Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

The Americana Shuffle

The founder of the Americana Café radio show and the station where he found a new home for it, WEST 105.3, were threatened with legal action by 100.3 The River if they continued using the name.

Benny Smith—who now works as promotions director for Metro Pulse—founded the show on The River when Dick Broadcasting was running it. The Sunday-evening show included live guests and occasionally broadcasted from Patrick Sullivan's in the Old City.

When Citadel took over management of the station in August, most of the old employees were left without jobs and the playlist was changed significantly, although the name remained. Smith was offered a job with The River in promotions. Smith says he heard talk Citadel wanted to continue the Americana Cafe, but he was never approached about it. The River did solicit other hosts for the show, including writers at Metro Pulse.

Shortly after The River management changed, WEST 105.3 switched from an '80s format to an album rock and Americana format. Smith was hired on as a consultant and brought his show with him. He has expanded it, offering a lunchhour version every weekday.

The River brought back the Americana Café last weekend with new hosts. Then came the letter from the lawyer, claiming the name was property of The River. Citadel's Ed Brantley did not return a call from Metro Pulse.

"I'm kind of surprised the name was copy written, because it was Benny's brainchild. But at this point, nothing is surprising me," says Todd Ethridge, program director for WEST 105.3. "It's not worth getting in a slugging match over.... It's kind of funny. It's turning into a bit of a circus, but it's not intentional and not on our part."

Smith is going to continue doing his show. The weekday show will be called Americana Lunchbox; the Sunday show will be called Americana Jukebox, and will air 8 to 10 p.m. It is expected to debut soon, possibly even Sunday.

"The real River is gone, dried up by corporate radio," Smith says. "Everyone knows that. And everyone also knows that my show is no longer on WOKI no matter what they call it. It's on WEST 105.3 six days a week and I appreciate WEST giving my show a home, especially since I never heard from the other station while I was off the air."

Local Review

Senryu A Bath of Broken Glass

When a pop band decides it's time to spit out the bubble gum and grow up, things can get real ugly, real fast. Maturing gracefully in music is not as easy as it sounds—consider Britney Spears' descent from the throne of teeny bop princess to the gutter of half-clothed slutdom, for one painful example.

While local pop-rock quartet Senryu would likely rather slit its wrists than believe it has anything in common with Spears, the two entities do, in fact, share all of two things. Both have (1) six-letter names that begins with the letter 'S,' and (2) Training-bra first albums that would ultimately be outgrown and replaced by something a little (Senryu) or a lot (Spears) more risqué.

Senryu's debut, Stars and Garters, was full of candy-coated, wistful songs geared toward the hopelessly romantic, the kind of sentimental stuff that could make a cynic gag or a lovelorn listener cry. Girls ate it up, and the proof was in the groupies prone to showing up en masse at Senryu shows. But it was only a matter of time before the band's Mickey Mouse innocence would get the axe.

Enter A Bath of Broken Glass, Senryu's sophomore effort. The album is no striptease, but it is willing to show some skin. By the second song, an unusually ticked-off singer/guitarist Wil Wright has already succeeded in dumping listeners face first into his lyrical bedroom: "Her head is a disaster... her mouth is a mess like the morning after."

But it's hard for Senryu to hold a frown for long. As Bath wears on, the band's pathological idealism seeps back in, infecting a couple of already glaringly bright, pop-happy songs with syrupy metaphors and Hallmark card choruses. A little lovesick poetry goes a long way, but Senryu still has some work to do before it can consistently walk that fine line between harnessing emotion and OD-ing on it.

Otherwise the album is exceptionally polished, even considering its train wreck of genre experimentations. Bath sticks its finger in everything from orchestral balladry to stripped-down acoustics to an out-of-nowhere Vaudeville track that sounds like it was recorded in a tin lunchbox. The chemistry shouldn't work, but somehow the album keeps itself from derailing.

Maybe it's wrong to applaud Senryu for finally getting a little bit of a chip on its shoulder, but it takes the sour to make the sweet believable. A few more broken hearts coupled with a firm commitment to keeping their clothes on and they should have it down pat.

Senryu's CD release party will be at 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26 at the Pilot Light with the High Score and Royal Bangs also playing.

—Madame "when you tire of all the bright lights" Georgie with Joe Tarr and Leslie Wylie