Sweet by Sweet Time Spotlights a Kaleidoscopic Array of Rock ’n’ Roll

If you’re trying to talk with local rock ’n’ roll booster Ryan Sweeney, the biggest challenge is fitting into his jam-packed schedule. On top of his full-time job, Sweeney has a family and several side gigs: playing drums in multiple bands, running a small label called Sweet Time Records, and organizing rock and punk shows around the Midstate under the name Sweet Time Booking. In August 2018, he added “festival organizer” to that list with the inaugural Sweet by Sweet Time, whose second iteration is set for Friday and Saturday at The 5 Spot and Drkmttr. You might very well wonder: When does someone who’s that busy find time to assemble something with as many moving parts as a music festival?

“Lunch breaks, little breaks in the day, and then at night after he’s gone to bed,” Sweeney explains, referring to his 2-year-old son, Theo, who he’s watching while we talk. Sweeney is on the phone from Los Angeles, where he and his wife and son are taking a well-deserved vacation. “I have a very, very extensive spreadsheet that helps me keep track of everything,” he says with a laugh. 

The first SXST featured notable rock talent like Nashville’s Richie and Queens of Noise and Atlanta’s Sash the Bash and Subsonics. But only a few acts on that bill, like Jack Oblivian — aka Jack Yarber, one-third of Memphis garage-punk paladins The Oblivians — were well-known outside of people who follow local and regional rock closely. Such is often the case for first-time festivals, even with the reputation and connections Sweeney has established over years of touring and booking. 

This time out, though, Sweeney found a broad spectrum of artists from far and wide eager to get involved. That includes the full complement of The Oblivians, with Yarber and his bandmates Eric Freidl (founder of much-loved Memphis indie label Goner Records) and Greg Cartwright (who also leads the phenomenal Stones-meets-The Band outfit Reigning Sound). The trio formed in 1993 and disbanded in 1998, but they’ve been back together since 2012, spreading the gospel of sleazy and greasy Tennessee rock ’n’ roll around the world (between other projects). 

The Oblivians, the crown jewel of any rock-centric gathering, headline Friday night’s kickoff show at The 5 Spot, and they have plenty of worthy support. The undercard includes local Spacemen 3 disciples Ttotals and Deadly Lo-Fi, a spooky, off-kilter outfit from Georgia whose work follows in the twangy footsteps of the late Hasil Adkins. 

Because rock ’n’ roll isn’t just for grown folks, Saturday kicks off with a massive 10-band matinee at all-ages venue Drkmttr. Topping the bill is hazy Seattle glitter popster Scott Yoder, the sonic scion of glam hero Marc Bolan and psychedelic shapeshifter Twink. The undercard runs the gamut from Murfreesboro Stooges-meets-Roky Erikson group VampTones to angular, thoughtful, twin-bass-rockin’ Nashville band Tower Defense. Other highlights include long-running Birmingham, Ala., purveyors of nervy punk Nowhere Squares and Columbus, Ohio’s Bloody Show, which belongs to the same lo-fi Buckeye punk tradition as Gaunt and New Bomb Turks. 

Provided The 5 Spot remains intact after The Oblivians’ performance on Friday, the party will move back there Saturday night with Nashville’s Modern Convenience — whose articulate, pissed-off Adverts-esque LP So So Modern was a 2018 standout — and local pro-wrestling-inspired punks The Mighty Jabronis, among others. Memphis all-stars Sweet Knives, led by veteran rocker Alicja Trout, will bring a melodic New Wave-ish racket that will nicely tee up the festival closers. That honor goes to New York’s Habibi, whose 2018 EP Cardamom Garden is a delightfully disorienting hodgepodge of ’60s girl-group harmonies, psychedelic pop, jangly surf and Middle Eastern melodies — with some songs in Farsi, no less.

The tapestry of rock ’n’ roll has many threads. Sweeney is enthusiastic about how his festival is able to bring so many together on its second run.

“This year the bands are stronger, the venue is stronger, and tickets are already outselling last year,” he says. “I guess the word spread about how fun last year was.”

*Update, Aug. 22: Due to a scheduling change, Greg Cartwright will not be able to do a DJ set at Duke's on Aug. 23 as originally planned.

Below, see a playlist curated by Sweeney featuring artists performing at Sweet by Sweet Time.