May 23, 2008
This is funny. Strange occurrences happen to me all the time and I’ve written about a few. This one ranks pretty high on the list.
So I have become a fan of Audrey Spillman and her music. And had discovered Matthew Perryman Jones, based on hearing from her that they had co-written a song together and that they were working in the studio together. I had seen him at Eddie’s Attic in November (see 11/3/07 Blog) and I knew he had one of his songs used on TV and had recently had some other songs used for the shows “Private Practice” and “Eli Stone”.
From songs I had purchased/downloaded off of his Myspace page, I really liked his music. I had also heard a concert of his in Nashville that was broadcast over the internet and really like some new songs that had not been recorded. So when I heard that he was playing Smith’s Olde Bar, I thought it would be a great concert to see. The Eddie’s show was acoustic, so the Smith’s show should be a little more rockin, with electric guitars and a full band.
So after work, I grabbed dinner and headed over. I got there a little late and went upstairs to find out no one was playing yet, so I hung out downstairs until it started. An odd group from Nashville opened the show, Parachute something? I couldn’t really get into the music. Based on the billing I wasn’t sure if Matthew was up next or if the other singer, Evan McHugh was. Evan had opened for Shawn Mullins at The Variety Playhouse show that I saw on 11/24/07.
Before the music started I noticed Bob Ephlin walk into the room at Smith’s Olde bar. Bob is the owner of Eddie’s Attic and I recognized him from all the times I’ve been to Eddie’s attic for shows. I had read somewhere that Matthew once worked and started out playing at Eddie’s attic, so I guess Bob was a fan of Matthew’s music. I thought it was cool to see the owner of a competing music venue at Smith’s Olde Bar to listen to a show. One of the phrases widely used at Eddie’s Attic is, “Live Music Matters”. Seeing the actions of it’s owner, I guess that rings true.
So Matthew goes on and the performance is phenomenal. Hearing him with a band is completely different from listening to him acoustic. So, in the middle of one of his breaks between songs, he’s tuning his guitar and he asks the crowd, “so who all here went to Tucker High School?” (or something similar) and a bunch of people scream out. I think I caught myself yell out too, then start to wonder, “wait, what did he say”? I went to Tucker High School, but I didn’t understand why Matthew was singling out THS in the crowd. He continued his performance, covering all the great songs on his current album and a few that will probably be on the album he releases in a few months.
MPJ’s set list:
Without a Clue
Don’t Fall in Love with Me
Amelia
Motherless Child
Waiting on the Light to Change
Echoes of Eden
Meghan’s Song
Feels Like Letting Go
Refuge
Save You
After his performance, I see him go over and talk with Bob and assume that they know each other pretty well. And actually as Bob was leaving he stopped and asked if I was someone he knew. I told him that I wasn’t the guy he named, but that I come to shows at his place and was actually there the night before to see Brandi Shearer. And he tells me that he is a fan of Matthew Perryman Jones, confirming my suspicions.
So I notice Matthew heading to the back of the room with a group of folks. The table back there was selling his CD, so I buy one (even though I purchased & downloaded most of him current album tracks online) so that I can get him to autograph it for me. I get his attention and ask for his autograph. He looks at me and says that I look familiar and where he might have seen me. I told him that I saw his show in November at Eddie’s Attic and that I’m also a fan of Audrey Spillman and that it was through her that I learned about him and his music. He immediately realizes that he recognizes me from a picture of Audrey and me that she has running on a slide show on her MySpace page. Then I ask him about the Tucker High School reference. And he tells me that he went to Tucker and that a lot of people in the crowd went to Tucker and came to see him play. I tell him that I went to Tucker and graduated in ’88. I said that it was too funny and he agreed. So to recap: to hear about and become a fan of Matthew Perryman Jones (a guy, I went to High School with), he had to move Nashville (years ago), befriend and co-write a song with Audrey Spillman, who I would ultimately become a fan of, and who would inform me about MPJ and his music. Weird, huh!? When I get home after the show, I look in my High School yearbook and find that when I was a Senior, Matt Jones was a Sub-freshman (we had 8-12 at Tucker, so 8th grade was sub-freshman). And I think I remember him based on the yearbook photo. Take away the beard and consider Matthew as a skinny 13 y/o kid. Since we were in different grades, it wasn’t like we hung out, but I definitely think I remember him from High School. Too strange and funny to categorize.
Posted by Tom under Main Blog,Matthew Perryman Jones,MPJ,Smith's Olde Bar | Comments (0)
May 10, 2008
So I had made my donation last week and had my ticket/pass to the last night of the Songs for Kids concert at Smith’s Olde Bar. I had a family commitment, so I wasn’t able to get there until after 11. But since I had a guaranteed ticket, I figured I’d have no problem getting in. When I entered Smith’s I saw a line waiting to get upstairs to the venue, so I walked around them figuring I could show my ticket and go on up. As I’m passing the line of people waiting to go up, I hear someone yell out my name. It turns out it’s Patrick Lochridge, the piano player in Audrey Spillman‘s band that I had seen the week before. He saw that I had my ticket, so I told him I would see him when he got upstairs. With my ticket I got right in with no problem. They were into the final 20, so I grabbed a spot to catch the show. The night I got my ticket, they had announced that Ceelo (of Gnarls Barkley fame) would be singing the last song, “Hey Jude”. But before they reached the final 10, Ceelo jumped on stage to perform #77 on the countdown, his own hit “Crazy”. This was an unexpected treat. Other great performers were there. Levi Lowrey (who I had seen the night before at Eddie’s Attic) was there and performed Garth Brook’s “Friends in Low Places”. A neighbor of mine, Masonic lodge brother of my Dad’s, and co-owner of my favorite Pizza place in Tucker (Enzo’s), Kenny Creswell was there playing drums. Kenny’s company provides a lot of the equipment for concerts, so I’m sure he provided most of what was on stage. I even caught where on one song, one of the volunteer drummers didn’t seem to know the song, so Kenny went over the top of him (and the guy ducked out) and Kenny finished the song. Peter Stroud (Atlanta guitarist who’s tours with Sheryl Crow and who I saw perform with Shawn Mullins at The Variety Playhouse) was pulled on stage to help play guitar for a lot of the rock ballads. Angie Aparo sang Don Mclean’s “American Pie”. Shawn Mullins performed John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Butch Walker performed Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian”. The final song, The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”, was sung by Angie Aparo, with Kenny Creswell on drums, Peter Stroud on guitar, Butch Walker on keyboard, The group Heavy Mojo , and Backing vocal by Kevin Spencer and the Songs for Kids staff.
Words can’t reveal how incredible this concert was. If you missed it you missed out.
Video’s I found on youtube:
Ceelo performs “Crazy”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJOhDCNd8uo
Closer clip:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oeOsVXM0Yko
Angie Aparo performs Don Mclean’s “American Pie”.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GBasgGrt3oM
Kiss’ “Rock N Roll All Nite” performed by Tim Smith. Peter Stroud, Kevin Spencer, & Kenny Creswell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wov4s2rnkPo
Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian” performed by Butch Walker, Kevin Spencer, Peter Stroud, Tim Smith, & Kenny Creswell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN18H-um1BE
The Beatles “Hey Jude”
Part 1:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-GE-uhgQxmQ
Part2:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y66k_ceR0RQ
Posted by Tom under Angie Aparo,Butch Walker,Ceelo,Levi Lowrey,Main Blog,Peter Stroud,Shawn Mullins,Smith's Olde Bar,Songs for Kids | Comments (0)
May 3, 2008
500 Songs for kids. Josh Rifkin and his Songs for Kids foundation put on a yearly fundraiser at Smith’s Olde Bar. Last year they had a countdown of the top 500 songs (as listed by Rolling Stone Magazine) performed by local artists. This year they chose to do a countdown of the THE 500 GREATEST SING-A-LONG SONGS OF ALL TIME.
Here’s the list of songs:
http://www.songsforkidsfoundation.org/500songsforkidscountdown.asp
I don’t remember why I missed the concert last year. Audrey Spillman had been invited to sing and performed the Rolling Stones song “Wild Horses”. I remember hating that I had missed it. Audrey was invited back this year, so I went to check out the show.
This was the 3rd night so they were covering songs 400-351. The performances were great. Each act got to do a cover of one of the songs on the list. As I looked down the list I noticed #373 was (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin and I hoped that it was the song that Audrey was going to sing. Sure enough, when it came to that number in the countdown, Audrey and her piano player, Patrick Lochridge, walked up on stage to perform Aretha’s song. Here’s a video I was able to take with my digital camera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D3aCIgEQss
I love how the crowd reacts and gets into the song which causes a cool reaction from Audrey. After her song, I caught her off stage and got to talk with her and Patrick.
The concert was a fundraiser for the Songs for Kids charity, so they were taking donations there. They had a deal where if you donated over $100, you got a ticket, and guaranteed entry, to the final show. The list of performers for the final show was incredible, so I said what the hell, and made a donation. I had received my economic stimulus check into my checking account the day before so it seemed like the right thing to do with some of that money.
Posted by Tom under Audrey Spillman,Main Blog,Smith's Olde Bar,Songs for Kids | Comments (0)
January 19, 2008
Several weeks ago I came across a myspace profile for a musician named Brandi Shearer.
I can’t recall how exactly I found her (it was a link to a link to a link). But like most artist I’ve found, I added her as a friend so that I can go back later and listen to the music. Some of the pictures of her remind me of Monica Bellucci and several of my friends and I have become fans and expressed our deep appreciation of the beautiful Italian actress. So seeing the pictures and listening to her songs, I thought, what a perfect mix of beauty and music. I really liked the sound of Brandi’s voice. Something lately has drawn me to artists with soulful passionate voices and lyrics. A few days later I got a newsletter from Gibson guitar and in a list of artist with music you could download for free was Brandi.
I was able to download her song “Heaven” from here:
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Downloads/Brandi%20Shearer/
I also noticed that it listed on her profile that she would be performing here in Atlanta at one of my favorite venues, Smith’s Olde Bar, on 1/19. I kept the date in mind, but wasn’t really sure if I’d go. The day came and the threat of the snow storm, so I was still unsure if I would go. News reports were saying not to go out unless absolutely necessary. I had been out earlier, running errands and didn’t see the danger. So at the last minute I decided to go. I didn’t have a ticket prepaid, but figured I could just buy one at the door. I was running late, but thought I would just miss some of the opening act, a band called Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. When I got to Smith’s there was a line through the bar waiting to get upstairs. I had not missed anything as they had not let anyone in the venue yet. I waited at the bar for the ticket holders to be let in and jumped in the end of the line. It turns out Brandi was the opening act. Her performance was incredible. Her voice and the songs sounded just as they had online. I bought her CD at the stand in the back of the room. After her performance, I saw her going back and forth from the venue to the bar, so I was able to catch her and get her to autograph the CD. She was very cool and appreciated everyone that came out to the show. The following act was Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Grace was a little spitfire. Her performance reminded me of Janis Joplin. There were songs where she’d start on the Hammond organ and then go to electric guitar. I liked the songs and this type of music, but it’s just not something I’m into right now. Although, the performance and the showmanship was amazing. It was a great night of music.
Posted by Tom under Brandi Shearer,Grace Potter & the Nocturnals,Main Blog,Smith's Olde Bar | Comments (0)