Green and bare it
When we were asked — as part of our duties at the Scene — to help book a four-week series at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Nashville, we said, "Sure." But it was a reticent "sure." Not that there's anything wrong with Hard Rock, per se. It's a pristine venue with good sound, a cool layout and an awesome view. It's just ... well, creatures of habit as we are, we feel at home in sweaty, sticky dives and our tried-and-true nightly local haunts. But after valeting the busted-ass Spinmobile and shuffling upstairs on Thursday night, we were met with the same familiar faces — and a sea of them, at that — we're used to seeing at venues like Mercy Lounge, The End, et al. After all, it was just another show from road-tested local faves Turbo Fruits and The Greenhornes. Only difference is, we could stand on the patio and smoke while still being able to see and hear the bands. Not bad.
The Spin and our date were voraciously hungry, so we spent a brief portion of Turbo Fruits' set absolutely going to town on a pair of cheeseburgers. Like, mercilessly devouring these things, and washing them down with the slick, mellow sounds of "Dreams for Sale," the Fruits' opening number. As frontman Jonas Stein would later tell us, Turbo Fruits decided to fill their set almost entirely with new songs, most of which were clearly constructed since the induction of newest member and second guitarist Kingsley Brock — they were natural, fluid tunes that sounded like they were fleshed out and obviously built for a four-piece.
We watched Stein grow up and stretch his chops way back in his Springwater days, when his most apparent influences were outfits like MC5 and The Stooges. But with the melodic nuances now provided by Kingsley, we'd venture to say Turbo Fruits wander between the territory of riff-driven but smart indie-rock acts like Built to Spill and balls-out (but also riff-driven) hard-rock acts like Queens of the Stone Age. Hell, Jonas even played an organ! One thing that has not changed about the Fruits' material, however, is the amount of upbeat, surfy vibes.
Obligatory name-dropping portion of The Spin: We spotted members of JEFF the Brotherhood, The Ettes, D. Watusi, Tristen, Useless Eaters, The Black Belles, My So-Called Band and Brendan Benson up in this piece. And they were all doing the unthinkable: enjoying rock music in a venue with "Rock" in the title. Anyway, The Greenhornes did exactly what we'd bet on them doing. They delivered gritty blues rock, straight from the garage, punctuated with bursts of wailing proficiency and featuring just the right amount of '60s R&B influence. With Craig Fox assuming his usual rock 'n' roll-stoic position midstage, the 'Hornes mostly played tunes from their latest. Highlights? The relentless organ solo from auxiliary man Mark Watrous on "Underestimator" and The Greenhornes' furious, fast-fingered and totally authentic cover of Yardbirds' "Lost Woman," complete with a bitchin' solo from drummer Patrick Keeler.
The Greenhornes wound down their set somewhere near 10 p.m., leaving The Spin feeling rather productive. We'd witnessed a powerful double-dose of efficient garage-punk prowess, had a few drinks, chilled on a veranda — we think it's a veranda? — and gotten our parking validated, all well before midnight. Shortly after The Greenhornes' set, Saliva's classic hit "Click Click Boom" played over the Hard Rock's speakers. We took that as our cue. We're comin' down on the stereo; hear us on the radio. Click, click, boom!
Sebastian of hope
You know what place is a rollicking good time? VFW Post 1970, way down Charlotte Pike. It was the venue for the Sebastian Speaks' sixth anniversary party (or their "Second Annual Fifth Anniversary") Friday night, and we weren't quite sure what we were getting into. But our fears immediately dissipated upon entering: Greeted by wood paneling, patriotic tchotchkes and an unexpected bar tucked away in the back that allowed smoking (!) and featured $1.50 drafts (!!), it was hard not to curl up and make yourself at home.
William Tyler, mastermind behind the Sebastian Speaks label, really did pull off one of the most Tennessee-ass nights we've ever experienced, and that is meant in the best of ways. Some of the finest local and international talent that calls this place home were gathered before an audience young and old. There was even an old-fashioned raffle, which The Spin ended up winning! The prize pack included an assortment of wonders, from a cookbook of bean recipes written by Grandma Tyler to an unopened, misdirected fan letter to Ricky Skaggs. (Does anyone have Mr. Skaggs' correct forwarding info? We feel kind of bad about having this.)
But on with the show. The Tyler Family Band — consisting of bro and sis William and Elise, mom Adele and pop Dan — ran through some fun country standards in the Charley Pride vein, taking turns with vocals between bro and sis and pop, before closing out with a guitar-heavy Lou Reed number that segued nicely into the garage-rock shenanigans of D. Watusi. And D. Watusi, for our money, is one of the sharpest little outfits to come out of that whole prolific Nashville's Dead scene. Their set was a brief one, but it featured just the right amount of proto-punk-leaning, bopping rock numbers, complete with some Rhodes playin' and singin' about summer.
After a brief interlude of note-taking from Lambchop's Kurt Wagner — mainly just a way of stalling until keyboardist/guitarist Ryan Norris found his way to the stage — KORT was ready to go, which was when we noticed the one drawback of the VFW: Cortney Tidwell has too much voice for so intimate a room. She's got the kind of voice that reminds you that people used to sing long before microphones, and only the truly talented could open their mouths and hit the back of the room just as effectively as the front. Also, Wagner is growing exponentially more animated with each KORT performance, this time dropping to his knees and crooning to Tidwell like a wounded former lover. Running through the Invariable Heartache catalog, the band introduced Caitlin Rose for a few songs, and brought back Dan Tyler for his own reprise, as well. After an abso-fucking-lutely incredible "Pickin' Wild Mountain Berries," The Spin just had to set down the damn notepad and enjoy the rest of the show.
Maybe it was the country music, the hominess of the VFW, or the musical merry-go-round of family members and friends who obviously care for one another, but we couldn't help but get a little wistful and think about how our grandparents would have enjoyed the night. We have a love-hate relationship with our backwoods Tennessee roots, but pretension was put to the wayside for one night, and genuine pride in our state and raisin' was able to break through. "We're going to play some more songs, if that's OK," said Wagner near the end of KORT's set, "if not, Nashville's that way."
This week, you might catch us at Sounds Like Summer featuring Real Estate at Hard Rock. See you there? Email thespin@nashvillescene.com.
