April 6, 2009

It’s been far too long since I updated this blog. Apologies. There has just been SO much happening around here lately, it’s hard to keep up! Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s not. Keepin’ busy is good and if that means I sleep only 4 hours a night, so be it! It has been totally worth it. . . Plus, you know, I get bored when there isn‘t 1,000 things happening at all times. Idle minds and all. . .

Okay, here’s what you may have missed lately (and you‘re really going to wish you hadn‘t):

The AMA (that’s The Americana Music Association) hosted an awesome series here at The BBC Thursday nights throughout Feb. and Mar. for 6 straight weeks. What a run! Like, literally. The series kept us running, but was more than worth the effort to see Rodney Crowell, Jim Lauderdale, Nanci Griffith, Mary Gauthier, Tim O’Brien, Darrell Scott, Sam Bush, Foster&Lloyd and SO many more! Almost every show had a special guest or two. Sometimes three or four. It was pretty much insane. Not in the “and now I need to be medicated” sense but more in the “I can’t believe I just saw _______ play with _______ and we didn’t even know _______ was coming - how crazy is that?!” sense.

Speaking of people we didn’t know were coming - because our lovely sound engineer did not tell me when he showed up at sound check (I will not name names, but he knows who he is) - there was one person in particular that really floored me. Who was it, you ask? None other than Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick! From Surrender, The Flame, Ain’t That A Shame fame (that was some pretty great, unintentional rhyming!). Now, I know this may seen like an odd choice for the person that “really floored me” out of all the amazing people who played the series, but it’s true. I think part of the “flooring” has to do with the fact that: a. I was completely surprised and b. I have a long and loving history with the music of Cheap Trick.

Aaaaaanyway, Tom took the stage and I about fell of my barstool and took to the floor. They closed the show that night with Cheap Trick’s Ain’t That A Shame and I sat in the back and sang along - totally off key. GOOD times. Afterwards, and I don’t usually do this, I made sure I had the chance to meet Tom. And, I am extremely happy to report, he could not have been nicer! Like whoa. He went out of his way to be nice and I went out of my way to not giggle like a total Fan Girl, even though I was totally Fan Girling out. Whatevs. We all have our moments.

Moving on. . .

So, this last week was the Tin Pan South Songwriters’ Festival (www.tinpansouth.com). . . This was another one of those weeks of getting home at 1:00 a.m. (or later, usually later) and coming back to the BBC Office by 9:00 a.m. It’s tough to do, but not impossible. I don’t think I was late once! Anyway, the Bluebird Café hosted a slew of exxxxxxcellent shows last week. A few highlights:

The first show on the first night featured George Teren (Ladies Love Country Boys, Stealing Cinderella, Homewrecker, When I Get To Where I’m Going and so many more) and there is just something about the way George sings When I Get To Where I’m Going (no offense to Mr. Paisley) that makes me cry every single time. I can’t help it, it’s a compulsion. Or something. Anyway, that was a great show.

Wednesday night’s late show was the Next Big Nashville Show featuring Gabe Dixon, The Family Tree (Laura Licata and Topher Brown), Landon Pigg and Josiah Leming. Now THAT was a great show and kinda different for us here at The Bluebird. Basically, it was rad (yeah, I still say “rad“ and I think it‘s totally okay). I think my personal favorite was Landon Pigg. His voice is lovely, his songs are fantastic and he is so random - meaning, you never know what he’s going to say next - it’s hilarious. Bonus that he’s easy on the eyes. Gabe Dixon pretty much rocked (which is really what you’d expect from anyone who’s recorded with McCartney). The Family Tree was really great - I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but their harmonies were first rate and the lyrical content moving. Leming was a zealous performer and has a great voice on him. All in all, it was awesome and I would love to have all of them back at The ‘Bird any time.

A couple of nights later, the one and only Tommy Ramone (from The Ramones - duh) came to one of the Friday night shows. He wanted to see Cowboy Jack Clement and can you really blame him for that? That guys has written more than his fair share of hits. And, what can I say about Tommy Ramone, except that I pretty much love and respect him as much as my dad love and respects Sir Paul McCartney. He and his lovely wife Claudia played a Tin Pan show the night before as the bluegrass duo Uncle Monk, along with bluegrass hero Tim O’Brien and songwriting legend Sonny Curtis (of Buddy Holly and the Crickets!). It was magical.

I think I’m going to end on that - because I really can’t beat a run-in with one of my all time favorite musical heroes.