Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Steppin' Up

Last weekend several local musical acts took the stage before industry bigwigs at the Atlantis Music Conference in Atlanta. Among them were Dan Hannon of King Konga; Heiskell, Tenn.'s Straight Line Stitch (who got their start at the Prince Deli and recently played Blue Cats);and Knox-rox favorites Jag Star, who came away with some good prospects. Jag Star's audience spanned all aspects of the music biz, from A&R to talent scouts, music attorneys to loyal fans. Upon returning to Knoxville, the band found their answering machine blinking with calls from Columbia and MCA. Hey, just don't forget where you came from, OK?

Bar Brief

Last Thursday, Scott and Bernadette West, owners of Earth to Old City, opened the Preservation Pub at 28 Market Square (site of the old Mercury Theater). While the pub serves only beer at the moment, manager Gregg White says the bar will get its wine license in about a month and a liquor license later on, with lunch service starting sometime soon. He also says the bar could start hosting live music as early as next week. (Aspiring bands, check it out!) With a jammin' juke box that leans heavily to local talent, a warm interior adorned with posters of famous folks expressing their sentiments on beer and a good selection of cold beer at reasonable cost, the Preservation Pub is already developing a rep as a downtown rendezvous; on Monday, after the latest Kinsey Probasco Market Square Redevelopment Plan presentation, several notables who attended the presentation adjourned to the Pub for further discussions.

Local CD Review

ShadowWax
Stories...

After forming a year ago, Knoxville rock band ShadowWax is set to release its first EP, Stories... The work offers some of the things that have made many previous bands successful, such as decent musicianship, some catchy guitar hooks and notice-me vocals. Stories... is a rather slickly produced EP, surprising for the first public release of a local band. Indeed, there are not a lot of things inherently wrong with this record. But it is missing something vitally important: originality. Vocalist Eric Christopher has a voice that creepily resembles that of Scott Stapp from Creed (a band that has made millions hawking a watered-down Pearl Jam formula).

On the other hand, ShadowWax is more listenable than several of its nationally known modern rock counterparts. This EP is 25 minutes of songs that are probably best classified as ballads. "Anyway" and "i know" are slower, while "nina" is more of a power rock ballad. Two songs, "perfect" and "naked hand," are slightly more inspired and both contain a distorted guitar sound that might suggest the band has something a little different up its sleeve for the future. The last song on the EP, "virago," comes on strong—unfortunately in more of a cringe-inducing way than an awe-inspiring one. This song has the record's cheesiest vocals combined with its cheesiest guitar sound, embodied in the grating, repetitive intro. The lyrics evoke bad teenage poetry: "Make me cry, I'll make you cry/ I know you'll be the one to take me there/ I've dreamed of this, I wondered if/ I'm man enough to take the steps I fear." Hey, it rhymes!

All said, ShadowWax's sound is more of the same churned out on commercial rock radio by the bucketful. The press release states that "a set of songs was written and the band knew it had found something special." Considering the apparent musical ability of its members, the band might have some serious potential if its vision were a little different.

Overall, the ShadowWax sound is derivative, but so are the vast majority of newer commercial rock songs. I recommend this record to local rock fans with mainstream (or, um, "extreme") taste and a propensity for catchiness. I admit I can't get the first song on the EP out of my head.

Go.

Thursday: Hear the hypnotic rhythms of the Kenny Brown Band at Sassy Ann's.

Friday: Head to the Haley Heritage International Literary and Storytelling Festival's fish fry, where they'll serve up poetry, dance and drums, at Haley Heritage Square. From 6-9 p.m.

Saturday: Dixie Dirt give Knoxville one more hurrah before their big tour. They play with the Crypt Kickers at Pilot Light.

Sunday: You won't believe me, but Knox Co. folks get into the zoo FREE today and tomorrow. Just bring your driver's license, proof of residency and $3 for parking.

Monday: Go see the elephants again. You know you want to.

Tuesday: Puppets ain't just for kids. Check out puppeteers Simulacrum with special guests Old Ironsides at the Pilot Light.

Wednesday: Build the Sunsphere out of Lego.

—Emma "Aristotle and Playdough" Poptart with Tamar Wilner, John Sewell, Veronica France, and Scott McNutt