Burch and Bloodsucker
Paul Burch, the talented singer-songwriter who made a name for himself with Greg Garing’s honky-tonk outfit before getting together his own fine hard-country band, is recording a 7-inch single for release late this fall on Nashville’s Bloodsucker Records. Burch recently drew a crowd to 12th & Porter after playing several shows at Tootsie’s this summer; he’s backed up on many of his recent sessions by the basics—fiddle, upright bass, acoustic guitar. One side of the single will probably be acoustic, with the other electric.
Issuing a country single is no big deal for the Nashville label, which has released everything from strikingly weird audio collages to a well-received 7-inch vinyl EP with CYOD and Lambchop sharing a side each. CYOD, which features Bloodsucker founder Mark Nevers along with Wilco drummer Ken Coomer and his former Clockhammer bandmate Matt Swanson, has made an impact at college radio, reaching No. 7 on trade publication The College 500’s suggested airplay list above such bands as the Grifters and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The 7-inch, which includes the songs “Henry Mancini” and “A Brother in Trouble,” has been picked up for distribution by Matador Records and Dutch East India. Look for it in the singles section at Lucy’s Record Shop.
And congratulations to Nevers and labelmate Joy Patterson, who are expecting what Patterson terms “a bouncing baby Bloodsucker” shortly.
Nashville’s music scene has been stunned by the untimely death of John Van Etten, the local engineer who recorded Hellbilly and other Nashville bands. He died tragically Wednesday, Sept. 6, in a freak accident at the Big Red Rocket building on Eighth Avenue South. He was reportedly moving into a new apartment and loading a freight elevator when he fell down the elevator shaft and broke his neck. Friends discovered him shortly afterward. He was 29.
Van Etten never received much publicity or recognition, but his influence on the Nashville music scene was estimable. According to singer-songwriter Paul Burch, who grew up with Van Etten in Lafayette, Ind., he was a lifelong aficionado of honky-tonk music; when he moved to Nashville to pursue a career in television, he convinced many of his Indiana friends that Nashville was the perfect place for the kind of music they liked. Those friends included future members of Greg Garing’s band, BR5-49, Lambchop, and other groups that contributed to Lower Broadway’s rebirth as a honky-tonk haven.
“He was a real good guy, very funny,” said Burch, who was born one day apart from Van Etten. “He was real helpfully critical—he was always telling you what was good for you.” Van Etten had worked at WSMV and Jim Owens Productions, and he had a reputation as a perfectionist—yet one who was always willing to help his friends get studio time and space. An acquaintance said that the week before his death Van Etten was happy and talking excitedly about his future and his new apartment. Last week, several of his friends—including childhood pals from Indiana who flew in for the occasion—gathered at Robert’s Western Wear to lift a few beers in his memory, in the honky-tonk environment he loved and supported.
For Paul Burch, the impact of Van Etten’s death didn’t hit him until he was playing a gig Sunday night. He looked around the room, half expecting his friend to be there. It was then he realized that John Van Etten was gone.
“It’s been a rough couple of weeks on all of us,” Burch said quietly. “I just like to think of him as being on a long holiday.”
On Sept. 22 and 23, under the direction of maestro Kenneth Schermerhorn, the Nashville Symphony will perform the U.S. premiere of a harp concerto composed by Nashvillian Michael Kurek, associate professor of composition and chair of the Department of Music Composition and Theory at Vanderbilt. The concerto made its world premiere last year at the Soka International Harp Festival in Tokyo. The piece will be performed by renowned harpist Mario Falcao, to whom Kurek’s concerto is dedicated. For ticket information, call 741-7777.
Not one but two compilations will be duking it out in record stores this month. Country Music Foundation Records has issued Live Fast, Love Hard: Original Capitol Recordings 1952-1962, a 24-track retrospective of the noted honky-tonker’s early years. Present are such tunes as “Tattle Tale Tears,” Young’s first Capitol single, and “If You Ain’t Lovin’ (You Ain’t Livin’).” The CMF’s Daniel Cooper did the liner notes.
Meanwhile, Mercury Nashville’s “American Essentials” series has released Golden Hits, a 13-track sampler of Young’s Mercury sides with liner notes by Bob Allen. Featured tracks include “Wine Me Up” and Tom T. Hall’s “If I Ever Fall in Love (With a Honky-Tonk Girl).” Both are worth checking out.
NEA Extravaganza time again! The upcoming 1996 Extravaganza will be held Feb. 14-17, 1996, at more than 20 local clubs; unsigned acts within a 400-mile radius are encouraged to apply for participation. From each applying band, the Nashville Entertainment Association requires a promotional package including a bio or fact sheet, a photo, a demo tape with three original songs, and a performance itinerary from Sept. 1995 through Jan. 1996. Send your materials to Extravaganza, P.O. Box 121948, Nashville, TN 37212-1948. Deadline for submissions is Dec. 1, 1995.
Plum Nelly, the ambient alternative band led by singer-songwriter Phyllis Kiefer, has just hit the racks. Recorded by the band and producer Robb Earls at Sound Vortex and Alex the Great Studios, the 11-song CD features the single “Madding Jully ‘33’ ” and an odd little rocked-up cover of “Eleanor Rigby.” Look for the CD at Lucy’s and Tower.
