Music Midtown 2013

By Rusty Ruus

Friday the lineup sucked. The two Americana bands on the whole festival bill were Drivin' & Cryin' and North Mississippi Allstars. Both played at 4:00 and were missed by 90% of the attendants. Thanks a lot, schedule maker. F-you, too, BTW...  Then, it was a huge line of shit, including 2 Chains, Phoenix, and fuck; I can't remember all that garbage...  Long story short, Jane's Addiction still fucking rocks and bringing out 2 women who jammed meat hooks through their backs and swung around over the crowd put them over the top as the best act of the festival. It felt really wrong & really right at the same time.  I won't even discuss who the genius was that decided that Mexican karaoke  Journey deserved to be Friday's headliner, but I'll say, the lil' guy sounded just like Steve Perry as I was walking to my car...  At least the weather was beautiful....

Saturday the weather WAS NOT beautiful.  It rained like a motherfucker for the 1st 6 hours of the fest. Completely mud pitting the festival grounds and dampening some goddamn great sets from Reignwolf and the Black Lips.  The locals Black Lips came out to thunderous Atlanta Braves tomahawk chop music (well played, guys) and told tales of sneaking into all Music Midtown's from the past.  Weezer was okay. Meh. They played Jonas & Hashpipe 1st & 2nd so I went to eat at the food trucks 3rd time.  The Arctic Monkeys, one more time, The Arctic Monkeys, They were brilliant. During their set, the rain began to let up, a bit. They were my most anticipated band at the show & did not disappoint. Alex Turner is a really charismatic rock star & told tales to lead from one song to the other... The rhythm with which he delivers the lyrics is really unique and it was great to finally see them. Looking forward to seeing them in a smaller venue, they fucking jammed.... And a big, fat +1 to any dude who carries a comb in his pocket & brushes his hair countless times between songs... The Yeah Yeah Yeahs did not rock that much or hard. Karen O (who has been fucking banshee rock beast in the past) was over doing it and not that spontaneous. I went and ate food trucks again, when Maps began... Karen O? More like Lame-O.  Queens of the Stone Age was next... And Awesome! Josh & Alex Turner (arctic Monkeys) have a similar swagger to their delivery. Since we left YYYs early, we were able to get up on the rail for QOTSA. It made a huge difference. Except for the raging drunks, the set was phenomenal. They have been & will always be one of my favorite bands... Lil' sad that Atlanta got a festival set instead of a headlining gig but they'll be back soon & I anticipate it being awesome... Nothing like being in the front of 35,000 rock fans, though!  Red Hot Chili Peppers headlined. They play too much new stuff & my feet hurt... & I was soaked... 

Except for the weather (excused) poor scheduling (inexcusable) that forced me to miss BOTH DnC and NMAS, Kendrick Lamar (for QOTSA), and Cake (for Jane's), Music Midtown 2013 was pretty damn fun.

Today Was a Good Day

Today, being yesterday, which was Saturday, was a great day.  It was the second day of Jay Rodger’s birthday celebration at the Max Canada.  The music was both Friday and Saturday nights with proceeds going to support the Athens Human Rights Festival.  Perfectly, this coincided with my own birthday on Friday.  Jay managed to pick the right bands for the weekend.  It was a perfect mix of roots rock, Americana, southern soul, and ska/punk/reggae, and hip-hop party music.   The crowd was great, new friends were made, and we all did our part to help further the Human Rights fight, all with the mighty sword of rock n roll.

I am a little bit of a late bloomer when it comes to the punk, ska, and reggae scene.  Although Sublime was a large part of my early twenties, bands such as Social Distortion, the Clash and Danzig are fairly recent additions to my musical rotations.  The Mighty Mighty Bosstones pop in and out from time to time, but for the most part ska and reggae are not part of my regular intake.  However, with the rebirth of my workout routine, these genres have been added to the play lists to help get this old man through a few hours of painful exercise every day.  Now that my love affair with the jam band scene is quickly coming to an end, I am realizing how much fantastic music I have been missing out on.  Last night’s Lowdive show, reinforced the fact that I need to get off that sad, whiskey soaked, alt country train and put some more fun, upbeat, happy music into my diet. 

Looking at the words thesaruas.com lists as synonyms for fun to find the right description for Lowdive, I think I will go with boisterous, diverting, merry, and witty.  The word fun does not touch the tip of the iceberg for the performance these guys put out on Saturday night.  The song selection was wonderful.  Songs about booze, mouth tumors, tits and Liz Taylor are all originals; some reggae, some ska, some punk, all fantastic.  These guys are high energy all the way and had the crowd rocking.  An old friend told me once you can never go wrong with a three guitar attack.  After watching Lowdive’s show, if I did not agree with my friend before, I do now.  Josh Perkins, Dede Giddens, and Colin Hatmaker, all on guitars, brought the heat, mashing it all up with Jay’s bass, Scotty Nichols’ keys, and that beast of a drummer, Tanka, hammering that shit down my ear hole to the point of a rock n roll orgasm. Top all that off with the balls to cover songs by the Police, Prince, the Who and Ice Cube, and they nailed all of them in their own funky kind of way.  Lowdive blew me away and sent me home satisfied with a huge smile on my face.  I cannot wait to see them again

Every time I hear Ice Cube’s “Today Was a Good Day”, it always puts my life in a better perspective.  It reminds me of how truly blessed I am.  I am one lucky son of a gun to live this amazing life full of fantastic music and celebration.  Maybe one day we can convince Lowdive to put out their own version of this song from the early 90’s that we can all sing along to happy and guilt free.

Happy Birthday Jay Rodgers!

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The Right Place at the Right Time

            Through out rock n roll history there have been cities and places in time where the music carved its own path.  Memphis, New York, L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Detroit, Muscle Shoals, and even little Athens, Ga have all been cities to have that have made their mark on the rock n roll timeline.  And like all good things they must come to an end.  Some places, however, might be lucky enough to see lightening strike twice.  Well the rock n roll Gods are at it again and a storm is brewing here in Athens, Georgia and that lightening that struck here years ago is on the horizon one more time. 

            Saturday night I set out for a full night of rock n roll satisfaction and headed to the Caledonia Lounge for Adam Payne’s birthday celebration.  I had caught Danglfy, Adam’s band, during Athfest and was excited to see them in a small dark room.  Some bands just belong on those stages.  Street Rhythm and Rhyme got the night started.  A young four piece, born in Athens, seemed to have all the right moves.  Despite my current fascination with dark, sad, whiskey driven music, the rhythm and the rhyme put a huge grin on my face.  The music was loud, happy and full of smiles.  The young kid on the lead guitar ripped his parts to shreds with vigorous enthusiasm.  These guys were tight and happy, plus, any band that gets the cute girls out and gets them dancing gets a in my book any day.  This little nerdy kid next to me was getting down and having the time of his life, and it felt good to watch him.  I found myself laughing and smiling through the whole set, enjoying the brighter side of rock n roll for a change.

            Dangfly! I have seen my fair share of music since my first show in 1990.  Without a doubt Dangfly is the real fucking deal.  I was right about seeing these guys in a small dark room.  The sound was right, just loud enough to hurt a little.  At a loss for words to truly describe the essence of this amazing band, my new friend Josh Perkins of Lowdive, said true Americana with balls.  I could not agree more, especially with the balls part.  Right smack in the middle of the set these guys break into Journey’s Separate Ways and nail it note for freaking note.  First of all, this song will always hold a place in my heart from my youth in the 80’s.  Second, it is a bad ass freaking song that to this day I have never heard anyone else play.  This took balls, even if it is for a small room.  Dangfly went on to play She Makes the Rain, Pledge, and Bangin', all off the new album to name a few.  It was loud, rowdy, and full of rage, pain, happiness, and full of love.  These guys hit on every emotion while melting faces along the way.  As I listen to Thick and Thin now, off the debut; Good Luck, Curiosity, there is no doubt these guys have earned their way to the top of my playlist. Dangfly!

            Earlier in the night I had the pleasure of meeting local Athens singer, songwriter, guitar player, Josh Perkins. Right out the gate we were into it, local music, who was good, who was great, and how much we both loved what is happening here. Josh said it best.  “There is something happening here in Athens, Georgia right now.”  I could not agree more.  There is so much great music here; Athens is bursting at the seams.  We went on throughout the night discussing the thoughts of pod casting, a Guns n Roses Blue Grass Review, and one hundred other things revolving all around Athens music.  It looks like I have landed in the right place at the right time. I will do my part to make sure the world hears about all this fantastic music happening in Athens, Ga, The lighting is coming get ready.

Happy Birthday Adam Payne

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The Write Words to Say

A while back I wrote a piece about breaking the rules of “southern rock”.   Looking back, I used the word rules as method of definition.  There are certain aspects of rock n roll that might define a sound to this or that genre.  However, those rules are by no means confining.  Where would Led Zeppelin be if they “followed” the rules of traditional blues music?  They took a simple format, twisted it, and tortured it until what came out, came out and is now legendary.  Now that I am entering the realm of writing for a profession, I too am faced with the same rules or expectations for my art.  Here I stand at the same crossroads as my artistic predecessors.  Do I conform to the rules of traditional writing or journalistic law just to get paid?  Would I then be a sell out or would I be fulfilling my dream as a paid writer?  Which road is the wisest for my career?

The other night as I was paying the cover charge to see a few local Athens bands, the promoter caught me at the door and said that if I was going to write about the show, I did not need to pay.  I insisted, ultimately, I was there to support the bands.  And I had not decided at that point whether I was going to write about the evening or not.  Rarely, does that decision ever occur before the music plays.  It is never a moment with much forethought.  I either write or I don’t.  I never force it.  I am neither a critic nor a journalist.  I am a fan that chooses to write about music.  Some music moves me and some doesn’t.  Some live performances inspire me to write, others do not.  Neither are ever representative of the quality of music or the performance given.  More often than not, the music I choose to write about is often just a catalyst for some other part of my emotional being that needs to come out in this artistic form I have chosen.  This is my own need for expression. 

Over the last few months I have sent some pieces I have written to several publications in the music arena.  Most of which I have not received any response.  The responses I have received from submissions where all about the rules.  More details about the facts and less about my thoughts or emotion.  And most of all stay away from writing in the first person.  Literally not twenty minutes ago I was discussing this with two well known Athens musicians in my living room.  I described trying to write about rock n roll in the third person is like trying to describe what an LSD trip is like to someone that has never experienced it.  Often, my rock n roll experiences are heavy and can be quite spiritual in a sense.  Sure, I could write about these experiences in the third person, but who wants to read that shit. I don’t.  I write words that I like to read.  I like to read about a true and honest firsthand experience and I know I am not alone here.  Sure I could keep the emotion out of it and keep it just to the facts.  But who really gives a fuck about just the facts?

A while back I caught Dave Grohl’s key note speech from this year’s SXSW music festival.  This was right around the time I started writing about music.  It was powerful, moving, and inspiring.  What I took away from his speech was, do it your way.  Make the art you make your own. Never compromise it for anyone or anything.  So I am going to do what so many others have done before me.  I will follow in the footsteps of the Iggy Pops, the Nirvanas and the Led Zeppelins of the world.  I am going to do it my way, writing how I want to write, and fuck the rest.  And if I happen to get paid along the way, I will be the luckiest guy alive.  Until then, I am just a rock n roll fan writing about what I love.

This Town is Nuts!

I had a very specific purpose in moving the Locomotive operations to Athens, Ga.  Much different from the first time I moved here, chasing a woman at 19. One of the main reasons I moved back was to submerse myself and my writing into some roots rock n roll.  Well let me tell you folks, Athens knew I was coming and I got exactly what I asked for and so much more.  The first night in Athens went something like this; 4 great bands, 2 amazing female vocalists, and a whole lot of fun.

The night started with an amazing performance from Austin Darnell of the Darnell Boys.  Now, I am not much of a blues guy.  Some of it is ok, but for the most part it is not my thing and I have no idea why.  Yesterday afternoon I spent some time listening to a local Blues radio show and was bored after a short while.  Austin Darnell very well, single handedly, completely changed my dislike for the Blues.  With his brand new custom made acoustic guitar with lightening bolds cut into it, Austin belted out some tunes that knocked his Braves ball cap sideways. I can imagine it is quite difficult to stand up on stage and project a sound armed only with an acoustic guitar.  And project Austin did.  His sound is strong and powerful, southern grown and cultivated.  Darnell wrapped up his set with a vocals only song and the crowd keeping time that blew me away.  I will be keeping an eye on this guy and his band the Darnell Boys for a while.  There is no doubt in my mind they will be around for quite a while.

Next up was Darkwater Rising from Robeson County, North Carolina.  Now, I have no idea where Robeson County is, but according to their Facebook page it is right in the middle of the swamp.  What I was expecting with a name like Darkwater Rising, was something dark and haunting.  Well, I got the haunting just not the dark.  The entire band a full on southern draw, and the lead singer, Charly Lowry, uses it to her advantage.  The stage at the World Famous is small so Darkwater skipped the drum kit and opted for hand drum with a deep, rich sound, and I loved it.  There songs were full of soul, deep in subject matter, but light in sound.  With four out of the five members all singing at some point, these guys put out a sweet yet powerful sound that reminds me of happy, sunny days, where everything goes my way.  It was great to hear that they had just finished a showcase in NYC for some record label guys.  They definitely deserve a shot to play with the big boys.  Can’t wait to see how it goes and we will be supporting this band any way we can.

The Burning Angels rounded out the night at the World Famous.  Mark Cunningham knows exactly what I like to listen to and proceeded to play songs about the south, pills, whiskey, the devil, women, and even shitty little cities in Alabama. The quartet consists of two guitars, one acoustic, one electric and acoustic bass, and a mandolin, dobro playing, pedal steel player.  This is all a perfect match for Mark’s scratchy voice.  Andrew, the mandolin, dobro playing, pedal steel player, kept my ears attention for most of their set.  The sound that resonates from the dobro and pedal steel are some of my favorites, and Andrew does a great job of incorporating them into the Burning Angels songs, seemingly with plenty of ease.  After speaking with these guys on a couple of occasions recently, I know they are working hard on a new album.  It will be fantastic to hear the finished project.

After all the music ended at the World Famous, we headed over to the Green Room on the suggestion of Radiolucent’s manager to check out Thomas Wynn and the Believers.  My friend and I decided that we were going to listen outside for a minute to see if we liked the music enough to pay to get in since it was already close to 1 AM.  From the Globe to the door of the Green Room which is only about twenty to thirty feet, we heard enough and gladly paid the 10 bucks to get in.  The lesson to be learned here is when management for another band who you love recommends a band, listen and go.  I don’t know what rock I have been living under to not know about Thomas Wynn and the Believers, but I am sure glad I climbed out and got on board.  This band is freaking amazing.  First there is the obvious uniqueness of having a tattooed, smoking hot woman on vocals, and an Alice Cooper/Ronnie James Dio look alike on the harmonica, which puts them into a whole different playing field.  But the badassness does not stop there.  Thomas has this metal, bluesy, gospel; I don’t know what the fuck to call it thing going on that is so real.   With Dave Wagner on Bass guitar and Ryan Miranda on drums, Chris Bell on harmonica, and Olivia Wynn on vocals, Thomas has a tight night crew and it is a perfect mix.  From love songs full of pain and anger to J.J. Cale, and a metal sound that I just don’t want to shake has me convinced this is my new favorite band.  Good enough to consider travelling to see without a doubt. If you are a roots rock guy like me then the idea of travelling to see Thomas Wynn and the Believers is a surely something to consider.  I will not be missing these guys ever again when they are in town and Locomotive will be keeping up with them as much as possible.

The best part about my first night living in Athens, Ga after twenty years was getting to meet all of these musicians.  They were all so humble and gracious without any of that rock star attitude. My hat goes off to those musicians who take pleasure in talking to the folks that just watched them play.  There are not many places in the rock n roll world where you can spend an entire night seeing music and mingling with amazing musicians like it was everyday’s business. Thanks for the huge welcome home Athens, Ga. 

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Who's To Say?

      If you are like me, a rock n roll fanatic, and from the South, you probably spent many of your musical formidable years listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, The Doobie Brothers, Little Feat, Charlie Daniels, and others that define the term “Southern Rock”.  What has always drawn me to this sub genre is the fine tuned storytelling and the songs about the darker side of life. If you have ever been on an old mountain road alone at after the sun has set or in the French Quarter at 3 AM Halloween night, then you know that dark side I speak of.  Unfortunately, what most people consider to be “Southern Rock” are those misunderstood redneck anthems. If you are to poke around the South a bit; in the honky tonks and bars, a new sound is brewing.  Who’s to say those “Southern Rock” rules cannot be broken?

      Last night was a typical hot, humid, summer night in Atlanta.  It was even hotter upstairs at Smith’s Olde Bar, especially with The Higher Choir railroading the crowd with their self described “Southern Gothic” rock n roll.  Last night was THC’s EP release party for “Steeped in Southern Tradition”.  Well a party is what they called it.  I would call it an old fashioned ass whipping!  It was obvious these guys have been working hard on their craft and proved they are here to stay.  The sound was loud, dark and dirty. With seven members in the band, these guys are big and powerful.  And they know it!  Which to me is fantastic, rock n roll should be a little cocky, on stage at least.

      With six different instruments on stage, Chance Walls does a fantastic job pulling it all together with his country punk presence and screaming vocals.  Stephen Darley, Wayne Glass, and Harold Sellars hammer down the foundation on the bass and drums.  I think the left side of my face is a little bruised from standing in front of   Darley’s bass amp all night. And let me tell you folks, Wayne is a beast on his translucent green drum kit.  Alan Connor and Grant Mitchel take turns with the guitar work, making it look easy.  The two are a perfect fit with Grant on the backup vocals and Alan stepping up to the front, shoving his nasty guitar work down your throat, all with that guitar player flare.  These two were tit for tat all night without missing a note, even with Grant ripping up a bunch of strings.  The Pozz sits back calmly on the keys, collected and cool, with his dark shades on.  The Pozz, with Sellars on percussion, wrap it all up with a nice pretty bow, giving the band wisdom and depth.  Hell, I think there was even a trumpet, a pedal steel, and a mandolin on stage at some point last night.  Take all that and mix it up with stories of corn liquor, race car drivers, guns and hard work, and a perfect southern cocktail is what you get.  Heavy, haunting mystique, with a little bit of rage makes for a fantastic rock show.

      The Higher Choir answered the question, who’s to say we have to stay in the lines of the typical southern rock definitions.  At a loss for my own words to describe their sound I will have to agree that “Southern Gothic” fits perfectly.  So, if you like it loud, a little rude, and even a little scary like I do, do yourself a favor and get out and see these boys.  You might even get lucky, and hear a version of Althea, that will melt your face in a whole new way! 

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Athfest 2013

       I had a few different ideas on how I wanted to start this article off.  I played around with when Athfest started, how much Athens has changed since my mid twenties, and a few other openers that are not even worth mentioning that lay crumpled up at my feet (metaphorically speaking of course, I don't use a typewriter). So instead of going through all that bullshit and over trying to sound like Mr. Fucking Eloquent. I will just get straight to the point and lets talk about the music.  After all this is a "rock n roll commentary".
     My philosophy to music festivals is: pick the bands you want to see and if anything new falls in your lap, fantastic.  I have a hard time going to see bands that I have not listened to enough to recognize the songs when I see them.  I made sure I spent some time this past week going over the bands I wanted to see and I took a little time for some focused listening.  Unfortunately, I could not go to Sunday's events so I had to make the most of the time I had.  On my list of must see's were: Scott Low and Friends, Dangfly, Beauty and the Beard, The Whigs, Welfare Liners, Shonna Tucker and Eye Candy, Cracker, Radiolucent, and Dead Confederate.  Of course I missed a few on this list and saw a few that I had not planned on. Here is how things went.
      Dangly kicked things of Friday afternoon at the New Earth Music Hall.  I have always been a huge fan of the fiddle and this little instrument helps broaden and define the unique sound that Dangfly has.  Coming off their release of "Good Luck, Curiosity", the band seems to have some momentum. I knew only a couple of songs from the album, and I was more than impressed with what I saw and heard.  It will take me awhile to come up with a good description of these guys other than fantastic.  Adam Payne delivers a semi high pitched voice, esp for a big guy and he even notes this in one of the songs.  They are heavy, quirky, and full of emotion.  "Walkaway" with Betsy Franck and "Bangin" were two of my favorites that show how versatile these guys are.  From strong and serious on Walkaway to funny and  light hearted on Bangin, these guys will be a band to watch.  It will be fun to watch them grow and see what happens.  They are definitely at the top of my must see list.
      Daniel Peiken of Athensrockshow.com and Scott Low are two new friends that have been kind enough to introduce me to some wonderful people who just happen to be fantastic musicians as well. Ty Manning and Kelly Fuller are two of these people.  Their dynamic duo named Beauty and the Beard is soulful and laugh out loud funny.  This was the second time I have seen Kelly perform, and that is all it took.  The two have such great chemistry on stage.  Kelly's voice has that old school country authenticity that I love.  Mix her rich, buttery voice with Ty's southern accent and off color lyrics and a musical treat is what you get.  "Whorrible Woman" and "Stairway to Freebird" were two songs any honky tonk lover could get down two. Lucky for me these two play out a lot.  It is always a lot of fun to watch people you know have a great time doing what they do best, making great music.
     A few months ago I was fortunate enough to catch a Scott Low solo show with Daniel and I was hooked.  Throaty, whiskey soaked outlaw music is what Scott does best.  His music is full of energy and guitar heavy, just the way I like it.  I managed to see him twice this weekend playing his own music, some new and some off the latest Efren album.  I also got to see him back Chris Moore at the GA Bar. Scott's gritty guitar playing fit the lyrics and the crowd.  Scott played  "Write a New Song" and "If My Heart Don't Fail Me Now" both of which are two of my favorites.  And they both came out exactly how he describes his singing.  "I dont' sing, I grumble and growl."  Not for the faint of heart.  Serious music lovers only.
     Last but but definitely not least I have to share about my favorite of the weekend.  Radiolucent is the real freaking deal.  It can not be easy for a young new band to follow up a smoking set by Cracker at the 40 Watt and these boys crushed it.  These boys came to play for sure.  Mike Mann, might have the biggest voice I have seen in rock n roll in a long time.  All I can say is the Black Crowes better watch out.  With what seems to me to be a huge gospel influence, Radiolucent is a force to be reckoned with.  They have it all, the southern sound, driving guitars, piano to soften them a bit, a beast of a drummer and the gospel choir vocals.  Their latest effort, "Turn Me On or Turn Me Loose" is quickly becoming my new favorite album.  I have been around for a few minutes and I have seen bands come and go.  I can say without a doubt, these guys are not going anywhere but up.  There are certain bands I have on my do not miss list and they are on it.  If you like full tilt rock n roll without the frills, then this band is for you.  Do not miss them again!
     Well that will just about wrap it up.  I wish I could have stayed for the Sunday festivities, but time did not permit.  Athens, you rock my soul.  A huge thank you to all of you that made this weekend possible.  Most of all thank you to all the musicians.  We are all grateful for all that you do.  Keep making that music and we will keep coming to see you play, that is a promise!

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