A couple weeks ago Reunion Blues had a booth at the 2011 Nashville Summer NAMM show, where we presented our classic leather gig bags and RB Continental cases to music store employees, manufacturers, and professional musicians. Whenever I get the opportunity to travel to other cities I make it a point to try to get a taste of the local music, and this trip was no exception.
Nashville is well known for it’s vibrant music scene, which is concentrated in particular along a several block stretch of Broadway that is lined with honky-tonks, brewpubs, and bars, and filled day and night with musicians strumming, singing, and hoping to catch a break in the city’s ultra-competitive music scene.
As my tastes tend towards the eclectic and obscure, I was looking for something a little bit out of the ordinary. After some research I found an intimate venue located beneath a popular local indie record store just a couple miles from downtown, appropriately called The Basement.
The Basement - including an authentic burnt out letter "T"
This sounded like my kind of place! Jesse Grossmann (our Inside Sales Manager) and I wrapped up the NAMM show, then caught a cab out to 8th Avenue to check it out.
Things got rocking pretty early with opening act Nikki Lane, who was backed by an exceptional group of musicians alternating between twangy americana rock & classic country balladry, with pedal steel complementing Nikki’s melodic vocal style.
The sound was mixed well and the venue was small and intimate – in my opinion an excellent formula for live music (arena shows=meh.)
When Amy LaVere took the stage I could tell we were in for something special. Wearing a venetian style eye mask and with a massive upright bass in tow, she began with a deep subterranean New Orleans groove, backed by shuffling drums, violin, and guitar.
Amy LaVere, performing "Red Banks" from her new record.
Conjuring echoes of Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and even Billie Holiday, but with a voice and style all her own, Amy and her backing band rolled through an hour and a half set of down-home gypsy jazz peppered with the singer’s quirky and colorful banter. The musicianship was outstanding, the songwriting unique and intriguing, and the setting perfect. Great artists have a way of drawing you in to their world, and Amy LaVere did so with charm and skill. If she happens to be traveling through your neighborhood this summer do yourself a favor and catch the show. Better yet, pick up her new record “Stranger Me” (it’s already getting great reviews so I’d expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of Amy in the future).
Speaking to several of the locals the next day, we discovered that the Basement is fairly well known as a hangout for art-inclined musicians and music fans alike. It felt like we were let in on a little local secret. If you do make it out to Nashville and are looking for an antidote to the Broadway scene, take a drive out to the Basement. For me at least, this is going to be a Summer NAMM tradition.
Had an opportunity to catch Hope Sandoval playing at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last night. Having been a fan of her work since I first heard the Mazzy Star song “Ride it On” back in 1992, I was excited to finally see her perform live, and being that this was only one of two US performances this year it was not to be missed. Working with drummer Colm O’Ciosoig (of My Bloody Valentine fame) and a phenomenal backing band (Irish group Dirt Blue Jene), her recent record “Through the Devil Softly” is a haunting blend of melancholy folk and americana that was one of my favorite records last year, and the whole group was in top form last night. 
Hope performed mostly in the shadows, seeming to shy away from the light, while a huge screen backdrop displayed a psychotropic mix of old video loops. While somewhat aloof, her delivery incapsulated the sultry distance of her records, like a grainy, sepia-toned photograph. I really enjoyed the show, especially classics like “Suzanne” and “Blanchard”, but the closing rendition of Syd Barrett’s “Golden Hair” stole the show, with a slow build up to a screaming rock crescendo that left me breathless. As the final feedback wails reached their peak, Hope delicately whispered “thank you” into the microphone and tiptoed off the stage, the epitome of the ghostly figure her records have made her out to be. Utterly brilliant.
