MetroPulse Stories: Music

Internationally Renowned Saxophonist Greg Tardy Finds His Way Into Knoxville's Jazz Community

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:40:00 -0000

He’s maybe not as familiar by sight as some of Knoxville's other jazz players, but judging by the crowds he draws around the world, and the prominent discs that have featured his saxophone, Greg Tardy is one of the most accomplished musicians in Knoxville.

Local Music Review: Wesley Wyrick

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:00:00 -0000

Wesley Wyrick’s debut album, Second Nature, certainly isn’t an easy listen. It’s a psychedelic collage more than a collection of songs—10 eerie tracks built on left-field samples, electronic spasms, and droning, lo-fi synths.

Q&A: Todd Steed Talks About His New Album of Songs Written in China

coury@metropulse.com (Coury Turczyn) — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:55:00 -0000

Knoxville icon Todd Steed’s new album, Songs on a Stick, is a collaboration between Steed and his old friend Owen Davis. The songs were all written while Steed and Davis were in China, where they taught last summer.

Nashville Garage-Rock Duo JEFF the Brotherhood Aim for the Big Leagues With Major-Label Debut

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:44:00 -0000

Over the course of a decade, under the name JEFF the Brotherhood, Nashville brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall released six albums of fuzzy, tone-deaf stoner-pop, full of blistering punk-pop riffs and hungover power-pop melodies. Their goal? Pay the rent and hopefully tuck away some booze money. But even if they weren’t aiming high with their commercial dreams, their music managed to turn a lot of famous heads—including the suits at Warner Bros., who released the band’s major-label debut, Hypnotic Nights, in 2012.

AIGA Celebrates Design Week

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:41:00 -0000

Good design is sometimes invisible—if something is designed well, you might never even notice just how useful/elegant/informative it is, especially if you’re not a designer. So AIGA Knoxville’s third annual Design Week, scheduled for May 13-17, is a good opportunity for local designers to get the credit and attention they deserve, as well as a chance for non-professionals to think about what designers do, and how they do it, and why.

George Jones Joins an Exclusive Knoxville Club

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:40:00 -0000

When George Jones died on April 26, he also got a pass into an exclusive club: that small handful of famous performers whose final concerts happened in Knoxville.

Uncle Acid and Ghost B.C. Try to Stay Mysterious in the Information Age

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:55:00 -0000

Sometimes the best publicity is no publicity at all. When the British band Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats released its second album, Blood Lust, in 2011, the group was shrouded in mystery—no interviews, no photos, no concerts, no names, even. But the finely spun web of secrecy that had surrounded the band started to come apart in the months leading up to the release, in April, of Mind Control, also on Rise Above and Metal Blade.

French Band Ulan Bator Finally Makes It to America

Wed, 01 May 2013 15:30:00 -0000

A few tracks from En France/En Transe, scheduled for release later this month, are available on the band’s website; they point to a rawer sound reminiscent of Ulan Bator’s debut album, which Cambuzat says is a result of the band members getting to know each other during the recording sessions.

AC Entertainment Announces Artists for October's Mountain Oasis Festival in Asheville

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 01 May 2013 15:04:00 -0000

AC Entertainment may have lost the rights to the Moogfest name, but the Knoxville music promoter isn’t giving up on a fall electronic-music festival in Asheville.

Knoxville Gay Men's Chorus Makes a Joyful Noise

kennedyr@metropulse.com (Rose Kennedy) — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:57:00 -0000

The group is the brainchild of its president, the activist Bleu Copas, who met Hamblin at the Equality on the Hill demonstration in Nashville last year. Hamblin and Copas, with two or three other singers, had their first public performance at the Night of Noise that breaks the Day of Silence in Knoxville about a year ago; the group has grown to 30 performers since. Performances at last year’s Pridefest and Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church’s Hope for the Holiday concert put Knoxville audiences on notice: These gay men are here to sing, and sing well.

Knoxville Opera Delivers an Energetic, Sparkling 'Cinderella'

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:52:00 -0000

Simply stated, there are those operatic singers who consider themselves Rossini singers, and there are those who don’t. The diction and voice flexibility required for Gioachino Rossini’s characteristic style of rapid-fire runs of little notes is both an art and a craft—one that some singers luxuriate in naturally. Knoxville Opera, under executive director and conductor Brian Salesky, ended up with just such a solid cast of wonderful Rossini singers for its production last weekend of La Cenerentola (“Cinderella”), a production that bubbled and sparkled with typically melodic Rossini verve and a lot of lovable comedic energy.

Glass Slipper: A Q&A With the Stars of Knoxville Opera's 'Cinderella'

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:59:00 -0000

The work of the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini returns to the Knoxville Opera’s 2013 Rossini Festival with a production of Cinderella (La Cenerentola) featuring mezzo-soprano Leah Wool as Cinderella and tenor Michael Dailey as the Prince.

Knoxville Opera Revives Rossini’s 'Cinderella' for Rossini Festival

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:47:00 -0000

Audiences will find a few twists to the story they probably know very well.

French Alt-Rock Stars Phoenix Rise Again With 'Bankrupt!'

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:40:00 -0000

Bankrupt! (Glassnote) is a logical extension of their trademark style, playing like the woozy hangover after Wolfgang’s decadent night out.

Texas Metal Band the Sword Takes a Ride on the Fantastic Side

mconnergibson@gmail.com (Mike Gibson) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:11:00 -0000

It’s okay to classify frontman John “J.D.” Cronise’s 10-year-old retro-rock outfit the Sword as stoner metal, if you’d like. Or even doom, if you’re especially taken with the singer’s sometimes-apocalyptic lyrical fantasias. But while Cronise doesn’t mind, he doesn’t see much sense in all the hair-splitting about genre specifics, either.

Robinella Announces Upcoming New Album, 'Ode to Love'

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:59:00 -0000

Robinella, one of the most credible local almost-hit-it-big stories of the last decade or two, is still around, with its unusual jazz-country sensibility and its popular lead singer, Robin Bailey.

Knoxville Film and Music Festival Adds Music Video Contest

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:56:00 -0000

The upcoming Knoxville Film and Music Festival, scheduled for June, has just announced an addition to its lineup of local films and music performances that will combine both disciplines—the Competitive Music Video Awards, a four-day music-video shootout contest pairing local musicians and filmmakers.

Local CD Review: The Blue Heavy

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:53:00 -0000

On its very first recording, a four-song self-titled EP, the Blue Heavy convincingly recreates the nasty, scuzzy Neanderthal heavy rock of early-’70s bands like Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad, Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, and Sir Lord Baltimore.

Gangstagrass Fuses an Unlikely Combination of Hip-Hop and Bluegrass

paige.huntoon@metropulse.com (Paige Huntoon) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:48:00 -0000

Tthe way Rench puts it, bluegrass, with its drummerless bands, and hip-hop, with its heavy bass beats, seem perfect for each other. Luckily, he was able to find like-minded musicians in New York’s small bluegrass community, and assembled a group down to play his bluegrass-hip-hop tunes.

Local CD Review: King Super

mconnergibson@gmail.com (Mike Gibson) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:25:00 -0000

Hammertime County is a profusely inventive 10-song set of originals from a band that staked its live rep almost exclusively on covers. Covers often chosen with an ear for kitsch and an instinct for surrealist melodrama, then twisted beyond aural recognition. But covers nonetheless.