Tag: bluebird cafe

A little Poco at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville

 in Nashville music, Songwriters

By Ken Paulson

It was a good week for Poco fans in the Nashville area.

Richie Furay

Richie Furay

On Tuesday, Richie Furay joined Vince Gill and an emerging duo called Striking Matches as part of the new SoundExchange Influencer series at the club.  The premise is that musicians build on the influences of others, so Gill talked about how Furay influenced him and Striking Matches cited both men as musical heroes.  Furay did a lot of newer material,  but did perform a spirited “Pick Up the Pieces” and closed with “Kind Woman,” the song that essentially led to the birth of Poco.

Rusty Young was on that Buffalo Springfield session and ended up being the longest-standing member of Poco. On Saturday night. Young appeared at the Bluebird Cafe along with Bill Lloyd, Craig Fuller of Pure Prairie League and Little Feat and Robert Ellis Orrall.

 

 

Rusty Young

Rusty Young

Young opened the show with “Call It Love” and closed with “Crazy Love,” but may have received the biggest reaction for “Neil Young” off the recent All Fired Up Poco album, in which he entertainingly explains that Neil is not his brother.

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Review: Maia Sharp at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville

 in Americana Music, Reviews

By Ken Paulson—Maia Sharp teamed with guitarist Linda Taylor in a surprisingly rocking set at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.
Maia told the audience they wanted to prove you could rock without drums, a bass guitar – or guys. They backed it up.
Much of the evening’s set was drawn from Maia’s upcoming album Change the Ending. It sounds very promising, particularly the single “Me After You.”
“Red Dress” was a highlight, although Maia felt compelled to disclose that she had worn a dress just twice in her life. She said when she was a little girl her grandmother bribed her with $5 and she used the money to buy a baseball glove. The second occasion was for the cover of the Really Fine Citizen album in 1995. “I kind of look like I’m in drag,” she said. “Is that possible?”
Sharp talks throughout her set about the depressing nature of her songs and she has a point. “She describes ‘You Can’t Lose them all” as her sole upbeat song, and it’s barely that. Yet she had a lot of fun on stage, including a Lou Reed impression, a bit of “”Walk on the Wild Side” and terrific rapport with the very talented Taylor throughout the night.

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At the Bluebird: Peter Cooper, Karen Leipziger, Phil Lee, Dave Duncan

 in Nashville music

By Mary Sack

Tonight I witnessed yet another, one-of-a-kind Nashville Moment. It wasn’t a Grammy moment. Could’ve been, in an alternate universe. Three days after The Grammy Awards were broadcast live from Los Angeles, I saw a bona fide 2012 Grammy Nominee (for “Best Children’s Album”) Peter Cooper, bona fide rapscallion Phil Lee, new-to-me Dave Duncan and the surprisingly soulful Karen Leipziger, accompanied by Andy Ellis, perform in an intimate, early-evening round where they laid songs out one-by-one in a packed-to-the-walls house of rapt listeners and several friends.

There’s lots to say about each of these songwriters, but collectively they shared one of the coolest, bluesiest and fun evenings I’ve ever heard at The Bluebird Café in Nashville’

I really went out in the rain to this show to lend an ear to Karen Leipziger. I’ve known her as a crack publicist and almost forgot that she is also a songwriter with many, very cool cuts with some very well-known blues artists. I was shocked to realize I knew most of her songs but never realized over all of these years that she’d written them. Karen has always been humble, but THESE songs were monsters. Chief Eddy Clearwater recently recorded her cautionary “Do Unto Others”, which I swear could have a run in the Christian Blues market, if one exists.

Peter Cooper played many of my personal favorites, including “715” — a song about Hank Aaron and growing up in the shadow of racism and inequality. He shared his recent Grammy experience with the crowd, as well as his good natured humor about being a “runner-up” but I left the show thinking what a great picker he’s become in addition to his growth as an artist.

Fresh back in Nashville from his latest UK tour, Phil Lee never disappoints, toying with the audience as he does, playing songs like the tragically catchy “Just Some Girl” as well as the brand new “Cry,” while accompanied by the McCrary Sisters from various seats around the room. Simply arresting, those voices.

Layin’ it down with finesse, Dave Duncan definitely has the blues. He, too, could lay down a lick and sang of learning more about the blues in two weeks from his lady than “20 Years of BB King” – a song that also earned its own nomination from the Blues Music Association in 2008.

It was one of those nights when a one great song is followed by another surprisingly, captivating great song, all backed with solid performances. And it was free, no cover. Only in Nashville.

Bluebird Cafe: Amy Grant,Vince Gill,Don Schlitz,Richard Marx

 in Nashville music

[cincopa AIEAi062EkEs]

By Ken Paulson

Like Carole King’s appearance at the Bluebird Cafe earlier this month, tonight’s in-the-round featuring Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Richard Marx and Don Schlitz at the same Nashville venue was truly something special.

Among the highlights at this benefit for Alive Hospice:

– A guest turn by Jenny Gill, singing the touching “I Couldn’t Have Been More Wrong,” a new song about how badly a then-teen Jenny treated her stepmom Amy Grant.

– Vince Gill’s extraordinary performance of “Threaten Me With Heaven” and his remembrance of the late Will Owsley, a co-writer of the song.

– Don Schlitz’s very funny “I’m Allergic to Crazy”

– A new song by Amy Grant about a tragic loss in her son’s life

– Richard Marx’s performance of “Long Hot Summer,” the song he co-wrote with Keith Urban, and a #1 single for Urban.

 

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 in Americana Music

Carole King at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe

 in Americana Music, Reviews

By Ken Paulson – Carole King performed some of her biggest hits in the relatively small confines of the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville Monday night, a memorable evening even in a city known for them.

King’s “Troubador” tour with James Taylor was an enormous success, but the remininiscing was largely scripted, with the same photos and anecdotes appearing night after night. The show at the Bluebird was as real as it gets, full of spontaneity and charm.

King shared the in-the-round with Gary Burr, Jim Photoglo and Georgia Middleman, three Nashville songwriters who offered harmonies and instrumental support, along with some impressive songs of their own.
King sang every fourth song, and others in the circle joked about the audience having to endure their material.

King opened her performance with “Chains,” a hit for the Cookies, later covered by the Beatles. It was joyous, with all four voices joining in.
Her “Up on the Roof” was stirring and may have been the evening’s highlight.

Before playing her “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” she took a few minutes to defend the Monkees’ recorded legacy. As Burr chimed in, “They had good material.”

Over the course of the evening, King performed three hit songs from her solo career – “So Far Away,” “I Feel the Earth Move” and “You’ve Got A Friend,” plus “New Year’s Day” a track from her new holiday album, written by daughter Louise Goffin and Guy Chambers.

For Burr (who toured with King), Middleman and Photoglo, it must have been like being in the line-up with Babe Ruth. All played at the top of their game.

[cincopa AwLAgwKlAzwY]

 

Tin Pan South Festival dates in Nashville announced

 in Nashville music

Tin Pan South, the annual songwriters’ festival, wil be held in Nashville March 27-31, according to the Nashville Songwriters Association International.
Festival passes will go on sale on March 7 at the festival’s site.

2011 highlights of this always entertaining festival included Tom T. Hall’s appearance at the Bluebird Cafe, an all-Texas night at the Hard Rock Cafe and the debut of the Blue Sky Riders, featuring Kenny Loggins, Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman.

Dobie Gray: An appreciation

 in Nashville music, Reviews

Obituaries reporting the death of Dobie Gray this week focused on his big hit “Drift Away” and his ’60s breakthrough “The In Crowd.” The casual observer might be left with the impression that Gray was a one-hit wonder in two successive decades.
The truth is that Dobie Gray was something of a pioneer, an
African-American coming to Nashville and working with country session players like Reggie Young, David Briggs and Troy Seals on some outstanding albums that bridged genres. His work with Mentor Williams was the best of his career, and the Drift Away and Loving Arms albums – still available as imports – were full of soulful adult pop, with country underpinnings.
Gray joined us a few years ago for one of the Freedom Sings concerts held annually in Nashville at the Bluebird Cafe. He was in great voice, sang “Drift Away” and was a warm and gracious performer.
His body of work – from the early “go-go” recordings to his ’70s resurgence to his country recordings in later years – is well worth exploring.

The Ultimate Songwriters’ Round, plus Lynn Anderson

 in Americana Music

Mac Davis and Bobby Braddock

By Ken Paulson

Songwriters in the round can have the feel of a poker game, particularly when someone plays a big hit. Sudenly, everyone is raising, playing their own hits.
That can make for a very entertaining evening, particularly when every songwriter has a hot hand.
On the final night of Tin Pan South, the round at the Bluebird Cafe was pretty astonishing. Bobby Braddock sang “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and “Let’s Talk About Me,” and then his daughter Lauren stepped in for “D-I-V-O-R-C-E.”
Mac Davis did “Memories,” I Believe in Music” and “Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” apologizing for the misogynistic lyrics of the latter.
Sonny Curtis, a rock pioneer and member of the Crickets, did “Walk Right Back,” “The Straight Life” and “I Fought the Law,”
among other hits.
So how did Jim Weatherly keep pace with all of that? It helps when you’ve written big hits for Gladys Knight and can close with “Midnight Train to Georgia,” a song he originally recorded as “Midnight Plane to Houston.”
Before performing his biggest hit, Weatherly saluted Lynn Anderson, who once recorded “Midnight Train” and was sitting in the audience. She ended up singing along from her seat.
Only in Nashville.