Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Back Door

A lot of people have been unable to get into Pilot Light shows lately because the club has been at capacity. The club is working on a few things that will raise its capacity, and the owners are planning some fund-raising shows to help pay for it.

The improvements include a rear emergency exit and bench seating along the walls, says co-owner Jason Boardman.

Boardman had no idea when the door would be added but hoped it'll be in the next few weeks. "I don't know what it's going to change as far as how many more people it'll allow in here. That's all in the fire marshal's hands," Boardman says. He didn't want to say what the club's current capacity is except that it is extremely low.

He's also not sure how much the improvements will cost. A lot depends on what the contractor has to do to smash through the rear wall. "I'm really hoping it's between $1,000 to $2,000 for everything. Maybe it'll be less," he says. "Most likely after it goes in, we'll have one or two benefit shows to help pay for it."

Until now, the Pilot Light has only had one fund-raiser a year, on Halloween. This year the club raised some money, but some of it went to cover expenses from the past couple of months, which were unusually slow.

Boardman says he's going to start having more benefit shows to help cover costs at the club, which is not making money for the owners. Most of the time the club brings in enough to cover expenses. Unexpected expenses and some shows get paid for out of the owners' pockets. That's mostly how Boardman envisioned the club. And so far, that low-budget approach hasn't worn him out.

"I'm not out of steam yet," Boardman says. "We're fairly optimistic people and willing to ride out times like that. Eventually everybody gets sick of doing what they do.... If there ever comes a time we just can't do it any more we hope we can shepherd it out to someone who can keep it going. This is all conjecture because I don't see it happening on the horizon."

Local Review
The Emmaus Road Project: In The Beginning

Well, you might not be exactly bowled over by the music, but you sure can't question the sincerity and good intentions of Knoxville's Emmaus Road Project. Truly more of a "project" than a band per se, Emmanus Road features several prominent area musicians and quasi celebrities donating their talents to bring the songs of local orthopedic surgeon/songwriter Richard Smith into fruition.

Produced by former Sage spandex rock hellion turned Christian rock studio whiz Travis Wyrick, there's no debating the quality production values and excellent musicianship of In The Beginning. The recording features vocals by (among others) Jag Star's Sarah Lewis, local Christian singer Andrew Carlton, not to mention a track called "Sin," which is sung by none other than talk radio schlock-jock Hallerin Hilton Hill (?!).

What we have here is a slickly produced slice of saccharine "contemporary Christian music" that packs no fire or brimstone. Imagine a whitewashed Jim Croce for Jesus, a sanctified Jimmy Buffet on fire for the Lord, or, say, the songs of a well-meaning orthopedic surgeon who dusts off his old Elton John and Kenny Loggins records from his "wild" high school days on Saturday night, and you might have an idea of what lays in store for you on this disc.

There's no questioning Smith's heartfelt religious fervor, and you gotta give the guy credit for donating all of the proceeds from this disc to Knoxville-based, inner city charities. (I'm sure most of the members of Smith's church will buy a copy.) But the music of In The Beginning is beyond passé.

This stuff would fit in well on one of those Twilight Zone Christian radio stations you haphazardly find in the wee hours amidst a red-eye, cross-country road trip. And, whenever that's all I can find to listen to, I either turn off the radio, or dust off the standby AC/DC cassette and relive the glories of "Highway To Hell" instead. I'll probably burn for eternity for saying this, but I'm passing on Smith's altar call. Different strokes for different folks and all that good schtuff...

Learning to Leave the Room

Derek Trucks and his masterful cohorts don't play a gig to please a venue or to evoke a certain response from a particular audience—it's much simpler than that. These guys are so completely focused on the integrity and purity of their music that sometimes I'm not sure they really know where they're playing, because it doesn't matter.

Fortunately, last Thursday night a good chunk of Knoxville did know where Trucks was playing, literally and conceptually. After navigating his band through a field of jazz (Dexter Gordon), Trucks decided we all needed to hike through the rhythms of world beat hills (Bob Marley) before descending to the slow, deliberate blues valley. It was then that he led our spirits on their final heavenly ascent with his own soaring masterpiece, "Joyful Noise."

As Trucks guided us through his poignant lyrical landscapes, I couldn't help noticing my own path becoming a little clearer. If you missed the DTB in Knoxville, help yourself out and find them somewhere on this tour—a $15 ticket is much more efficient than three months of therapy, no matter how cheap your shrink is.

—Joe Tarr, John Sewell, Nick Roberts