Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Color Blind

The last few months have been pretty good for live music in Knoxville. We've had great shows in mid-size venues, like Willie Nelson, Yo La Tengo, and Patti Smith; the Pilot Light finally opened, providing an adequate venue for small independent rock bands; and the Sundown on the Square series has brought lots of great free music downtown. All that, plus reliable staples like Barley's and the Laurel Theatre and the Hot Summer Nights series at Chilhowee Park.

About the only reasonable complaint about this summer's music lineup so far is the lack of diversity. Sure, we've had everything from gritty Texas country to alternative rock—but it's all been pretty white.

That's what makes the upcoming Okayplayer Tour—scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 15, at the Tennessee Amphitheater and featuring the Roots and Dead Prez—such a welcome surprise. But how well will the tour do in conservative Knoxville, considering the lineup of politically-charged alternative hip-hop acts?

Hopefully well enough to make similar shows more likely. "There's not a tremendous amount of precedent," says Ashley Capps, president of the tour's Knoxville promoters, AC Entertainment. "We're hoping there will be a positive response, so we can do more things like this."

Surprisingly, Capps says the Roots' excellent 1998 CD, Things Fall Apart, has sold more copies in Knoxville than in either Chattanooga, Birmingham, or Asheville. "From our research, it's a risk, but not an insane risk," he says.

Local (more or less) CD Review

Various artists
WNCW's Crowd Around the Mic, Vol. 4

This compilation of live recordings from WNCW's Spindale, North Carolina, studios isn't exactly a local CD. Well, it's not a local CD at all, in fact. But there are enough local connections to make it interesting. A handful of the artists on Crowd Around the Mic have appeared or will play in Knoxville (or close by) in recent months—Tim O'Brien, Blue Highway, and Donna the Buffalo—and one of the standout tracks is Gran Torino's "Stevland," an upbeat (of course), R&B-inflected number with dirty guitar licks and shiny horns. The lyrics are typically sunny—"We grow stronger as we live with love"—but singer Chris Ford makes it work with his high-pitched '70s soul falsetto on the chorus and the (hopefully) off-the-cuff speak-sing directives for the band to "take it to the radio listeners." The performance lacks the smooth sheen of their records—but their energy and instrumental accomplishment make "Stevland" easily one of the most engaging songs on the disc.

Much of the rest of Crowd Around the Mic is bland acoustic singer/songwriter hokum. There are plenty of good tracks—"The Purple Robe" by Junior Sisk and Rambler's Choice, the Cajun-y "Tides of Time" by Donna the Buffalo, the tight and rollicking surf instrumental "Kawanga!" by Los Straitjackets, the old-timey "Chief's Medley" by Bryan Sutton—but Gran Torino takes extra points for departing from the standard acoustic roots format.

A note:

Emma here. I'm lonely. I've been paging through the stacks and stacks of mail Zippy has received and am feeling a bit unloved. Sure, most of the Zip-sters cards and letters were of the "you suck" variety, but even bad attention proves that people care. So, tell me, via mail, fax, or email ([email protected]) what you'd like Eye on the Scene to be. I'd love to listen. Thanks.

Go.

Thursday: Elaine was scheduled for the Pilot Light, and I was going to suggest you go just to see if the controversy that Elaine engenders has been much ado about, well, nothing, but they rescheduled due to the Flaming Lips show at Moose's. Be there now.

Friday: Jennyanykind with Geisha at Patrick Sullivan's. Jennyanykind does rock, but be sure to check out the newly reformed Geisha, who will fill you full of beautiful, girl-style bombast.

Saturday: Lance Coomer Tennis Classic at Fort Sanders Health and Fitness Center. It's for a good cause and where else can you see local celebs play mixed doubles? Then, check out Eugene Chadbourne with Paul Lovens at Tomato Head. Chadbourne's oddball folky-rocky-jazzy-alt.country tunes are like a box of chocolates by Dali.

Sunday: Appalachian Ballet Company at Pellissippi State Theatre. This year's fall show is a dance sampler, running the gamut from classic to modern to lighthearted ballet—all of which will capture your imagination.

Monday: Close your eyes and dream of sheep.

Tuesday: Einstein Simplified at Manhattan's. Now this is comedy. Be a joiner, already.

Wednesday: Runaway Truck Ramp at Barley's. Rockgrass via the great Rocky Mountains.

—Emma "Full of Phlegm" Poptart