Comment on this story What: Jam for Cans 2004 w/ Perfect Mercy, Nug Jug, Sum of Us, Motivational Speakers, David Landeo Band, Kixelsyd and Simple Radio When: Saturday, Aug. 28, 12:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. Where: Market Square Cost: Five cans of food for Second Harvest

Second annual Jam for Cans feeds Second Harvest

by Paige M. Travis

Back in the late summer of 2003, Market Square looked like the perfect place to hold a monster truck pull, not a multi-band music festival. So, instead of lingering on his dashed hopes of holding the inaugural Jam for Cans music festival in the downtown square, Justin Parker adjusted his plans on a dime, shifting the site to the riverside venue of Volunteer Landing. Eight local and regional bands performed for 12 hours, raising more than 500 pounds of canned food and $1,000 cash from 800 to 1,000 attendees for the event’s eponymous charity recipient, Second Harvest Food Bank.

Parker’s humble, soft-spoken manner doesn’t betray his role as the guitarist in local rock band Perfect Mercy, but his self-assuredness alludes to the responsibility he wields as the mastermind behind Jam for Cans and the operator of Mytis Welby Music, a recording studio and production company.

As if organizing a day-long, seven-band festival—now at home in the refurbished Market Square—wasn’t job enough, this year’s Jam will include—drum roll, please—beer, which will be served starting at 4 p.m. With permits, armbands, tickets and the like, the adult beverage adds a whole new twist to the outdoor festival. But the bureaucracy of beer sales is simple compared to the job of choosing the bands that comprise the line-up.

“Bands are selected through a sometimes-painful process of elimination,” Parker says. “That made for a very painful decision process because there are so many talented bands and only so many slots.” Last year’s applicants ranged widely in musical style and numbered close to 300, although many of those, he says, “cringed” when they learned that the Jam was for non-paid volunteers only. This year’s shout-out to potential participants stressed the donation element of performing at the event, and the Jam received fewer applicants, a side effect that has relieved the festival organizer. Demos arrived from across the nation, qualifying in various ways for this year’s theme: rock. But the four-letter category is anything but limiting. Parker categorizes this year’s participants—which hail from Knoxville, Nashville, Murfreesboro and Little Rock, Ark.—as “rock-a-billy, pop-rock, rock, fun rock, rock rock, and jam rock.”

Motivational Speakers, a Nashville band who recently suffered the theft of a truck full of equipment, counts Jam for Cans as its first charity event and its introductory gig in Knoxville.

“We think the Second Harvest Food Bank is a great organization and that this event was a worthy cause,” says the band’s bassist Matt Andersen, “therefore we had no second thoughts about donating our time. We may not be making much as musicians, but you always have to remember that there are those less fortunate than yourself, and this is a great way to give something back.”

Motivational Speakers’ brand of rock lands in funky terrain. With Matt Enbring on saxophones and lead singer Matt Taflan’s scratchy, guttural vocalizations, local audiences may be reminded of the late, great Gran Torino.

In the midst of a solid regional touring schedule, Motivational Speakers is familiar with the frenetic pace a festival can present.

“Club shows are much more intimate in that the audience is right there in front of you, so it’s somewhat easier to connect with the crowd,” Andersen says. “Whereas a festival show is a little more removed so you have to make your own energy on stage and try to pull the people along with you.”

Brad Rickett of Little Rock’s Sum of Us considers the festival opportunity the better deal for a band seeking exposure.

“Playing a festival beats a club any day,” says the drummer, who estimates about 75 percent of the band’s shows this year have been part of festivals. “You have the opportunity to reach an audience that might never be in a club. Festivals bring out all walks of race, religion, color, taste and style. Although someone may not like us or dig our sound, at least they walk away saying that they have heard of us.”

The band believes so strongly in the event and its cause, it turned down a paying gig to come to K-town. And the guys are extra chuffed to be playing the second annual Jam because they didn’t make the cut last year.

The rest of Jam’s bands are more local in origin and fairly familiar names. And who better to forward Parker’s original goal of boosting the visibility of the Knoxville music scene?

“When people think of a ‘great music scene,’ it’s usually cities like Nashville or Atlanta,” Parker says. “There’s no reason why Knoxville can’t gain some of this attention. We wanted to create a music festival that would showcase the area’s talented artists.”

Dave Landeo maintains a solid reputation in Knoxville, frequently ranking as one of our city’s best male vocalists. His engaging stage presence and warm voice endear him to audiences and are a boon to Jam for Cans, where he played last year as well.

“It’s always good to contribute to the community this way, especially through music,” Landeo says.

The father of newborn twin daughters stays busy performing solo and with Kenny Smith on drums and Vince Ilagan on bass. Landeo—the man and the band—knows plenty of frequently requested radio hits as well as his own songs that have appeared on his three recordings.

Another band returning to Jam for Cans is Simple Radio, whose Market Square debut will mark its largest stage—and possibly largest crowd—yet.

“We have been to most all the Sundown in the City shows, so it’s cool to be on the same stage some of our favorite artists have played on,” says lead singer and guitarist William Self. He adds that the band wants to play for other benefits including Jam for Cans in the future. “We have a lot of time on our hands,” he says. “We have so much time we want to give it away.”

From the first chords of Tom Pryor’s pedal steel, Nug Jug delivers a feel-good country-tinged party rock that assures a fun night. The band’s songs reflect an organic, low-brow debauchery that East Tennesseans will find gratifyingly familiar. Founded in 1999 by guitarists Steve Smith and Chuck Watt, who trade off lead vocals, Nug Jug also includes drummer Jason Ratliff and bassist Bill Ardison. They play out frequently enough to keep their fans happy and not annoy their families too much. As a special bonus for browsers: Nugjug.com, featuring Nug-centric stories worthy of The Onion, is singularly hilarious.

Kixelsyd is a three-piece heavy rock outfit from Murfreesboro. The kids clock in at 20 and 21 years old, but their sound is more advanced than much of the post-grunge alt-metal that makes the airwaves these days. The trio’s Led Zeppelin influence is tempered and tweaked by guitarist and singer Bobby Holland’s background in jazz guitar and music theory. Kixelsyd released its first disc, By the Door, last weekend with a show in Nashville.

While the bands represent different takes on the rock genre, they all look forward to the good vibes a music festival can bring, especially one whose cause benefits hungry people in the community. Parker’s thoughts are particularly philosophical on why Second Harvest is the Jam’s charity of choice:

“I love to eat. Sometimes I take that for granted when I’m griping about how long it’s taking for my fast food to be prepared. Or when I go to the kitchen and sift through all the choices, only to narrow it down to something that doesn’t take much preparation. It’s a daily process, and I think many of us do the same thing.

“Now, stop for a moment and chew on this: Get in your air-conditioned car and drive down to Magnolia and Broadway. Take a look around and try to imagine that you’re the person on the sidewalk or underpass and you haven’t eaten in days. Or maybe just imagine that you still have your Lexus and a mortgage and a family, but now you’ve been laid off and at the moment, you’re not sure where your next meal will come from.

“There are many great causes that need help,” Parker continues. “But after taking a tour of Second Harvest Food Bank and getting to see what all they do, I was touched and knew that I wanted to help.”

August 26, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 35 © 2004 Metro Pulse