Help Save Our World of Gifts

The 619 Collective in charge of the World of Gifts art gallery and performance hall at 619 Broadway has come up with a plan to raise some immediate cash in order to pay the rent long enough to get the re-opening process underway. The popular spot was closed down by the fire marshal last month because the building wasn't up to code (particularly the lack of fire exits).

According to member Wolfgang Coleman, the group has been meeting since the venue was closed in late March and has discovered that it needs at least $2,000 to $3,000 to fully realize its goal of maintaining a place for outside-the-mainstream local and touring bands. (WOG was host to shows by local acts Dent, My Beautiful Ex-Wife, and Free Texas State, as well as indie-favorites Cursive and the Promise Ring; it unfortunately did not host Smart Went Crazy and F**K, two of the hall's biggest bookings which were forced elsewhere in the last days of March.)

The collective members have divided the process into three steps, the first of which is to raise $800 as soon as possible, mostly among the members, to pay the rent for May. The second step is a yard sale to be held this Saturday, May 2, at 1502 Highland Ave., from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. (or the same hours on Sunday, May 3, in case of rainy weather). The sale will try to raise money (hopefully $1,000) to install a proper door, partition off the building's heater, and make other architectural updates in order to bring the warehouse up to code for shows of 50 or less. Donations of stuff to sell can be made by anyone between 5 and 10 a.m. that morning, with all the proceeds going to the collective and the building. Officiating over the sale will be Sonny Simpson of the band New Brutalism, a self-proclaimed yard-sale expert.

After the yard sale, the group will try to raise another $2,000 to bring the capacity to 100. Coleman says, "That's the size venue we want and the size venue Knoxville needs." For that last hunk of money, the collective is loosely planning to hold benefit shows. Of course, those are much easier to hold with an available venue, so the first couple of grand has to come first.

Tales From the Windy City

Former local singer/songwriter/guitarist/bandleader/record store owner/all-around music guy Justin Sinkovich, now a denizen of the Windy City, popped back in town to visit old friends last week, and it would seem that the ever-industrious indie rocker is no less a player in the Chi-town music scene than he was when he lived in comparatively tiny Knoxville.

Sinkovich fronted two popular local bands—droning indie-popsters Atom Bomb Pocket Knife and nouveau punkers Thumbnail, which had two records on the hip modern punk label Cargo/Headhunter. Although Headhunter has since more-or-less dissolved, leaving the 'nail temporarily label-less, Sinkovich says both bands (several members of which also relocated to Chicago) are still going strong. Atom Bomb Pocket Knife has a new three-piece line-up, with Thumbnail drummer David Burns (another Knox ex-pat) banging the skins and Chicago native Allison Hollihan on bass. The band is currently recording a full-length platter that has already been solicited by small labels; Sinkovich, however, is holding out for a better offer. "The offers have been good, but we've had some interest from some larger labels, so we're holding off," he says.

In the meantime, Thumbnail expects to ink a deal soon with the English-based Southern Records, home to indie stalwarts like Karate and Rex. In the meantime, the band is recording tracks for a five-song EP with the head engineer from noted Chicago producer and noise maven Steve Albini's local studio. The EP will be released on File 13 Records, the tiny Arkansas-based label founded by Burns when he was still a Little Rock high school student and the home of the 'nail's earliest seven-inch releases.

And, finally, Sinkovich is owner/manager/svengali of his own small label, Pushover Records, financed by distributor Cargo. The label's first project—The Witches, a one-off featuring members of the Swans and Killing Joke—was released this week. Let's Go to the No-Go Zone is available worldwide, and thus should be found somewhere hereabouts. "I'm a busy man," laughs Sinkovich. "For somebody who doesn't have a job."

The R.B.-Tom T. Hall Connection

The list of artists with tribute compilations is getting evermore encyclopedic. A new one due out this spring is a collection of songs by Tom T. Hall as performed by Lucinda Williams, Ron Sexsmith, and other Americana favorites. Local man R.B. Morris performs "Don't Forget the Coffee, Billy Joe," a song that has made its way into Morris' set and one that Kay Clary of Hybrid Vigor Media says "might be the best thing on the album."

—Zippy "God Save 619" McDuff