Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Local CD Review

Jag Star
Crazy Place

So where have the gals and guy of Jag Star been for the last little while? Putting the finishing touches on their first full-length CD, that's where. And I'll be damned if it's not a mighty fine album.

Moving in a more pop-centric direction, away from the sometimes noodly grooves of their debut EP, the Knoxville trio of singer/songwriter Sarah Lewis, guitarist J Lewis and violist Erin Tipton (plus various friends filling out the rhythm section) delivers a tight, bright 12-song set. Local production whiz Travis Wyrick gives Crazy Place a polished, booming sound that rarely veers toward slickness. And the band's got the songs to match. From the opener, the ridiculously catchy "Mouth" (a kiss-off to haters and snotty music critics, for which Sarah Lewis got a runner-up nod in the international John Lennon Songwriting Contest), through the rollicking "Better Girl" (better than anything I've heard from No Doubt lately) to the lightly funky "Don't Know What You're Missin'," there are infectious melodies to burn. The album is dedicated to Sarah's cousin Tim Fox, who died recently and shares songwriting credits on a few tracks. The final cut, "Favorite Angel," is an affecting memorial to Fox, co-written by Sarah and none other than local radio guy (and award-winning songwriter) Hallerin Hill. There are just enough modish touches—a turntable scratch here, a techno pulse there—to keep things lively. It all fits very comfortably in the prevailing pop mold, but the dark ache of Tipton's viola, the energy of Sarah Lewis' vocals and J Lewis' unabashed guitar clatter combine for an appealing freshness.

You can hear it all for yourself at their CD release show this Saturday, March 2, at Blue Cats. Tickets are $7 and the show starts at 10 p.m.

Who? Us? Aw, Shucks...

Speaking of the above-lauded Jag Star album, we couldn't help noting that the chorus of "Mouth" goes as follows: "Do I have to ask permission or am I wrong/ It's a free world baby I can play my song/ Zippy likes to diss, wanna throw my fist/ I will never miss your mouth." Could this fisticuffular gauntlet-throwing be a reference to our own dear departed Zippy McDuff, former nom de plumist of this very column? Indeed it is, confirms Sarah Lewis, although she says, "The song isn't ABOUT 'Zippy.' That's just one part of the song that is in reference to how ultra-sensitive artists are when they read anything written about themselves." Hey, a shout-out's a shout-out. We'll take it. We tried tracking Zippy down for comment, but the trail got cold round about Dubuque (where he'd been working for a now-defunct dot-com earwax removal company). He was apparently run out of town after writing a piece for the local rag in which he compared a popular regional metal band unfavorably with "the noise my mother's dog makes just before he vomits." That's our Zippy...

Think Globally. Broadcast Locally.

Starting this Saturday (March 1), the University of Tennessee will start airing an interesting series created with the foreign languages department on WUTK (FM 90.3).

Each Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon for four or five weeks, the series will focus on the music of a different culture. This Saturday's program will feature Spanish and Hispanic music, says Gregory Kaplan, a Spanish professor at UT.

Saturday's show will look at the "Movida," the post-Franco cultural movement in Spain during the '80s. "It was similar to the late-'60s cultural movement in the U.S.," Kaplan says. Then the program will look at music from various other Spanish-speaking countries, he says. The hosts, including Kaplan—who will be speaking English—will also talk about the mission of the foreign language department. They will play about 30 songs.

Future shows in the same timeslot will be devoted to French, German, Portugese and possibly Russian or Italian languages and music, Kaplan says.

In recent months, WUTK has played a dishearteningly snide promo ad, pledging not to broadcast any songs that weren't sung in English. We're glad to see it's not true.

Songs on the Squeezebox

Scott Miller's SRO Laurel Theatre show on Friday night featured a veritable who's-who of the Knoxville rock music scene—and that was just in the audience, including one Mic Harrison who played a high-energy set at the Pilot Light later that evening. Some took the stage as well—R.B. Morris and Miller hypnotized the appreciative crowd with a stellar version of John Prine's "Late John Garfield Blues." Local baker/fiddle player Peg Hambright joined the skinny ex-roy for a cover of Tom Petty's "American Girl," interpreted with acoustic guitar and, um, accordion. While it sounds like an exercise in dissonance, it was a magical moment that had to be heard to truly be appreciated. Miller and the Laurel made for a great combination, one that we hope to see again...

Go.

Thursday: Bowl for Kids' Sake at Western Plaza Lanes. Roll a few to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters. Who doesn't love a game that revolves around drinking beer?

Friday: Ladies Sing the Blues at Bijou Theatre. Shemekia Copeland, Micol Davis, Jenna Moore and Cheryl Renée belt some tunes to set a mood indigo.

Saturday: Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time at Palace Theatre. Bluegrass to soothe the soul

Sunday: Dr. Neil Greenberg at the Tennesee Valley Unitarian Universalists Church. This UT prof of ecology and evolutionary biology will discuss the topic "Is God in our Brain?"

Monday: Nickel Creek at Tennessee Theatre. You loved them at Sundown. Now check them out at an historic venue.

Tuesday: Nothin' wrong with a nap.

Wednesday: Bill Frisell with Viktor Krauss and Kenny Wolleson at Blue Cats. I'm at a loss when it comes to easily summing up Frisell's sound. Consider it equal parts jazz, melodic rock, and heart.

—Emma "Zippy's alive and well and carving kachina dolls in New Mexico" Poptart, with Jesse Fox Mayshark and Joe Tarr