What you need to know about music festivals and series in Knoxville - All in one blog post!

Slow Blind Hill, Jr, Jaimie Cameron and Henry Perry, Preservation Pub, Knoxville

There are so many series and festivals running around town that you may have a hard time keeping them all straight. That's where I can help. We have a new series, a returning series, an ongoing series an old festival and a new one. Let's sort it all out.

I've written in the past about the marvelous "Homegrown" series hosted by WFIV and Preservation Pub. I used to make it out to Disc Exchange on occasion to hear the show when it broadcast from there, but honestly, as much as I love Disc Exchange, it was not a comfortable place to see a live show.

Jaimie Cameron, Preservation Pub, Knoxville

Henry Perry, Preservation Pub, Knoxville

The Speakeasy at the Preservation Pub is comfortable, smoke-free(ish) and has an excellent stage. The show features interviews and songs from local artists each Wednesday night from 7:00 to 8:00. It's a great slot for people who want to hear music during the week, but have to get up for work the next morning. It is also free, which is my favorite price.

Slow Blind Hill, Jr, Jaimie Cameron and Henry Perry, Preservation Pub, Knoxville

The photographs you are seeing on this post of Slow Blind Hill, Jr. are from a recent Homegrown show. Slow Blind Hill, Jr. features Jaimie Cameron on guitar and vocals and Henry Perry on harmonica and backing vocals. They are half of the full band, Slow Blind Hill and you can most often catch them playing their brand of blues at the Crown and Goose. I've enjoyed their music for many years and I suspect you would, too.

Tennessee Shines is a series sponsored  by WDVX which had its original run as a monthly show in the Bijou and was both broadcast live on the radio and was filmed for television. The series eventually went on a hiatus from which it appeared likely to never return. Then it returned - though in a drastically altered form. It now happens every Monday night, features more local talent, and is broadcast from the Knoxville Welcome Center via WDVX. The cost is $10. The photographs you are seeing of R.B. Morris and Greg Horne are from this series earlier this week. Megan McCormick (who is not local) will be featured next week, along with others.

R. B. Morris with Greg Horne, Tennessee Shines, Knoxville, March 2012

R. B. Morris with Greg Horne, Tennessee Shines, Knoxville, March 2012 

So, you've got your Monday night and your Wednesday night covered, but once a month you'll need to throw in a Thursday night for Scruffy City Roots. The concept here is actually closer to the original Tennessee Shines than is the current Tennessee Shines. Scott Miller, who, thankfully, can't seem to ever leave Knoxville will host the show and Jack Neely will interview guests between sets.

It will broadcast live over WUTK from the Square Room and will be viewable on the website as it is filmed for possible broadcast at a later time (I'm pretty sure about the last part). The cost is $15 in advance and $20 the day of the show. The series holds its inaugural episode this coming Thursday night, March 22.

R. B. Morris with Greg Horne, Tennessee Shines, Knoxville, March 2012 

Earthbeats is a festival focusing on Earth Day and taking place on April 21 on the World's Fair Park. It includes artists such as two of my favorites: Theorzt and Jodi Manross.

Finally, the Rhythm N Blooms festival returns this year as a part of the Dogwood Arts Festival and includes local, regional and national artists such as Amos Lee, Citizen Cope, the Black Lillies and Darrell Scott playing venues all around downtown over a three day period from April 20 - 22. Tickets for the entire weekend are $55 and single-day tickets are $25.

R. B. Morris with Greg Horne, Tennessee Shines, Knoxville, March 2012 

So, there you go, all laid out for you to mark up your calendar and save your money. Again, Knoxville is overwhelmed with great music. Are we the capital of Americana music? That's a good possibility to ponder. In the meantime, just get out and enjoy it.

Rhythm and Blooms on the Cheap

Robinella and the CC String Band, Knoxville, 2011

Rhythm and Blooms is a part of the Dogwood Arts Festival and given that it involves music and downtown, any reader of this blog would reasonably expect that I would be all over it - but it got complicated.

Robinella fronting the CC String Band, Knoxville, 2011

The first night of the three night event fell on First Friday. Immediately I was conflicted. With more great events, exhibits and general fun than I could possibly take in simply because of First Friday, could I also incorporate a music Festival that night? Saturday offered a free night on the stage -which conflicted with the other shows presented mostly in businesses around the square. Sunday the music moved out of downtown and continued past the official time I don't need to be out during a night before a work day. But Sunday also included my favorite act of the weekend: The Felice Brothers, whose most recent album, Yonder is the Clock, is brilliant fun - in their inimitable sick sort of way. One day was twenty dollars and all three were forty. What to do?

Cruz Contreras reprising the CC String Band, Knoxville, 2011

I went for free. I enjoyed First Friday and missed the music that night. Saturday I spent with family - including joining the crowd for the free portion of the festival. Robinella and the CC String Band and Scott Miller played the Market Square Stage for a crowd of several thousand. I enjoy Robinella (I just got "Fly Away Bird" and it is one of her best) and I enjoy the Black Lilies (Cruz Contreras' - the "CC" in this context - band - you CANNOT go wrong with their latest, 100 Miles of Wreckage). I didn't imagine, given the divorce, we'd be seeing them play together again. Could you get the band back together after a divorce? I don't think I could do it. I couldn't imagine what must be going through their minds (and those of their new partners if they have them) while they not only played the old songs, but added a rendition of "Jackson" including those lyrics about getting "married in a fever."

Senior lady sings "Islands in the Stream"

They, also, were singing "Islands in the Stream," but all but one got shy for the camera

Equally amazing was that they sound better than ever together. I heard them together probably four of five times before and I believe they were smoother, tighter and more listenable than they've ever been. Robinella was a bit muted (a good thing, sometimes) and the band played impeccably. Ironically, the song that got the crowd excited was "Islands in the Stream." Both young and old (see the pictures) belted out the chorus every time it came around. Again, maybe it's just me, but that was an awful song when it came out. How in the world has it remained popular? They also did a string band version of "One Love," which was pretty cool.

Scott Miller played quite a mix of music. I've let some of his recent music ( his latest is For Crying Out Loud) slip by me, which probably explains why I only knew about half. He continues to write songs about history and one new one he tried out on the audience, a song about the battle of Fort Sanders, fell  flat. If a song about Fort Sanders falls flat in Knoxville, it probably isn't ready for prime time. Otherwise, his set was great and he remains one of the very best and probably the most intellectual of the songwriters to come out of Knoxville.

Daryl Scott at John Black Studios, Knoxville, 2011

Daryl Scott, Rhythm and Blooms, Knoxville, 2011

I also caught the tail end of the Daryl Scott show at John Black Studios on Union Avenue. The back door was open so we could hear the monitors perfectly. His voice continues to be a thing of beauty even as he ages. I thought the pictures turned out to be interesting. Can you guess my special technique?

Listening from the back door to Daryl Scott.

I decided not to attend the Sunday show for all the reasons listed above. So, I paid nothing but got a sampling of the music. It was certainly worth a forty dollar ticket and if circumstances are different for me next time I'll probably plop down the money, but for this year, cheap was about perfect. Until then, keep checking the festival calendar for more great events. This weekend Market Square and Krutch Park are full of booths of crafts. Today promises to be the prettiest of the three day event, so why not come down and check it out?

Workingman's Art on the Square, First Friday, Take One

Piano reverie on the square, Market Square, Knoxville, April 2011

As the experiences of a First Friday broaden, it is becoming more difficult to put it all into one post or under the umbrella of a single theme. I've decided to break April's First Friday into three parts: Workingman's Art, High Art and Party Crashing. Today we'll focus on Workingman's Art.

Big sister gave it the gravitas while baby brother banged the blues.

Chopsticks the whole family can use - Market Square, Knoxville.

I'd heard on NPR some time back of a program in New York City to place pianos in public places. The piece included stories of some of the people who stepped up to play. Some of them banged out awesome R and B, some elevated the keyboard discourse to classical levels. Everyone who stepped up had a sometimes surprising, always interesting story of how they came to be at that keyboard at that time. Those of you who have followed my blog can imagine how much I loved the idea. I worried a little for the pianos, but loved loved loved the impulse.

Belting the R and B, Market Square, Knoxville

Songs of faith, "bringing my living room to everyone." Market Square, Knoxville

I never imagined it would happen in Knoxville. We aren't that cool are we? Apparently the Dogwood Arts Committee, and specifically the folks who planned Rhythm and Blooms portion, are that cool. I had a blast listening to the children, families, classically trained pianists and one rocking transvestite giving it their best.

Come on. Give it a try. This could be the new you.

Bill plays, new friend whittles, Jake hides - Market Square, Knoxville.

Also augmenting the workingman's entertainment on the square was Salon Visage's couture art and one woman with her child sharing her faith in song. Not the least of note was the return of Bill and Jake to the square accompanied this time by a walking-stick artist.

Serious music on the Square.

All that and then there was the professional art around town, but I'll call that high art and that's the next post.

By the Way - Less than a week until the end of the Metropulse Reader's Poll. Have you voted? Please do

It's Cold, It's Spring and Knoxville is about to Explode

Sculpture on Gay Street, Knoxville

Just when we thought we'd moved past winter, it has re-emerged from its lair. It was just cold and damp enough this weekend in the city, that short sleeve shirts didn't do the trick no matter how much you told yourself that April starts this week. It is that happy time of year, however, when I remind myself that in the battle between the cold, harsh winter and the warm, green spring, the good guys are definitely going to win.

Sculpture on the side of the Holston Building, Knoxville

Sculpture in Krutch Park, Knoxville

And that exploding part? Well, the Bradford Pear trees have exploded and so have the Redbuds. The Dogwoods can't be far behind - which brings us to that little festival that happens in Knoxville this time of the year.

Sculpture at Clinch and Market, Knoxville

The first sign in the downtown area that the Dogwood Arts Festival is gearing up is the annual arrival of the sculptures. This is the fifth year for the sculptures and this year they will remain on display for a full year - meaning, if that trend continues, we'll have a permanent rotating sculpture exhibit downtown. The first of these have arrived and are included in the photographs you see. Some of them may not be finished and none of them are labeled, so take them for the early photographs they are and check them out for yourself after the exhibit is fully installed this week.

Sculpture surrounding pool at Krutch Park, Knoxville

Sculpture in Krutch Park, Knoxville

Also of great interest to me this week is the annual Rhythm and Blooms concerts. Happening all around downtown and at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens this weekend, these concerts feature some excellent artists and favorites of mine, including Daryl Scott, Scott Miller, Robinella and the CC String Band!, and the Felice Brothers. The music onstage at the Market Square Stage is free Friday and Saturday night and that's where you'll find Robinella and Scott Miller on Saturday night. Some of the music will be held in John Black Studio in the Daylight Building, so if you've read about it on this blog but never made it there, this is your chance. Forty dollars gets you into anything any of the three days, twenty gives you one day.

Sculpture in Krutch Park, Knoxville

Sculpture in Krutch Park, Knoxville

It doesn't stop there, of course. This Friday is First Friday and this weekend is the Knoxville Marathon. I'll write more on First Friday later. In the meantime, catch up on your sleep this week because there won't be time for any of that foolishness starting this Friday night.

Sculpture on Gay Street at Krutch Park, Knoxville