"Fast Cars and Loud Guitars. Local Bars and goin' to far." - Tim Lee 3.
So - I headed out Friday night to a well known East Nashville hot spot to meet and see my favorite Knoxville rockers, Tim Lee 3. I had an awesome night, met some cool folks, and saw some incredible music...
I was so glad to finally get to meet Tim and Susan Bauer Lee in person. First up, the audience was treated to a 20 minute preview of Tom Weber's incredible film (10+ years in the making) called Troubadour Blues. It's about the modern purveyors of the folk tradition of the travelling musicians who get paid to drive from town to town and get rewarded with the chance to perform for an hour or two. The film features the likes of Peter Case, Dave Alvin, Mary Gauthier and many, many more.
The live music began with RB Morris of Knoxville. I was shamefully not familiar with Mr. Morris' music, but that deficiency is in the process of being corrected. He is a top-notch singer songwriter and a poet - gratefully, we treated us to a couple of poems from his latest book.
Next up was Nancy Apple from Memphis. The undisputed Queen of Memphis Country, Folk, Blues what have you. Her song about finding out that Johnny Cash had died struck a chord with me. I got to talk to Nancy and share a couple of my Memphis stories.
Next a couple of locals were invited to join in on the show. The thing is, when you are in Nashville (and East Nashville in particular), the caliber of locals is pretty darn amazing. Julie Christensen was the first local - a fairly recent arrival. If the name doesn't ring a bell, try this: she was a founding member of the legendary Divine Horsemen and an integral part of the L.A. Scene which helped bridge gap between punk rock and what would eventually become Americana music. Oh, and she also spent many years singing with the one and only Leonard Cohen. Beyond that incredible history, she is a breath-taking singer and songwriter. She performed a song by Memphis song writer Dan Montgomery which has me scrambling to find out all I can about him.
Next was the second local, Amelia White - who we first saw perform last year at the Five Spot. She was every bit as amazing as we remembered.
Next up was the Tim Lee 3. Now, regular readers should already be all over Tim Lee 3, but for the uninitiated, they are a tight three piece rock combo from Knoxville featuring Tim Lee (The Windbreakers) and his wife Susan. They rocked the house thoroughly playing a couple of songs from their latest album, Devil's Rope, one from their previous double album Raucous Americanus, and a hand full of new songs which bode well for the next Tim Lee 3 album.
The night ended with RB Morris joining Tim Lee 3 for a few more of RB's songs including one of his which had been recorded by Marianne Faithful and John Hiatt.
What a night!
Today's Shuffle is up next:
