Jasmin Kaset and More Do It Together for That Ross Collier Sound Fest

On my way to That Ross Collier Sound Fest Saturday afternoon at Fannie Mae Dees Park — aka Dragon Park for its 150-foot sea serpent mosaic — I got a text from photog Claire Steele describing the scene of local music-makers, friends, kids and pets gathered there as “popping off like you wouldn't believe.” I'd already missed a great set by New York shoegazers Glenn Echo, Steele added, but if I got there soon, I’d still have a shot at meeting Bill, a giant tortoise belonging to Edgehill United Methodist pastor John Feldhacker.

Such is the unique vibe and niche the 29-year-old Collier has built and continues to explore in left-of-center Nashville music, as a player and participant — and, once a year, concert impresario. In addition to his work aiding and abetting punk-folk faves Styrofoam Winos, as a touring sound engineer for Allison Russell and as proprietor of Nashville Omnichord Supply, Collier has been throwing some variation of the Sound Fest most years since he came to town a decade ago to study audio production at Belmont. Prior to Saturday’s fest, playfully billed as the 40th annual event, Collier announced this would be the last one — for now, at least. He mentioned in a note to the Scene that he might change the format to make it a little more manageable among his other commitments, and possibly revisit the tongue-in-cheek “That Ross Collier Sound” moniker.

This ostensibly final installment was the biggest Sound Fest yet, with a wide-ranging succession of performers moving the air with great-sounding sets, plus free food and coffee, giveaways of CDs and LPs from in-town labels and even a visit from progressive Congressional hopeful Odessa Kelly. She spoke briefly about November's election, in which she’s running for Tennessee’s 7th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and introduced herself to every person in attendance before departing for her next campaign stop.  

Recalling the types of DIY affairs thrown as cheap or free alternatives to big-ticket summer fests — like Poorcastle in Louisville, Ky., or Bummershoot in Seattle — the music was eclectic, and the community vibe was strong. Performers set up shop alongside the ziggurat-like brick structure and its adjacent fort at the park's center. In a chipper tone that served cool-camp-counselor energy, Collier joined forces with Glam Campbell — the baritone-voiced alter ego of the Winos' Joe Kenkel — to handle emcee duties with banter that was equal parts sincere and nonsensical. 

Among the standout sets was a turn from power-pop tunesmith and Birdcloud co-founder Jasmin Kaset leading a band that included, among other familiar faces, Bingham Barnes of Glossary on bass and Larissa Maestro on cello. JayVe Montgomery, alias Abstract Black, offered up his always-engaging ambient meditations on sax and trumpet. On the heels of her latest LP Summer Angel, poet and songsmith Anne Malin performed songs at the head of a guitar trio, while singer-songwriter Nick Woods played solo, accompanying himself on electric guitar. For the finale after sunset, the West Nashville Jazz Ensemble gave a stirring improv set, assisted by the loud buzzing of cicadas and the distant creaking of playground swingsets.

As the music wound down, the temperature dropped to a cool 77 degrees and the thinning crowd split up. Some headed homeward, but there were abundant options for those able to find a second wind. Up the street, the Belcourt was screening a new documentary on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” while Third Man Records hosted the album release party for rising synth and guitar composer Rich Ruth's I Survived, It’s Over, and West Side watering hole Betty's featured a Sound Fest after-party with folk stalwarts The Cherry Blossoms and others. It was as nice a night as any in recent memory to treasure the wealth and scope of noncommercial, noncareerist sounds being made all the time — and the people making and facilitating them — right here in our own backyard.