Dave Carew

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Do you want to help homeless people in Nashville learn culinary arts and other employment skills that provide a specific, effective path off the streets? Please visit Lambscoft.org.  Thank you.
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Interview with singer-songwriter Jim Callahan

For the past three years in a row, Jim Callahan has been ranked one of the Top 25 Nashville-based Alternative Artists by ReverbNation.com.

Though he cites musical influences from Hank Williams to Bob Dylan to ‘50s music, Jim’s music defies easy categorization. “A few folks have attempted to label my music,” Jim says. “It’s been called ‘Neo-Traditionalist Country,’ and it’s been called ‘Americana’ . . . . It’s just a blend of everything available musically from the 50′s through the current times. It’s my life in music.”

Underground Nashville recently caught up with Jim Callahan, immediately after the Internet release of his new song “The Poet.”  Here’s how our interview went:

UNDERGROUND NASHVILLE:  What is the most important thing people should know about your songwriting?

JIM CALLAHAN: What I write and perform are songs that reflect my life and/or the life of those around me. I try to be truthful without being hurtful, as I hold up a mirror for my fans, friends, and family to gaze into. The most important aspect of my writing is that I have no particular loyalty to any style. We’ve all seen and heard artists who get “locked” into a particular style, and although we like their initial work, we become quickly bored as they become predictable. That’s not me. Mark Holden with MusicSupervisor.com said of me, “He is unpredictable; every song is an original, nothing is off the rack.”

UN:   What was the specific inspiration for your new song “The Poet”?  Why did you feel compelled to write it?

JC: I asked several different young writers to work with me on a song idea I had that would compare the difficulties of being “too old” and being “too young” in the music business. One by one, they all turned me down. Disappointed, I awoke at 4:30 a.m. one morning with “The Poet” inside me, waiting to get out. About 90 percent of it fell out of my head and onto the paper in just a few minutes. Is it autobiographical? In part, yes, but it’s also the story of hundreds of thousands of other singer-songwriters who simply want you to listen and acknowledge their work. “The Poet” has been chosen as the title track for my soon-to-be-released album, and is the subject of a (West coast) theatrical production in the works.

UN:  Where can people see you play live in Nashville–or otherwise hear more of your music–during the next few months?

JC: From my website, www.JimCallahanSongs.com you can find links to all of the major social sites, as well as links to music downloads, free streaming, performance dates, etc. Some of my upcoming performances include:

January 25th ~Two Old Hippies ~401 12th Ave, South, Nashville ~ 5 to 7 pm

To inquire about bookings (clubs, private parties, house concerts) email jim@jimcallahansongs.com.

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.

Dave Carew

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Do you want to help homeless people in Nashville learn culinary arts and other employment skills that provide a specific, effective path off the streets? Please visit Lambscoft.org.  Thank you.

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Book Review:  “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide” by Eric Normand

by Dave Carew

Nashville is a weird city for professional musicians. Although we’re busting at the seams with unbelievable talent, the sad fact is not one in 1,000 actually can make his or her LIVING playing music here.  Eric Normand’s The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide is for everyone who’d like to bump up those odds and actually make MONEY—heck yes, a LIVING—at this wondrous thing that drives us all batty: music.

The beauty of Eric’s book is that it is so damn relentlessly “Nashville-specific.”  Covering “everything you’ve always wanted to know about making a living playing music in Nashville,” it also covers LOTS of music-playing and music-career opportunities even wily Nashville vets would never think about.

This book is like having your own personal, guided tour through the Nashville music industry. Wanna get a gig at a Nashville club?  Play as a musician on a road tour based out of Nashville? Get an inside look at dozens of other music-related jobs in Music City?  It’s all here (plus a heckuvalot more) . . . all presented to you by an author/musician born and raised far from Nashville who had to learn the in’s and out’s of the city mostly on his own.

Remember that credit card slogan, “Don’t leave home without it?”  I’d say exactly that about this book, to everyone who wants to turn his passion for music into an honest-to-God, earn-a-living job.

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.

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Do you want to help homeless people in Nashville learn culinary arts and other employment skills that provide a specific, effective path off the streets? Please visit Lambscoft.org.  Thank you.

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CD Review:  Marty Grebb’s “High Steppin’”

by Dave Carew

One of the great delights of reviewing new records for Underground Nashville is the opportunity to point my finger toward GREAT albums that the mainstream media may be overlooking.  That’s certainly the case with High Steppin’ by Marty Grebb. Suffice it to say that if you LOVE the blues, you’ll love this album MORE.

Why?  Because this album—as they say in the business world—“offers added value.”  Not only does Grebb lend his incredibly soulful, 66-years-young voice to all this album’s killer tracks, but—get this—he plays EVERY instrument on the album.  With MIND-BOGGLING authority. As Bonnie Raitt said of the album, “Marty is one of the very few musicians who can nail singing, keyboards, saxophone, guitar, bass, drums, songwriting, and arranging with equal passion and authenticity. He’s made another great, funky record in High Steppin’ . . . Terrific all the way around!”

I couldn’t agree more.

If you go to LunaChicaRecords.com or MartyGrebb.com, you’ll discover the stunning array of world-famous musicians who have played with and still greatly admire Marty Grebb. (Their number includes Clapton, Leon Russell, and on and on). But for my money, that hardly matters.  I’d love this record even if it had been made by someone who’d never left his bedroom. Trust me: If you dig the blues, this record is likely to “high step” its way to the top of your personal favorites list.

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.

Dave Carew

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Do you want to help homeless people in Nashville learn culinary arts and other employment skills that provide a specific, effective path off the streets? Please visit Lambscoft.org.  Thank you.

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Interview with former “Tennessean” book reviewer Roy E. Perry on the works of Joseph Conrad

by Dave Carew

Roy E. Perry of Nolensville, Tennessee was a freelance book reviewer for the Nashville Banner and The Tennessean for more than thirty years. Now retired, Mr. Perry is a devotee of the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and a passionate reader of great literature. In a recent series of e-mail discussions with Underground Nashville, Mr. Perry discussed the current “kick” he is on reading many of the works of Joseph Conrad.  Underground Nashville caught up with Mr. Perry to ask him what lies behind his passionate reading of Conrad, and why others might find these literary works of particular interest and value.

UNDERGROUND NASHVILLE: Why are you devoting so much of your reading time these days to the works of Joseph Conrad?  What is the principal attraction?

ROY E. PERRY:  Conrad’s novels have the ring of truth. So much stuff nowadays is trivial and shallow, without substance or connection to “the human condition.” A biographer calls Conrad the most consistently and persistently pessimistic of novelists, with the possible exception of Kafka. And this assessment is true; Conrad IS extremely pessimistic. But he is also realistic.

UN:  How is that realism made manifest in his fiction?

RP:Conrad is not only a deep philosopher—with a world view and perspective both challenging and provocative—he also is an awesome psychologist. Like Nietzsche and Shakespeare, Conrad delves deeply into the hidden, mysterious springs and motivations—both good and bad—of his characters. Villains and heroes; Conrad acutely portrays them all.

UN:  How would you characterize Conrad’s craft as a writer?

RP:Conrad is an impressive wordsmith; his poetic prose is nothing less than beautiful. The way he puts words together and paints a captivating scene, object, [aspect of] weather, or personality is characteristic only of those who have attained the highest possibilities of their craft.

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.

Dave Carew

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Do you want to help homeless people in Nashville learn culinary arts and other employment skills that provide a specific, effective path off the streets? Please visit Lambscoft.org.  Thank you.
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“Cappo’s Christmas Party” benefit for the Nashville Humane Association coming this Saturday to Douglas Corner

by Dave Carew

One of Nashville’s most beloved good guys (call him Cappo) is again hosting his popular annual Christmas Party/Benefit Concert to raise money and collect much-needed supplies for the Nashville Humane Association. The benefit, known as “Cappo’s Christmas Party,” will be held this Saturday, December 3, at Douglas Corner Café, starting at 8 p.m.

Admission is free, but Cappo (pronounced COP-oh) always appreciates donations of dog or cat food, animal toys, leashes, beds . . . you get the picture. And money contributions to the Nashville Humane Association always are welcome, too.

If you like good live music—from everyone from Grammy winners to six-year olds getting their first-ever chance to perform before a live audience—this beloved annual benefit is not to be missed. And did I mention your host will keep you in stitches all night?

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.

 Dave Carew

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Do you want to help homeless people in Nashville learn culinary arts and other employment skills that provide a specific, effective path off the streets? Please visit Lambscoft.org.  Thank you.

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Book Review by Roy E. Perry:
“Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey”
by William Least Heat-Moon

An Engaging Tour of Quaint and Quirky People and Places

The author of this book writes: “Samuel Johnson said it in five words: `Solitude is dangerous to reason.’ I can think of no greater reason for taking to the American road.”

In 1982, William Least Heat-Moon published Blue Highways, a remarkable book whose title refers to old highways (other than Interstates), which were colored blue on maps.

Now, in Roads to Quoz, he ventures again off the beaten path to encounter quirky, but charming, out-of-the-way places and people.

With an easy banter, Heat-Moon engages those whom he meets along the way—colorful characters eager to tell their stories.

Venturing from Florida to New Mexico, Maine, and Idaho, and to other states in between, he writes with the delightful wit and humor reminiscent of Twain, Steinbeck, or Jack Kerouac.

He explains that “quoz” (rhymes with Oz) means anything out of the ordinary: “anything strange, incongruous, or peculiar; at its heart is the unknown, the mysterious.”

Not all of America, perhaps not even the best, can be found along the Interstates or in the big cities. As the poet Robert Frost put it, “I took the road less traveled by–and that has made all the difference.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: William Least Heat-Moon, the pen name of William Trogdon, lives near Columbia, Missouri, on an old tobacco farm he’s returning to forest. His first book, Blue Highways, is a narrative of a 13,000-mile trip around America on back roads. His second work, PrairyErth, is a tour on foot into a small corner of the great tall-grass-prairie in eastern Kansas. River-Horse is an account of his four-month, sea-to-sea voyage across on the United States on its rivers, lakes, and canals. His three books on travels have never been out of print. Heat-Moon is also the author of Columbus in the Americas, a compendium of the explorer’s adventures in the New World.

Roy E. Perry of Nolensville, Tennessee was a book reviewer for the ‘Nashville Banner’ and ‘The Tennessean’ for more than thirty years. Now retired, he also was an advertising copywriter at a Nashville publishing house for more than twenty-five years.

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.

Dave Carew

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Do you want to help homeless people in Nashville learn culinary arts and other employment skills that provide a specific, effective path off the streets? Please visit Lambscoft.org.  Thank you.

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Premier Beatles cover band Fab to present solo Beatles hits at 3^rd & Lindsley

By Dave Carew

This Saturday, Fab—easily one of the best Beatles cover bands in the world—will be presenting SOLO Beatles hits at 3^rd & Lindsley…that is, hits John, Paul, George, and Ringo racked up on their own, after the greatest pop/rock band of all-time broke up. The fun starts this Saturday night, November 5, at 7 p.m.

Asked by Underground Nashville who came up with the idea for this new kind of Fab show, the band’s singer/keyboardist Bill Roberts said, “I think it came from a fan, who told it to our bass player, Alison. We’re always looking for new approaches to keep our shows fresh and entertaining.”

So learning a bunch of solo Beatles songs—was it hard?

“Learning new songs is like starting over—they don’t come easy,” Bill replied. “But what is life without variety?”

Hmmmm . . . we wonder if, when Bill said “they don’t come easy” and “what is life,” was he thinking about specific Beatles solo hits?

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.

Dave Carew

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Do you want to help homeless people in Nashville learn culinary arts and other employment skills that provide a specific, effective path off the streets? Please visit Lambscoft.org.  Thank you.

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The WannaBeatles, Tom Shinness, and other local singer-songwriters to present celebratory evening of Fab Four music

By Dave Carew

This promises to be a pretty sensational week for local fans of Beatles tribute shows. On Thursday night, November 3, the WannaBeatles bring their acclaimed show to Casablanca Coffee in The Gulch, as part of Celebrating The Beatles: An Evening of Music and Stories.  In addition to the acclaimed Beatles tribute band, the evening will feature local stand-out Tom Shinness, one of the city’s premier instrumentalists /singer-songwriters.

In the liner notes to his album Escape, Tom Shinness describes his music as “a unique sonic journey.”  As one who caught two of Tom’s performances at Bicyclette over the past year, I can vouch for the aptness for that self-description.

One thing that sets Tom apart as a musician is his gift for playing instruments in highly distinctive ways.  For the Beatles show on Thursday night, Tom will be performing his rendition of George Harrison’s “Something” … but in a very unusual way. He will sing the song as he plays the cello—like a guitar!

Asked how he was first turned on to the music of the Beatles, Tom responded: “I became a huge fan about the time The White Album came out in 1968. My older brother got the album for Christmas, and I was so intrigued that it had a plain white cover and cost twice as much (double album) as a normal album. I saw rows and rows of plain white sitting in the record bins at J.C. Penny. I instinctively knew that the music inside had to be really good if so many people were going crazy over a plain white cover. To this day, it is my favorite album of all time. I think I could probably play every song from it.”

For more information about this event, visit CasablancaCoffee.com.

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.

Dave Carew

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Do you want to help homeless people in Nashville learn culinary arts and other employment skills that provide a specific, effective path off the streets? Please visit Lambscoft.org.  Thank you.

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Gram Parsons Tribute Concert coming to Douglas Corner November 4
By Dave Carew

Great news for Gram Parsons fans! For the fourth year in a row, Nashville will host the Gram Parsons Tribute Concert now dubbed by its promoters “Gram International.” The concert, to be held on Friday, November 4 at Douglas Corner Café, will offer a great night of Gram Parsons’ music, and also publicize the ongoing effort to induct Gram into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Similar events are planned, at roughly the same time, in other American cities and in Dublin, Ireland.

Headliners for this year’s event will be The Burritos, fronted by Walter Egan and Chris James, who released their fantastic debut album, Sound as Ever, on SPV Records in July. (See the Underground Nashville review below.)  Other performers will include The Gram Band (also fronted by Chris James), Donna Frost, The Devious Angels, Rebecca Jed & the Bucksnort Beauties, Derek Hoke and—at least according to one web site—“one or two surprises.”

Anyone interested in signing the petition to get Gram Parsons (not just his Nudie suit!) into the Country Music Hall of Fame, is invited to visit GramParsonsPetition.com.

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.

”Sound as ever” was a valediction Gram Parsons used when closing letters to family and friends. It’s an obscure reference—you basically have to be a Gram freak (like me) to get it, and to, hence, get the connection between Gram Parsons, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and this outstanding debut album by the Nashville-based band The Burritos.

Twenty years from now, when music historians pose the question: “Who, in Nashville during the early 21^st century, most kept the musical legacy of Gram Parsons alive?” I will—if still kicking around—answer unequivocally: Chris James and Walter Egan, both of whom now are members of The Burritos. Among the many things each man has done to keep GP’s flame burning has been to play and/or host numerous Gram Parsons Tribute shows. Chris also has written at length about GP in his much-loved music magazine Shake! And Walter frequently has graced his recent shows with the song “Hearts on Fire”—which also appears on this record—which Walter gave to Gram in the early 1970s and which later appeared on Gram’s second solo album, Grievous Angel.

What really counts, though, is how much The Burritos, on this record, delve into the mystic richness of the legacy and use it to create new musical gold. Song after song on Sound as Ever is an absolute gem of the “Cosmic American Music” genre. The unforgettable songs just keep on coming—with “Beggar’s Banquet,” “Angeline,” “The Hundred Year Flood,” and “Song and Dance Man” being particular examples of writing that is—by turns—emotive, country-soulful, and just damn way-cool.

I can offer no higher compliment than this: If Gram Parsons and the original Flying Burrito Brothers could have warded off the demons and produced a great follow-up to their classic The Gilded Palace of Sin, it may very well have sounded like this fantastic new album.

David M. (Dave) Carew is writer/editor of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and advertising/marketing/public relations writer.