For our annual Rock 'n' Roll Poll, we once again dialed up a select group of Nashville's finest rockers, rollers, bloggers and bookers, and asked them what got their attention — good and bad — in the local rock scene this year. (Read more responses at our music blog, Nashville Cream.)
What local band ruled Nashville in 2010?
PUJOL. — Jesse Baker, Ben Blackwell, Brandon Jazz, Richie Kirkpatrick, Tristen, Jonas Stein
Caitlin Rose. —Jon Burr, Aaron Hartley, Dean Shortland
Kings of Leon. Knock 'em down, haters. —Kent Marcus
JEFF the Brotherhood always and forever. —Ben Todd
In terms of press coverage and absolute slaying in the tour department there can be no other choice than Infinity Cat's JEFF the Brotherhood and PUJOL. —Michael Eades
Too many rulers to name ... just pick a niche and figure it out yourself. Some scenes even have multiple rulers. It's getting weird. —Jeremy Ferguson
My So-Called Band. Nobody did it like those guys did. Very fun, very crowded shows. Either them or the Mashville DJs. —Quiet Entertainer
The Bellamy Brothers. —Chris Crofton
Hobbledeions. —William Tyler
Doo Doo Planet. —Jake Orrall
Chubby and the Dots. They will be closing the year out with us on New Year's Eve. —Todd Sherwood
Mikky Ekko —Justin Roddick
The band that won my heart — and I'm sure I'm misspelling this — [was] The Marynelles. Their puerile Pet Shop Boys-esque riffs on local life were hysterical. —Jon Burr
So Jazzy. I think they were the strongest creatively. —Daniel Pujol
Let's just say Hans Condor, 'cause they rule. —Ben Swank
KORT. —Leslie Keffer
I guess I would have to say Black Keys 'cause both Dan and Patrick live in Nashville now! —Mike Grimes
What local band is going to rule in 2011?
PUJOL. —Ben Blackwell, Jonas Stein, Ben Swank
D. Watusi. —Daniel Pujol, Linwood K. Regensburg Jr.
Probably still The Black Keys. —Mike Grimes
D. Watusi and Cheap Time ... maybe Hans Condor ... probably Hans Condor. —Ben Todd
I've got high hopes about the Tristen record, Charlatans at the Garden Gate, due out in February. —Michael Eades
Mona and Mikky Ekko (but probably in the U.K.) and newcomers to Nashville, The Rouge. —Kent Marcus
I'll go with whatever Joe Blankenship, formerly of Countrytallica née Shoot the Mountain, manages to cook up. I hear his new drummer is quite the looker. —Jon Burr
Emerald Shotgun. —Caitlin Rose
Tallest Trees. —Quiet Entertainer
Big Surr, Bows and Arrows and The Beat of Our Lives, —Evan P. Donohue
Not sure, but Lady Antebellum warned me in the airport to watch out for misplaced luggage. —William Tyler
Some band where children set stuff on fire. —Harmony Korine
Black Baby. At this point, Black Baby is just some demos Ryan Truso played me, but hopefully it comes out in 2011. It's the best. —Brandon Jazz
Cy Barkley. —Jake Orrall
The Deep Cuts. —Todd Sherwood
Ha ha ha. I think The Black Keys are going to continue their upward trajectory. And Ke$ha too. And my band. What about my band, you guys? —Richie Kirkpatrick
The Beauty School Dropouts are getting back together in 2011. —Justin Roddick
Jensen Sportag. (If I keep saying it every year, maybe it will come true one day.) —Drew Mischke
Modern Hell or Cy Barkley. —Jesse Baker
The Xists, Feverqueen, Unicorn Hard-on, Hobbledeions. —Leslie Keffer
Kyle Andrews, Kopecki Family Band and Tallest Trees would be at the top of the list. —Dean Shortland
What was your favorite discovery this year?
We found Jack White's pneumatic-tube entrance into Third Man Records. —Ben Todd
PUJOL. —Ben Blackwell, Jeremy Ferguson
Learning about real studio recording at Battle Tapes. —Daniel Pujol
Browsing music on Bandcamp tagged with "Nashville" has proven to be a fantastic way to stumble upon new, unheard, music or local favorites that I've read about but haven't had the chance to dive fully into. —Michael Eades
Vinyl Thief. I played a show with them at The End and was really impressed. —Quiet Entertainer
Laptops are instruments! —Chris Crofton
A Country Gentleman. The Dead Towns. Brussels. D. Watusi. —Jeremy Ferguson
New Pleasure. —Evan P. Donohue
Uncle Bad Touch. —Jake Orrall
Riley's Grandma's Roadhouse LP, thanks to Chris Davis and Delmore Recordings. —William Tyler
A guy I went to high school with who eats glass for a living; he plays electric harpsichord in Belle Meade for adolescent inmates. —Harmony Korine
I thought I hated Kyle Andrews, but it turns out he's making some of the coolest music in town right now. —Brandon Jazz
The Young Hines. —Todd Sherwood
The Honeymoon Thrillers —Justin Roddick
The aforementioned Marynelles. Easily. They have a song about dog feces littering East Nashville. I'm deadly serious. —Jon Burr
How much Mother/Father has improved. I think they're one of, if not the best, bands in the city. —Drew Mischke
The Kingston Springs (although technically I met them two years ago). —Kent Marcus
How well Jocephus The Shelby Street Brawler does the Hokey Pokey in front of [the] Record Store Day crowd, or Parting Gifts (The Ettes/Greg Cartwright collaboration). —Mike Grimes
That rock 'n' roll is most definitely alive and well, based on that Grinderman show. Goddamn. —Doyle Davis
Frank the Fuck Out, though we're losing them. Worker is a tremendous band. —Jesse Baker
The Xists, Ke$ha. —Leslie Keffer
Kopecki Family Band and Bravo Max —Dean Shortland
So Jazzy, who are now on some sort of hiatus due to a member's academic pursuits. I'm really confused why people bother going to college these days. This ain't NASCAR. —Linwood K. Regensburg Jr.
Best/worst band breakup of the year?
And the Relatives. —Michael Eades, Tristen, Caitlin Rose, Dean Shortland
So Jazzy. —Daniel Pujol, Ben Todd
Worst: Deep Vibration. —Evan P. Donohue
Jeff Fisher and Vince Young. —William Tyler
I hope Theory of a Deadman didn't break up, because I like to be sad. —Chris Crofton
Weekend Jimmy and the Easy Party. —Drew Mischke
Can't seem to think of a breakup that I didn't think to myself, 'Yeah that makes sense.' —Justin Roddick
Bad Friend, Dude Cruise. —Leslie Keffer
I think all the good ones broke up last year. —Todd Sherwood
When Assknife broke up I was so bummed. —Jake Orrall
Do bands break up anymore? I think it's a like a contractual three-month deal then they come back and reap the reunion rewards. —Ben Swank
Worst: Thelma & The Sleaze. Passionate, dirty rock 'n' roll ... we don't have enough. —Jesse Baker
Every breakup is terrific, and I wish more fuckers would break up. —Harmony Korine
Best music story of the year?
The Kings of Leon wrote a song for Dasani. —Chris Crofton
Mona blowing up in the U.K. ... killing it on Jools Holland, playing next to Mavis Staples, Adele and Robert Plant. —Kent Marcus
Mona being from Nashville. —Caitlin Rose
Caitlin Rose. —William Tyler
The continuing growth of Next Big Nashville has been great to see. —Michael Eades
I went to bed with the writer of Nylon. Now they write about my band. —Jonas Stein
The story of everyone who stopped playing music and went back to work in the fast food industry. —Harmony Korine
I think all of us jumped on board the Ke$ha local bandwagon for at least a little while. Oh? No one else will admit it with me? Never mind then. —Quiet Entertainer
I like that Ke$ha blew up like she did. This time last year she played a sold-out show at 12th & Porter with Mickey Avalon and this year she is an international celebrity. —Justin Roddick
"Elvis Is King" by Adam Gold. —Tristen
The Flood Benefit at Mercy was certainly the most heartwarming, but the demon within compels me to mention pigeons defecating in the Followills' mouths. My answers are trending towards animal droppings, aren't they? —Jon Burr
Brandon Jazz: an American Idol journey! —Jesse Baker
Did you hear about vinyl records? —Ben Blackwell
I don't know if this counts, but when Emmylou Harris played at the Groove on Record Store Day, all her songs were about dogs and recognizing them as sentient beings, and that is surely the best music story of 2010. —Daniel Pujol
The Scene vs. Glenn Danzig's Haus. —Jake Orrall
Kyle Andrews getting over a million hits on his "I Like To See You Smile" video. —Mike Grimes
From my little corner of the world, I'd say it was being completely blindsided by Metallica deciding to release the recording of their secret gig at The Basement as Live at Grimey's. —Doyle Davis
The growing number of local acts touring overseas. —Aaron Hartley
Every benefit show that happened after the flood. —Ben Todd
What trend would you like to see left behind in 2010?
Floods. —Ben Blackwell
Too many bands on one bill is one of my biggest pet peeves. —Michael Eades
Sick people needing benefits just to be able to live with being sick 'cause insurance companies suck. —Jeremy Ferguson
Extreme or even mild sensitivity. —Caitlin Rose
Children. —Chris Crofton
Big Muffs. —Evan P. Donohue
The Tea Party. —William Tyler
Lead singers talking about their songs in between songs, bands that prominently feature the guitar and bands using MySpace as their "official" website. —Brandon Jazz
Reverb. —Jake Orrall
Americana musicians trying to look like Dust Bowl refugees with wide-leg cuffed jeans, stamped shirts and hair gel that they picked up at the five and dime while they were train-jumping. —Tristen
U.K. folk rock, and Christian faux rock stars (and their hair) — please ... we've been begging for years. —Kent Marcus&
I hope bands will start to focus in on the reality of the new music business and stop chasing the golden deal. Entrepreneurship should be the focus. —Justin Roddick
All musicians should retire. —Harmony Korine
Bands/artists/labels spending money to put out CDs. —Drew Mischke
The psychic bourgeoisie's domestication and commercialization of the social deviant. —Daniel Pujol
Push-play DJs. —Jesse Baker
I'd like to see people's focus to be more on their own opinions of the music and the bands than on what the blogs/papers etc. are saying is cool. —Leslie Keffer
Cover bands that fill venues [instead of] local bands. —Dean Shortland
There's a lot of silly hats and shameful beards getting worn in this town. —Ben Swank
Worrying about WRVU. (Gotta learn to let go sometimes.) —Ben Todd
Band you're sick of seeing/hearing about?
I like all of them! —Jonas Stein
Every band is talked about too much, no one should talk about them any more. —Harmony Korine
Most of the bands picked by the Nashville Cream. —Kent Marcus
Kings of Leon. —Aaron Hartley
Unwanted information can easily be avoided. —Caitlin Rose
We try to support the whole local scene at Grimey's. I'm not gonna call out one band as being overhyped although there are certainly several contenders. OK, Armed Forces. Sorry, Brandon. —Doyle Davis
Brandon Jazz & His Armed Forces. —Brandon Jazz
Ben Steine's Money. —Ben Todd
Young Buck. There has to be more to Nashville hip-hop than just Young Buck. Right, Prophicy? Spoken Nerd? Mac tha Knife? Wick-It? —Quiet Entertainer
The Protomen, The Dead Weather. —Evan P. Donohue
Shouldn't say. —Todd Sherwood
Nashville Symphony. —Linwood K. Regensburg
I don't want to sound repetitive but I'm going to stick with Moon Taxi even though I have heard less about them this year. —Justin Roddick
Floods. —Ben Blackwell
No one really; you have to be 100 percent supportive of all local musicians when you are one and you set up shows for them even if it is not your cup of tea. —Leslie Keffer
Who deserves more coverage than they got in 2010?
Do you guys cover Natural Child? I think you do. They make me want to be a rock 'n' roll cave man. —Richie Kirkpatrick
Uncle Skeleton. —Jon Burr, Brandon Jazz
Bass Drum of Death. —Jonas Stein
Cy Barkley and The Cannomen. —Ben Todd
Bands like Tetsuo, James Wallace and the Naked Light, Meth Dad, Swing States, Blue Cadet Three, Hanzelle, Paris, Ontario, Listen Like Thieves and loads more never get mentioned but just the fact that they exist is worthy of mention. —Michael Eades
Andrew Combs. —Caitlin Rose
247 of The Billy Goats and Derrek Phillips' Manufactory. —Quiet Entertainer
Evan P. Donohue, Heartbeater, AutoVaughn. —Brandon Jazz
Jordan Hull, MOM. —Evan P. Donohue
Is this where I get to plug my boys The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker? —Doyle Davis
Mother/Father. —Drew Mischke
Nashville, the lady. —Kent Marcus
American Bang. I thought we would have seen more press with the CD finally coming out in 2010. —Justin Roddick
Keegan DeWitt. —Aaron Hartley
The Coolin' System. —Mike Grimes
The Paperhead, formally The Looking Glass, are an amazing local band with great ideas, and they hit all the right psych vibe buttons for me. —Ben Swank
Conestyle. —Jesse Baker
Everyone go listen to Denney and the Jets now, please. Or any noise act in Nashville, period. —Daniel Pujol
The Xists. They are unlike any other band in Nashville. —Leslie Keffer
Kyle Andrews. —Dean Shortland
The 5 Spot's Wednesday Night Old Time Jam never gets any press. It's been a successful weekly party for a few years without it, though. —Todd Sherwood
Best show of 2010?
Ty Segall at The End. —Jake Orrall, Ben Todd, Ben Swank
Chromeo, followed by our own rendition of Hall and Oates' Greatest Hits. ... Rumor has it that Oates himself was there and disappeared, aghast, when he saw that our own Li'l Rusty was dressed and groomed in his image. —Jon Burr
Don Williams at The Ryman/Rangda at Open Lot. —William Tyler
Jacuzzi Boys at Glenn Danzig's. —Linwood K. Regensburg Jr.
Turbo Fruits at Third Man for NBN. —Evan P. Donohue
Jonathan Richman, both nights. —Todd Sherwood
Oh my god. ... Grinderman. ... Angry, horny middle-aged-man music is for me! —Doyle Davis
Two and a Half Men. —Chris Crofton
I would have to say a tie between the Haunted Valley Block Party and Girl Talk Block Party. —Justin Roddick
Both performances from Uncle Skeleton that I had the pleasure of taking in were perfect. —Michael Eades
Jay-Z at Bonnaroo. —Drew Mischke
KMM showcase at Next Big Nashville. —Kent Marcus
Bob Dylan at the Municipal in the $25 ticket section where no one else was sitting. —Caitlin Rose
The Greenhornes w/Carl Broemel. —Mike Grimes
Mucipal Waste! Locally, the Trampskirts reunion comes to mind. —Jesse Baker
I'd say the Paper Route show at Mercy Lounge after the Flood. Along with The Kopecky Family Band and How I Became The Bomb. There just wasn't a more important show this year. —Quiet Entertainer
Hardest-working local musician?
Daniel Pujol. —Michael Eades, Brandon Jazz, Jonas Stein
Ben Todd. —Daniel Pujol
American Bang. —Kent Marcus
It's a tie between Jeffrey Novak and Jake Orrall. And William Tyler. And Patrick Rodgers. —Ben Todd
Jonas Stein has worked like a crazy person this year, but that's not much new. —Jeremy Ferguson
Tie between DJ Orig from Mashville and Seth of Details Details. —Quiet Entertainer
Casey Weissbuch. —Evan P. Donohue
The guys that do the downtown gigs all week like Heath Haynes. —Todd Sherwood
Little Jimmy Dickens is out there telling the same jokes every night and he's not getting any younger, folks. —Richie Kirkpatrick
Probably me. —Linwood K. Regensburg Jr.
Nathan Lee. Wait until you hear his new bar-room hymns album. Amazing. —Justin Roddick
Chris Davis still books tons of sick shows for bands we are lucky to have come through Nashville, and Chris does an awesome job at finding the best venue and local bands to play at every show on top of a full-time job and having his own band. —Leslie Keffer
Third year running ... Kyle Andrews! Don't argue with me on it! I will beat your ass! —Dean Shortland
Nathan Vasquez. —Ben Blackwell
Brandon Jazz. (He's my assistant as well as a bar-back here, so I can personally attest to this as a fact.) —Drew Mischke
Tie: Kenny Vaughan or Will Kimbrough. —Mike Grimes
Ryan Norris. —Doyle Davis
They never work hard enough! —Harmony Korine
Favorite local blog and/or radio show/podcast?
Nashville's Dead. —Ben Blackwell, Evan P. Donohue, Michael Eades, Jeremy Ferguson, Brandon Jazz, Jake Orrall, Daniel Pujol, Ben Todd, William Tyler, Linwood K. Regensburg Jr., Todd Sherwood
The Chris Crofton Show [on Nashville Cream]. —Jon Burr, Chris Crofton, Brandon Jazz, Linwood K. Regensburg Jr., Caitlin Rose, Jonas Stein
Nashville Cream. —Doyle Davis, Jeremy Ferguson, Brandon Jazz, Quiet Entertainer, Todd Sherwood
Out the Other. —Caitlin Rose, Jeremy Ferguson
We Own This Town. —Quiet Entertainer, Dean Shortland
Yewknee. —Aaron Hartley, Drew Mischke
102.9 Local Buzz Live. —Justin Roddick
BUTR. —Kent Marcus
Dead Air [Nashville's Dead]. —Linwood K. Regensburg Jr.
Destinedforincrease.blogspot.com. —Jesse Baker
DJ Cliffy D.'s Party Drive at 5 mix show on 102.5 the Party, Theatre Intangible. —Leslie Keffer
The Nashville Cream is my favorite local educational site, sans the pit of vipers, aka all the people I hang out with at local shows who obsessively write nasty comments under pseudonyms. —Tristen
I'm really more of an analog guy. Needles + Pins, Curse of the Drinking Class and Nashville Jumps on WRVU are my fave radio shows. Please don't take our WRVU away. —Doyle Davis
Nashville's Dead blog is changing this town in all the right ways. ... Nashville Jumps (WRVU) on Friday morning is the only thing that can help me get to work when I'm as hung-over as I usually am on a Friday. —Ben Swank
What band have you seen a lot that you're still not tired of seeing?
PUJOL. —Ben Blackwell, Linwood K. Regensburg Jr., Jonas Stein
Kyle Andrews, Heypenny, The Lonely H, Caitlin Rose, Reno Bo and Derek Hoke —Dean Shortland
Derek Hoke, every Tuesday night. —Todd Sherwood
Caitlin Rose. —Aaron Hartley
KORT. —Caitlin Rose
Tallest Trees. —Quiet Entertainer
Majestico, Natural Child. —Evan P. Donohue
Natural Child. JEFF the Brotherhood. —Ben Todd
Natural Child. If I had an alarm clock hologram of Natural Child performing, I'd wake up at dawn and hit snooze until noon. —Daniel Pujol
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. —Chris Crofton
Deluxin'. —William Tyler
Tristen. —Jeremy Ferguson, Michael Eades
Jensen Sportag. Oh, wait ... —Brandon Jazz
Harvey Creme. —Jake Orrall
Luna Halo. —Justin Roddick
Mother/Father. —Drew Mischke
The Kingston Springs. —Kent Marcus
Mike Farris. Whatever band he is in is always perfect. —Mike Grimes
The Coolin' System. —Doyle Davis
The Greenhornes. ... They're still amazing every single time. —Ben Swank
Heartbeater. —Jesse Baker
Hobbledeions, The Xists, KORT, Cortney Tidwell, R.J. Remmington's Cast of Villains, Cherry Blossoms, Unicorn Hard-On. —Leslie Keffer
I'm tired of every band that has ever lived. —Harmony Korine
What was your favorite local record of 2010?
KORT's Invariable Heartache. —Doyle Davis, Tristen, Caitlin Rose
Kyle Andrews; Kangaroo. —Mike Grimes, Dean Shortland
Tallest Trees' The Ostrich or the Lark. I listened to it for a few months straight on a nightly basis. —Quiet Entertainer
Friend Weakend by Action! —Evan P. Donohue
Heavy Cream's Danny and PUJOL's Live at Third Man. —Jonas Stein
Come Around Sundown, Kings of Leon. —Kent Marcus
What is a "record"? —Chris Crofton
Caitlin Rose. —William Tyler
Guilty Pleasures, Live From the Women's Prison or My So-Called Band, Greatest Hits, Volume 1. —Brandon Jazz
Twistable, Turnable Man. —Todd Sherwood
Too close to call. —Justin Roddick
I'm super into the Forrest Bride, Hands off Cuba, and KORT records, and the Hobbledeions "capisce" solo cassette —Leslie Keffer
Space Capone, Volume II: Arrival, Arousal —Drew Mischke
Gonna say The Greenhornes again. ★ ★ ★ ★ has hardly left my turntable. —Ben Swank
Look What I Did, Atlas Drugged —Jesse Baker
Gotta be Focus in On ... by The Paperhead (formerly The Looking Glass). I mean, Natural Child's Bodyswitchers. Forrest Bride's debut. No, no, Danny from Heavy Cream. It was a good year. —Ben Todd
Respondents
Jesse Baker: The End
Ben Blackwell: Third Man Records
Jon Burr: musician, How I Became the Bomb
Chris Crofton: comedian; musician
Doyle Davis: Grimey's
Evan P. Donohue: musician
Michael Eades: YK Records, Yewknee.com, We Own This Town
Jeremy Ferguson: Battle Tapes Recording
Mike Grimes: Grimey's, The Basement
Aaron Hartley: Theory 8 Records and Management
Brandon Jazz: musician, Armed Forces; assistant, Mercy Lounge
Leslie Keffer: musician
Richie Kirkpatrick: musician, Ghostfinger
Harmony Korine: filmmaker
Kent Marcus: entertainment lawyer
Drew Mischke: general manager, Mercy Lounge
Jake Orrall: musician, JEFF the Brotherhood; Infinity Cat Records
Daniel Pujol: musicianQuiet Entertainer: DJ/performance artist; blogger at QuietEntertainer.com; hopeful marathon runner
Justin Roddick: 12th & Porter
Linwood K. Regensburg Jr.: musician, Those Darlins and Funstix.
Caitlin Rose: musicianTodd Sherwood: The 5 Spot
Dean Shortland: guy about town
Jonas Stein: musician, Turbo Fruits; Turbo Time Records; organizer, The Bruise Cruise
Ben Swank: Third Man RecordsBen Todd: Nashville's Dead
Tristen: musician
William Tyler: musician
Email music@nashvillescene.com.
