Meet the Dérive

The latest benefit to help preserve Fort Sanders was held behind two old wooden houses in the 2000 block of Forest Avenue. One of the houses reeked of cat piss inside. There was little grass in the backyard—just a mass of gravel and dirt, lined on one side by an unruly clump of shrubs. In between the two houses stood an old washing machine, a refrigerator, and a stack of aluminum siding. I know what you uptight suburbanites with your two-car garages, neat little lawns (with no annoying sidewalks cutting through them), and large rear decks are thinking: Do you really want to save this? Yes. Yes, we do.

Though the Fort has certainly seen better days and many of its homes could definitely use some renovation, the neighborhood has an undeniable link to Knoxville of old—you feel connected somehow to the people who came before you, and that gives your home a sense of character and place. However clean and efficient they may be, modern apartment complexes cannot offer that sort of environment.

Fort Sanders also has an accepting, urban demeanor ideal for what Situationists call the dérive, an active participation in art and culture, when life breaks out of the constraints of routine and time, and a sense of possibility for the here and now arises. Zippy doesn't mean to get all theoretical on you. It's his convoluted way of saying the show was great, despite the heat. The bands performed on a small back porch, and were as much a part of the audience as anyone. The musical line-up included several great Knoxville bands, including The Ghosts (who play their hometown far too infrequently), Apelife (who get tighter and better with every show), Glowplug (a melodic, rocking band), a Misfits cover band (which Zippy can't remember the name of but it was fronted by Superdrag's John Davis), and the irrepressible Flesh Vehicle. The police came by a few times, threatening to shut the show down because the organizers had no beer permit. But the policemen had heart, leaving us only with warnings to keep things from getting out of hand and not to serve any minors. Where else but the Fort could that could have happened?

Putting Up, Not Shutting Up

Last week, Zippy reviewed Greg Horne's new CD Floating World as part of the ever-growing Metro Pulse "Put Up or Shut Up" campaign. Integral to the whole concept of the thing, Zippy wants to give reviewees a chance to publicly respond to reviewers. And so...

Hi Zippy—

Thanks for your lengthy and thoughtful review of my CD. I appreciate the honesty and candor, and especially the big lyric quote—very generous (and a cool passage to boot).

And while I'm here, a few returns of the ping-pong ball in the spirit of friendly dialogue.

On the subject of Floating World not giving a sense of who I am because it wanders around so much—I guess that is who I am. Granted, lack of focus is a valid criticism. I'm banking on the admittedly foggy notion that when the body of work gets larger, the individual pieces won't look so unrelated. Even Floating World has a stylistic "home base" in the instrumentation and lyrical tone of most of the songs. However if you're looking for the perfect hole to put my pigeons in, I can only quote the Taco Bell dog: "I think I need a bigger box."

Like any writer, I would love to believe that my talent is not so empty that all I'm trying to do is dazzle folks with stylistic tricks at the expense of substance. But unfortunately, one can never know (nor would one want to know) if one is the wizard or just the clown behind the curtain.

Anyway, thanks for devoting so much time and space to reviewing my CD. And, if you've never seen a true Appalachian Volvo, you've missed one of the great charms of living in Knoxville.

Happy ranting and raving,
Your Pal,
Greg "no Lowell George (but still willin')" Horne

Smokin' Behind the Barn

As if Garrison Keillor's broadcast from Knoxville weren't enough excitement for the local radio waves, WDVX (a.k.a. the Camper that Could) is gearing up its own local show: The Behind the Barn series. The show features the very stuff that has made WDVX so popular in these parts—a diversity of "roots" music, from bluegrass to Americana, blues to Celtic—and is based on WNOX's format of old for the Tennessee Barn Dance and Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round. Local musicians Sarah Pirkle and Jeff Barbra are behind the organization.

And the best part is that the whole coconut is being taped at Barley's Tap Room in the Old City, which guarantees that this venue will get some of the hotter acts out on the circuit today, like Rebel Record's Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike. The show is broadcast live on 89.9 every Wednesday night from 9-10:30 p.m. and you can come on down to the Old City to be on-hand free of charge to witness what it takes to get it on the air. Upcoming acts include: Roscoe Morgan and Lonely Train on July 14, The Atomic City Rhythm Rascals on July 21, James King on August 4, and Jimmy Bowen and Santa Fe sometime in August.

Quickly, Quickly

Thursday: Southeast Exports Showcase with Dreve, Pegasi 51, Boy Genius, Rachel's Mourning, 30 Amp Fuse, and Still Life Opera at Moose's Music Hall.

Friday: Ritmo de la Noche at Fairbank's Coffee House.

Saturday: Jacqui and the Tumble Kings at Longbranch.

Sunday: PD-6 with Unique and Lex at the Convention Center.

Monday: T. Strickland Band at O'Charley's.

Tuesday: Tuesday Night Trivia at Bird's Eye View.

Wednesday: Styx with Blue Oyster Cult at World's Fair Park.

—Zippy "Brevity is the source of wit... or was that wit is the root of all evil?" McDuff