Audrey Spillman @ 12th & Porter
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So Audrey Spillman was down in Atlanta for the 500 Songs for Kids in May and I told her that I saw that she was performing in June on a Saturday and that I would try and get up to Nashville for the show. I had driven up before for her “Next Big Nashville“ show and it wasn’t a bad drive.
I started out from Atlanta early afternoon, knowing I had plenty of time to get there with the show starting late, and with the time change from EST to CST. I completely forgot that this was the same weekend that Bonnaroo was going on (signs warned on possible traffic), but traffic wasn’t bad going through Manchester, TN. It takes about 4 hours to get there so I made it to Nashville around dinner time. I grabbed a bite to eat and hung out until around the time when the show was about to start.
Since I had time, I located the venue and tried to find where I could park. 12th & Porter is an odd place. It’s in an industrial area next to an auto body shop and other warehouses. When it got close to the start of the show I parked at the gravel lot at the end of the street and head into 12th & Porter. From my first impression, the place seemed like a dump; a dive bar. Garage door windows, concrete floor, odd chairs, tables strewn about and a plywood stage. This was an odd bar. I didn’t have to pay a cover to get in the front door, so I wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to end up. I purchased a beer and people-watched. I didn’t hear any music, so I assumed the show had not started.
As I’m sitting there I notice a line forming, a guy taking money and people going through a door off to the side of the bar. I originally assumed this was a bathroom entrance. After awhile (although it seemed strange to pay to go to the bathroom), I jump in line, pay the man and head back behind the door. Like Dorothy entering OZ, I exit a dreary colorless hole-in-the-wall into a nice colorful music venue. There’s another bar, a private balcony, large stage, huge speakers and tons of stage lights. I found a spot to watch off to the side. Kristi Neumann started the concert followed by Sarah Silva. They were good. I liked the songs and will have to listen to them again when I get a chance.
I took a break while the opening acts were singing to see if I recognized anyone up front in the bar. Before I had a chance to recognize someone, I hear, “Tom!”. It’s Audrey. She’s at a table, chatting with some friends. I get a hug and we talk a bit. I know she’ll be getting ready to go on soon, so we don’t talk too long. I head back into the venue and they start setting up the stage for Audrey. Then I recognize someone tuning a guitar off on the left side of the stage. It was Matthew Perryman Jones. This was unexpected. I knew that Matthew and Audrey knew each other, worked together in the studio and co-wrote some songs together. But I didn’t expect to see him at her show. I think the last I heard he was somewhere on the west coast touring. So Matthew recognizes me and jumps down off stage to talk to me. We continue our conversation from his show at Smith’s Olde Bar and I tell him that I remember him from High School. He seems surprised that I would drive to Nashville from Atlanta to see Audrey. Shortly thereafter, Audrey started her performance. As always, she was amazing. The new band she had was good and made all her great songs better. There were a few songs I had forgotten about. I forgot how good “Comfort You” and “Flood” were. Since these songs weren’t on the CD that I had of her music, I had not heard them in a while. Halfway through, Matthew jumped up on stage, grabbed his guitar and performs with Audrey for the rest of the show.
It was a great concert. Not like what I had expected and definitely worth the drive. I hung around afterward and talked with Patrick Lochridge’s parents. They remembered me from the Eddie’s Attic show on 11/13/07. Audrey came out shortly thereafter and I told her how great the show was. She told me that she would be recording an EP soon and planned to perform at Eddie’s Attic in August. She was hoping to have the CD ready in time to make the performance a CD release show. I talked to Matthew before leaving and found out that he would have his new CD out soon and that he would be back down in Atlanta performing at Eddie’s Attic with a group of performers. It would be called the 10 out of Tenn, for the ten singers from Tennessee.
Posted by Tom under 12th & Porter,Audrey Spillman,Main Blog | Comments (0)