Pride of the South (by Southwest)

Spunky post-punk trio Boy Genius, Knoxville's newest major label signee, returned this week from a trip to Austin, Tex., where the band played a show at the prestigious South by Southwest music festival. According to B.G. bassist Scott West, the band joined Nashville-by-way-of-Knoxville acts Shinola (featuring former Dirtclods singer Brian Waldschlager), the Nevers (featuring former members of the Judybats as well as former V-roy John Paul Keith) and R.B. Morris at the festival, an extravaganza that saw more than 700 bands—established heavyweights and up-and-comers alike—play the cluster of clubs in the heart of downtown Austin between March 18 and 22.

"We had a prime slot," says West, whose band took the stage at 11 p.m. Friday in front of more than 400 people at a club called Bob Popular. "Tommy Boy [the band's label] did a great job of getting us a good time and getting a lot of people out to the show."

West says the band played for a number of potential booking agents and made arrangments for a possible feature story with a new national music magazine. Tommy Boy engineers also recorded the band's entire set in hopes of releasing a live single; West says the label is particularly fond of a catchy new tune titled "Why Do All the Girls Like Brad?", a tongue-in-cheek paen to B.G. drummer Brad Allison.

Last month, Boy Genius recorded and co-produced (along with local engineer Michael Davey) 13 songs at Knoxville's Southern Sound Studios. West says eight of those tunes will appear on the band's Tommy Boy debut, an EP tentatively slated for a June 1 release nationwide. "We were ultra-productive in the studio," West says. "Now it's just a hurry-up-and-wait game. We're anxious to get on the road."

Be sure to attend their Saturday, March 28 performance at Neptune, which will be recorded for possible inclusion on the EP.

Attention All Combatants!

It's not South by Southwest or CMJ, but the University of Tennessee's annual Battle of the Bands boasts a pretty impressive résumé for a small, student-oriented contest with barely 10 years of history behind it. Past winners the Judybats and Superdrag both earned major label deals; the late, lamented 'bats recorded four albums of arty but danceable alterna-pop for Sire Records, while current local power pop sensations Superdrag are just releasing their second record on Elektra. In the meantime, 1996 winner Gran Torino has turned into one of the Southeast's most popular unsigned touring outfits.

This year's contest is slated for Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m at UT's Circle Park. The field is still open; submissions are due at room 305 of the University Center no later than April 1. To be eligible, bands must have at least half of their members enrolled full-time in the University. Submissions for entry should include a band photo, a one-page bio, and a cassette or CD with at least three original songs.

The Battle of the Bands has lost some of its lustre, as signalled by the apathy and attendance drop-off that seem to have marked recent contests. But the B.O.T.B. still claims a veritable who's who of popular Knoxville rockers among its past winners, a list that includes most of the city's most popular and successful bands of the last decade. And by the way—the winner receives a $300 cash prize ($200 for 2nd and $100 for 3rd), which should make the trip to Circle Park, amps in tow, more than worth the while.

He Has Returned

Don't expect to catch glimpses of big-name stars in town during April, but production of a notable, if small-scale, movie will be underway when Joe Christ comes to town to shoot his latest film. The master shockumentary filmmaker, who has shown films at both a-1 Artspace and the Mercury Theatre in recent months, has apparently taken a liking to Knoxville. Given the bizarre subject matter of his films—most recently a documentary about the more extreme elements of the piercing and tatooing subculture—just how we should take that attention is unclear. But Christ is scheduled to arrive in town on March 27 to begin work on his new film Amy Strangled a Small Child, which follows the story of a teenage dropout who concocts a repressed memory flashback of a murder. Christ began working with area locals after attending the 1996 ConCat sci-fi convention and meeting Chloie Airoldi, the convention chair and head of Vortex Graphics, which will handle post-production and editing work, and Mandy Pack, who will serve as productiion manager. Knoxville was chosen in part because of its central location between Arkansas, home of Amanda James, the actress who plays Amy in the film, and Christ's New York area of operations. The film will have a premier showing at Neptune in the Old City on April 30, beginning a brief tour through Charlotte, Atlanta, and Memphis.

World of Gifts Shot Down?

Knoxville's newest and arguably most successful D.I.Y. venue, World of Gifts at 619 Brodway had become a literal warehouse of progressive rock, hosting multiple weekly shows with local and not-so-local underground bands in its cavernous-yet-cozy basement. That may have all come to an end on March 23, however, when a meeting with the fire marshal resulted in the venue's closing.

According to co-resident and co-proprietor Scott Cardwell, the marshal didn't list specific code violations, but said the venue would have to file an architectural review with the city and seek further approval before reopening. Cardwell said he would consult an architect, but felt the implications of the marshal's ruling probably boded ill for 619's future as a band hall. "Right now, it looks like we're down for the count," Cardwell says.

Given the news, Monday's show with The Promise Ring may have been World of Gifts' last. Meanwhile, two notable upcoming shows—Smart Went Crazy and F—k—will be cancelled (though F—k is rescheduled for Tomato Head on April 1, and yet another favorite local music hall will go the way of the dodo.

—Zippy "I Feel Strangled Myself" McDuff