in the comments section, and be sure to include your email address in the appropriate field — we won't publish your address, but we'll need it in order to contact our winner. We'll pick our favorite caption around noon on Wednesday, May 1, so be sure to keep an eye on your email. All right. Ready to do this? Go!

Update: We have our winner. Thanks for playing!