Nashville Skyline

We got into Nashville a little early, but were able to load right into the large, multi-roomed DIY space we were playing that night, Little Hamilton. There was a zine lending library/store in the front area of the space, and Jenny picked up a great little zine called "The Yeast of Your Worries: A Yeast Infection Survival Handbook." It has great girlie pictures throughout.

Two little boys were riding their skateboards in and out of each room as we started to stash away the gear in a corner of the performance area. Jenny decided not to set up her kit until it was closer to showtime in case the boys got "curious."

We asked Ryan, who helps run Little Hamilton, for some recommendations for food and we jetted off to a funky cafe near Vanderbilt University called Cafe Coco. The place has a great alt vibe and lightning-fast WiFi, which allowed us to catch up on the blog and other things. Plus, the food was tasty. We had the "hippy dippy" hummus bagels and spent about two hours hanging out.

Believe it or not, from there it was onto a shabby Mexican place called La Hacienda for dinner. Yes, it was only two hours after lunch, but we knew we had a long night ahead of us (four bands) and likely would not get another chance to chow.

La Hacienda was awesome -- kind of grubby, but in a good way -- and we thoroughly enjoyed the basic, authentic fare.

Returning to the venue, we met up with Jenny's old college friend Laura, who had just arrived from the airport via cab. Laura lives in California but had been in NYC for a retreat and decided to "stop by" Nashville for a couple of nights on her way back to L.A.

The first band, Looks Like A Snake, started around 10. The band consists of three brothers (Caleb, Luke and Samuel) and their good friend Patrick. We knew Caleb from his days in Poet Named Revolver, a band we had played with years ago and whose music we hold dear to our hearts. (Look them up and download what you can!)

Not surprisingly, Caleb's new band was top-notch. Samuel sings and plays guitar and he projects a compelling Tom Waits meets Dylan vibe while the rest of the band tears it up with their outlaw country meets shambling rock.


Next up was a young band by the name of Gnarwhal. They played an ass-kicking brand of alt-thrash that had the crowd headbanging and moshing all the way through.

We followed and played a set none of us will ever forget. It's hard to put your finger on all the elements that must combine to create just the right mix of energy, emotion and precision needed to catapult a show from good to transcendent, but those elements came together in Nashville on this night. We played our hearts out, working up an industrial-sized sweat the industrial-sized fan just couldn't combat. The audience was with us from start to finish, and we felt the momentum of that feedback loop lifting us all and propelling us forward. We kept the set fast and furious so there would be no opportunity for the energy to sag. It didn't, and by the end we'd acheived that rare experience of ecstatic peace brought on when music reaches down from above and moves through a room full of people. Rad.


An excellent '60s garage rock-styled band closed out the show with a solid set of tunes that put a nice cap on the evening. The only thing the guys need to change is their name, Natural Child -- seems a bit too quaint for their Stonesy stomp.

After the show we dropped Laura and Jenny off at a hotel in downtown. They were planning to spend the next day -- our first free day of the tour -- together, catching up and reminiscing about old times. Lisa and I were staying with Caleb, Luke and Patrick, who rent a great little house (with great art on the walls -- see below) that's a short ride outside the city center (Samuel lives nearby and dropped in and out over the next 24 hours).


The next day was all about country music, rockabilly, juke joints, homemade ice cream, the Cumberland River and a little more WiFi.


We had a great time ambling around Music City and learning more about its rich history. Some highlights included a tour of RCA's "Studio B" (a recording studio on Music Row where Elvis recorded more than half of his catalog), a Williams Family (as in Hank, Hank Jr. and Hank III) exhibition at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and learning that Nashville has more than 700 churches -- the highest per-capita density in America. Hello, Jesus!

Next up: St. Louis.