I see a good opportunity here so I am going to take it...yes I have inadvertently smashed two topics into a new one...sorry if this offends....

My point:

Has anyone notice that Nashville, TN...busting at the seams with excellent bands (and bad ones as well) carries a heavy, unappreciative vibe towards anything new, and for gods' sake actually good!!? Let's take The Features for example...how long has it been to reach this point? 7 years? Put them in any other town of this size and it is 2 years tops. Why is this?

Have the mullets secretly taken over? Are the numbers of pissed ex-musicians now running clubs, doing sound, and booking bands increasing exponentially? Are we beyond the din of the rise and fall of the Western Civilization?!! Someone show me the light......

(Edited by Flat Chop To The Throat at 2:18 pm on Sep. 1, 2003)

The Features are a bad example, Flat. Most of their lack of success can be pointed to no full-length, and 2 of those have been shelved because the band didn't like the outcome.

I also think that any band receiving recognition involves being in the right place at the right time. Unfortunately, "hailing from Nashville" is not the best way for a rock outfir to start. That's because of all the country and CCM stuff.

I could be wrong on any of this.

You have a good point on The Features, althought not having a full length is only a piece of the pie....Live shows, press, local radio support are also to be taken into consideration.

As for the right place at the right time, this also true to an extent, and applies in a broad context of what labels consider "hot".

The only place that I disagree with you is the Country and CCM point. Yes it does not help, but Jason and the Scorchers did it.

I think I really meant for my emphasis to be on the "attitude" of Nashville as a whole. Regardless, it is nice to get some thoughtful feedback. Thanks, and by all means continue.....

What exactly did Jason and The Scorchers do?

I think they opened for REM occasionally on up through the Document era.

As well as receiving critical acclaim from all around the world from the first days in 1982 straight through to today in 2003. 21 years. And i don't mean a great write up from a few e-zines either.

whoa, we can post without being registered again?

Sketchy

That post was actually by me....I don't know why it showed up like that....

We really need to get that fixed, michael/BrianW. Guests posting=bad.

I think better examples are Fleming & John and Sixpence NTR.

It's taken care of... little oversight on my part when I created the new forums (I didn't check off the appropriate permissions).

good choices....

can we please keep this online community under control? yeah, i think this was a pretty precarious oversight. three cheers for censorship.

hey! im political!

(Edited by stopforme at 9:57 pm on Sep. 1, 2003)

Lambchop.

It's half-assed censorship. All you have to do is register and you get to post away till your heart's content. At least we don't block guests from even viewing the board which some bands do.

not... completely.... true....

not that i have a problem with it, though.

That's the spirit.....good choices....how about Josh Rouse?

(Edited by Flat Chop To The Throat at 2:29 pm on Sep. 2, 2003)

Good call.

How about Hot Action Cop? Ah yes, they make me proud to be from this fair city.

Don't forget my Dad...who has tirelessly been trying to break the ukelele into mainstream rock through Nashville for years...

Maybe he should get some pointers from Eddie Vedder. Have you heard "Soon Forget" from Binaural. Spectacular!

How is this not completely true?

Yo, that girl is on crack.

a guy i went to high school with may or may not be in Hot Action Cop. my parents one time read me something about Daniel Feese (or maybe Isaac, i don't care to remember which one) being the drummer in that band. Needless to say, I didn't like him [them] before i found this out, and still do.

edit:
upon a few seconds of research due to sheer curiousity, I found out that this is actually an incorrect notion. It could be possible that they were talking about another band that I held in equal contempt. My opinion on both the classmate and band stay.

(Edited by deathscythe257 at 10:30 pm on Sep. 2, 2003)

Are you Jason or one of the Scorchers?

Like it or not, there is a stigma (in the rest of the country's minds) attached to being "from Nashville." Some artists have overcome this hurdle and achieved varying degrees of success (Josh Rouse, Lambchop), but no one that I can think of has really exploded and become a national sensation (though they did have a #1 song, Sixpence are not from Nashville; they moved here from Texas after their first album). I'm still confident that the Features or De Novo Dahl or someone else can do this. Hopefully, that will open the floodgates.

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 1:15 am on Sep. 4, 2003)

They've moved back. Matt Slocum lives next door to a friend of ours.

So yeah, like I said, they DO live here now, but they only moved here mid-career, so I wouldn't really consider them "from Nashville."

I think he meant moved back to Texas.

Sorry--are you referring to their first album that is impossible to find from the early 90s or their self-titled release with "Kiss Me" on it?

Politics. Shmolitics.

It's too confusing.

The former.

I would like to make the point that though Lambchop is a successful band in Europe, their success in the states and Nashville is less pronounced. They played a show at the Belcourt a while back and though there was a good crowd it wasn't sold out and it's not a big place. And they seldom play shows here for the very reason that Nashville crowds can be so complacent. Everyone has seen the seen-it-all, cross-armed Nashville music fan/musician before and probably even sported the look now and again. God knows I have. Many times it's not for lack of enjoyment either. I've only been here a few years and I feel burned out on music sometimes. I can only imagine what it gets like once you've been here longer. Years of going to shows week-in, week-out, seeing the same bands, supporting friends bands can be trying. As much as I love the Features, after seeing them countless times over the last few years it's a little more difficult to get as excited as I used to. Compound all this with countless numbers of bitter musicians, engineers, soundmen, producers, record execs, blah, blah, blah and you have quite a situation on your hands. There's a lot to contend with here. Competition is stiff. It sucks lots of times.

just so you know, for what it's worth, i think you're really good. you've got a lot of talent, a lot more than most people who play around here.... and i know most people would agree with me if they've seen you play before.

(Edited by featuresgirl at 2:49 pm on Sep. 11, 2003)

Yeah... most people.

awwwww. come on... now i feel bad. i mean, well, you know what i meant. most people on here, that have seen... nevermind.

i was being nice! promise.

I wasn't.

That's sweet. I wasn't trying to get sympathy. I know a lot of extraordinarily talented people. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to play with them. I'm not trying to bitch at all. Every band I'm in is bursting with talent and I'm just glad they'll have me. It makes me a lot better. The irony of the situation is that you have to come to a hub like Nashville to find great talent, but there's so much of it here that it can be hard for bands to get noticed. A lot of people here really do think they've seen it all. It's kind of like Hollywood in a way. So much of the stuff that comes out of here is just soulless tripe. I just know lots of good bands here that deserve a break of some kind, especially the Features. I'm glad they're finally getting there dues. Anyway, I'm really grateful, that's all. I wasn't trying to complain. Sorry if it seemed that way.

It didn't and I agree with you 100%.

no, you weren't complaining. i just wanted to say you're a good musician.

ok? ok.

i think alot of the problem in the middle tenn region is lack of community.I am not trying to point fingers to anyone in paticular.But there are alot of music snobs that like to point how bad a band sucks .If they would let people find out if a band is good or not instead of giving them a bad impression right of the bat.I think we all listen to something diffrent that one person or another will probably hate.But it doesn't mean that we need to ruin a band by bashing them.Let people find out on their own and the music will grow into what it needs to be .When you start to put a negative vibe on a band it tends to not make them want to grow.They feel like throwing in the towel.I have always found bashing to be quite childish .The indie rock elitist crowd that i have noticed around for a while is kinda of becoming lame .They just make themselves look like assholes.I think in order to make the scene survive is to show everyone outside of this state how awesome of a community we are.But when we act like snobs no one is impressed .I think we all could be treating each other alot better .I think we need work when it comes to community(Myself included)

I AM...I think you're talking about FEATURESGIRL!!!

awww, waaaah...

(Edited by featuresgirl at 3:32 pm on Oct. 10, 2003)

new guy here. (Sort of an end movie inspirational speech) I would just like to point out that although Nashville is rough, maybe even one of the top 5 roughest places in the USA to play, (not my opinion, but a travelling band from NYC that I am friends with who has been on tour for over 20 months now), this atmosphere breeds some of the most amazing music my little ears have heard. I have only lived here for just over a year, and the band that I'm in has already been ran through the grinder that is the Nashville music scene and spit back out. and sometimes it does suck. But we welcome it at every show we play whether there is fifteen or one hundred or whatever amount people there. I know for a fact that had we not moved here, we would be hometown heroes in the wrinky dink towns that we come from, and that would be it. That's not the point, though. The point is that this city provides the perfect environment for the inspiration needed for the constant push to make yourself and your band better, and there is no place that I've been that offers even a similar musical atmosphere. Ironically, all of the negative attitudes in this town really push out some of the most positive music I've ever heard. I guess the best art always comes from something that is repressed in some form or another. Anyway, that's my spiel and I know that bands and fans of certain bands belittle each other all of the time like they are rival gangs or something, but that's part of it and it will never change. But I think we should embrace the competition as an inspiration for creativity rather than complain about how it destroys this scene. Take it from someone who has only lived here for a short while, we are very lucky and very spoiled to have bands such as the Features, De Novo Dahl, Verde, Character, The Privates, Slack, The Lucky Guns, Apollo Up, AssChapel, On Command, The Lone Official, Aireline, Sam Asheworth and whoever else graces our stages almost every single night in this town!

YES!

Welcome, '45! Post more often!!

Bravo, my friend, bravo. I couldn't agree more. There is a wealth of great music in this town and I really think an increased community vibe is all it will really take to push it to another level. I see it happening. I see people joining more bands than they can keep up with (myself included) and it thrills me. Keep up the good work kids. There is always the threat of insularity of course but with any luck that can be avoided. Sorry for the positivity.

'45,

Thank You for articulating what I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to say for the past few years. People who bash the music scene in Nashville have obviously never been to a town like Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Birmingham....the list goes on. These are all cities much larger than Nashville, and the scene here is literally ten times better than in any one of those.

I'm from Columbus and when I'm home visiting family I always listen to the radio station that has a local music show. It really breaks my heart for these bands because most of them are pretty awful but the scene and quality of music in Columbus is so bad anyone playing originals gets turned into a hero. They get their hopes on really "making it" and then they go on tour and get jeered everywhere. Its sad.

At least in Nashville, the bar is automatically raised for musicians. The comptetition is tougher, which is good for the fans who don't have to sit through a whole lot of crap.

By the same token, I would say to '45 that although your band didn't work out, the good news is, again, there are so many great musicians in this town that it shouldn't take long for you to get a new thing going and give it another go. Don't let one bad experience make you give up.

Lastly, my thoughts shouldn't be construed as a glowing review of all of Nashville's bands. Sadly, there are (imho) really shitty bands playing big shows only because they "know people" or have a lot of friends in the scene. And there are good bands playing to nobody. So we're not exactly perfect here in music city.

Uh...I think I'd say his band is in fact "working out."

I just saw them play last week, and they're better than ever.

How do you know who he is so quickly, JC? That's pretty impressive.

I have it narrowed down to the band he is in, but am not sure yet which member he is.

hes even quicker than carl!

Carl should have already assumed he was some girl from some Features show and asked for his number by now.

Let's leave my sex life out of this.

(Edited by carligula at 4:22 pm on Oct. 14, 2003)

There were a few tell-tale signs. I'm also not sure about exactly which member of the band it is. I have a guess.

Agreed...

Also...kudos to 45' for putting a different light on the subject

Can you think of any band from another state that has a big following and no widely available EPs or full length releases? I can't. I think that's a big part of the equation. The music has to be available on a wide scale. It's pretty impressive that the Features got signed with only 2 EPs under their belt.

The thing about Nashville is that Nashville churns out quality musicians. Everyone's mom, dad, uncle and third cousin Buck plays a musical instrument, so you have a widespread culture of music that goes into producing future generations of people who know their way around instruments. Add to that the music programs at schools like Belmont and MTSU and you have an environment ripe for the plucking (no pun intended).

i only know one musician from belmont that doesnt suck.

What about Tyler James?

I think somethingman was referring to the Recording Industry Management programs rather than the actual Schools of Music...

every musician that has been broguht forth by belmont besides fleming john (who dont really count, because they were drop-outs) is icky.

I gotta go with PG on this one. I think Tyler James is pretty great. Didn't the bass players from Lifeboy and My Tyger go to Belmont, too?

(Edited by carligula at 12:41 pm on Oct. 30, 2003)

they might be great musicians technically. and they might even write decent songs. but they come out of belmont with such eliest attitude that completely destroy a person.

Well, that's true, Keith and Ben are probably the most eliest people I know. I assume you meant, elitest (or however it's spelled). You're still way off, though.

Let's try not to overgeneralize as much here. You're approaching jackass status.

well i didnt mean destroy a person to the world, more destroy a person to me. i guess i just cant handle being around people that i feel that i have to be above myself or other people around.

i mean thats fine that people are that way. i just dont put myself beside them. perhaps thats why i have like 2 friends! that and im a jackass, of course.

and correcting my spelling is completely not jackassish at all either.

Oh, I reached jackass status a long time ago.

well im glad im not alone
THE FEATURES ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!

I think a great majority of bands that come directly out of Belmont suck and was really disappointed with the many performances I saw while at Belmont. However, there are lots of musicians that happened to also go to Belmont that are great- Ben Patton being one of them.

Keith Lowen being another.

SUCKS

and there isnt a rim program at belmont.

oh and the one good musician i was talking about wasnt keith, it was tricia yearwood! no offense keith!

i think a great majority of bands suck....and whoever said fleming and john are(were?) good is a foolish little monkey.

(Edited by exliontamer at 11:57 pm on Oct. 30, 2003)

Well, I can attest to the truth of Super's profound statements. I went to Belmont for a semester and I suck. Suck suck suck. One thing I do enjoy from going to Belmont is when people automatically place me above themselves, whether I deserve it or not. I think that's the kind of inferiorist attitude that the rest of the world has when it comes to my dealing with my kind, and rightfully so. I am the Eliest of the Elie.

Features Rock.

(Edited by foldsfan at 1:08 am on Oct. 31, 2003)

I went to Vol State, which means I am stupid and couldn't get into a better school, or so I was told tonight by someone that was not aware of my collegiate background. I let them keep talking. I like the thought of being dumber than everyone else, and I prefer to keep it that way.

For the record, Ben and Keith are excellent examples of why everyone at a particular place cannot be fit snuggly into a stereotype. I can't say as much for foldsfan, though.

R-D-R-R

I know the names of both programs, but I just didn't feel like typing out the name: Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business as well, because everyone knew what I meant.

But, thanks anyway for telling me I don't know what I am talking about!