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I have been sitting here staring at my computer trying to think about what I wanted to say about David Olney...
In case you have missed the news, David Olney passed away on Saturday - on stage at the 30A festival. By all accounts, it was a graceful and peaceful exit befitting the man himself.
It has hard to imagine how my life worked out that I had the true blessing that my orbit crossed with such a legend. I owe that almost entirely to Mary Sack - his long-time manager and my friend. I send my love and thoughts to Mary and of course to David's family and many friends and fans.
David Olney came to Nashville in the early 1970s - as part of the wave of songwriters influenced and inspired by the burgeoning "Outlaw" movement. Whatever you think of "Outlaw"country in the modern sense of the term, the original outlaws were all about carving their own path outside of the control of the Music Row establishment. The Exit/In was a center and West Nashville was their stomping grounds. Among this group, Olney quickly gained respect and admiration for his songwriting prowess.
In the 1980s, Olney was best known as a a rocker and leader of The X-Rays. That group signed to Rounder Records and made a notable appearance on Austin City Limits (which is available on YouTube). After the X-Rays ended, Olney began a storied solo career that would last the rest of his life. I know the term is overused, but David Olney really was the total package. Obviously a great songwriter, he was also a consummate entertainer, a poet, an actor, and so much more
Although, I was aware of David Olney for some time, I first began seeing him on a regular basis about five years ago. His live shows were always spectacles. He surrounded himself with great musicians: Daniel Seymout, Justin Amaral, Sergio Webb, and Ward Stout. But, at the heart of his performances was the man himself. At one larger than life and down to earth.
There are many who are better qualified to write his biography, but I wanted my readers who didn't know him to have some sense of who he was.
Some of the highlights of my interactions with David Olney:
In 2017, he agreed to appear as part of the first ever E2TG Residency. Thanks to Mary Sack, this show marked his reunion with the great guitarist Sergio Webb - after about a year and half of not performing together. I had the pleasure to introduce him. I have no idea what I said, but from the pictures I used big hand gestures.
A year later, David took part in a reading event that I help to put together. He read some of his sonnets which were incredible and a haiku or two. He and Rod Picott both expressed that they were initially uncomfortable standing on stage without a guitar in hand, but I think they both enjoyed, Leading up to that show, David said that I had one of the "great names in Rock n Roll", which is something I will never forget.
A humorous moment was the time that David went to Bobby's Idle Hour for a show that was scheduled at The Family Wash. He made it on time and played a hell of show - as always. Both those venues are gone and now so is David.
I remember running into David a few years back at the Southern Festival of Books - this was right after he survived a frightening fall down the stairs at his home. He was in a neck brace, and all he could talk about was how bad he felt that he had to drop out of a show that was scheduled for that night.
As is often the case when things like this happen, I thought I would have many more opportunities to interact with David Olney in this world. I take solace in knowing that his legacy will live on in the artists whose work he inspired and the people whose lives he touched.
Last night, I went out to the John Dennis CD Release Show, and John - who didn't know David personally - did a great job acknowledging his passing. Anana Kaye and Irakli Gabriel opened the show by playing some songs they had been writing with David Olney. It was a beautiful moment. John Dennis' own set - playing his album in its entirety - likewise brought up heavy feelings.
I do have to acknowledge that losing David Olney about a month after losing my father has had an effect on me. My father's passing was far less sudden and so in some ways, it has been harder to access my feelings. Somehow, the sudden loss of someone I didn't know well but whose spirit and art touched my life, has allowed me access a lot of feelings about my father's passing. Yet another gift from this great man who is gone too soon, but who is also very much still with us.
In case you missed it, here is my review of Sunshine Boys at The Basement East on 1/18/2020.
Featured Friday Playlist
I wasn't going to do a shuffle today - I am off work and I usually don't post when I am off work, but I feel such a need for connection with the Nashville music scene at large that I decided to do a quick "Music City Monday" shuffle. Enjoy!
Music City Monday Shuffle
"Since You Put It Like That" by Tim Carroll (from All You Need is More)
"Pop Tart (Queer Boy/Small Town)" by Tayls (single)
"The Truth is So Hard To Believe" by Aaron Lee Tasjan (from Karma for Cheap)
"Birches" by Peter Cooper (from Opening Day)
"Newark" by Darrin Bradbury (single)
"Little in Love" by Andrew Leahey and The Homestead (from Skyline in Central Time)
"Long Time" by Bob Lewis (from End of an Error)
VIDEO PLAYLIST
Recent and Upcoming Releases:
Recent:
11/20 Brock Zeman - Hey Tom (a collection of Tom House Songs) (LP)
12/? - Lumiere Tales - Lunarium (LP)
12/1 - Inkraktare - We Are Not Really Here (LP)
12/2 - Terry Klein - Live at KOOP (LP)
12/6 - Beauty in Chaos & Wayne Hussey (The Mission) - "The Delicate Balance of All Things" (single)
12/6 - Beat Hotel - "Feel It" (single)
12/29 - Them Jones - "The Woman is a Poor Child" (single)
12/31 - Blackfoot Gypsies - Live at The Basement (LP)
1/06 - Francesco Mariano - "Room 107" (single)
1/08 - Luis Mojica- Shaman Food (LP)
1/10 - Palm Ghosts - "Wide Awake and Waiting" (single)
1/10 - Mary Bragg and Drivin' N Cryin' - "Don't Walk Away" (cover) (single)
1/10 - Them Airs - "Food Pyramid" (single)
1/10 - Lilly Hiatt - "Brightest Star" (single)
1/10 - Strange Majik - "Lo-Fi Hi" (single)
1/10 - Dean Fields - "Armadillo" (single)
1/10- Chicago Farmer - "All in One Place" (single)
1/10 - Surrija - "Nothing Love" (single)
1/10 - RB Morris - Going Back to the Sky (LP)
1/10 - Guided By Voices - "Volcano" (single)
1/10 - Sunshine Boys - "Infinity Girl" (single)
1/11 - Dolour (Shane Tutmarc) - "The Snake Eye" (single)
1/12 - Francesco Mariano - "Nine Lives" (single)
1/13 - Lauren Anderson - "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" (cover) (single)
1/14 - Drive-By Truckers - "Thoughts and Prayers" (single)
1/16 - Margo Price - Stone Me (single)
1/17 - Mark Hummel - Wayback Machine (LP)
1/17 - Jonny Polonsky - "The Weeping Souls" (single)
1/17 - Them Airs - Union Suit XL (LP)
1/17 - Innocence Mission - See You Tomorrow (LP)
1/17 - David Dondero - The Filter Bubble Blues (LP)
1/17 - MONO INC. - "Warriors" (single)
1/19 - Merrill Beach - "Green"/"Marimba" (single)
This Week:
1/21 - Broads and Milly Hirst - "Happisburgh" (single)
1/22 - Davis Raines - Turquoise and Silver (LP)
1/24 - Kaley Nicole - Kaley Nicole (LP)
1/24 - Mrs. Henry - Live at the Casbah (LP)
1/24 - Aeronautical Pioneer - "Hop High" (single)
1/24 - Three Rivers Project - Confluence (LP)
1/24 - MONO INC. - The Book of Fire (LP)
1/24 - Dispel - Lore (LP)
Upcoming:
1/28 - Motihari Brigade - Power from Below (LP)
1/31 - Eric Brace and Last Train Home - Daytime Highs and Overnight Lows (album)
1/31 - Nick Pagliari - Midway (LP)
1/31 - Black Paisley - "Dreams" (single)
1/31 - Jolie Holland - Esconidida (Vinyl Reissue) (LP)
1/31 - John Dennis - Mortal Flames (LP)
1/31 - Emma Hill - How Could I Have Been So Wrong (EP)
1/31 - Ryab Sobb and the Dead Mall - Concrete Feelings (LP)
1/31 - Alexander Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten) + Danielle de Picciotto (Crime and The City Solution) - The Current (LP)
1/31 - Drive-By Truckers - The Unraveling (LP)
2/01 - Glenn Jones - Ready for the Good Times (LP)
2/02 - Karabas Barabas - Degenerate National Anthem (LP)
2/07 - Palm Ghosts - Wide Awake and Waiting (EP)
2/07 - Emily Zuzik - "Trouble" (single)
2/07 - Chicago Farmer - Flyover Country (LP)
2/07 - Surrija - "Barcelona" (single)
2/07 - The Flyin' A's - No Holds Barred (LP)
2/07 - Harry Stafford - "She Just Blew Me Away" (single)
2/21 - Sarah Morris - All Mine (LP)
2/21 - Kindergarten - Iphigenia (Reissue) (LP)
2/21 - Hot Club of L.A.- Cinema Swing (LP)
2/21 - MUUK - Balbuceo (LP)
2/21 - Aaron Beckum - Songs from a Triangle Room (EP)
2/21 - Every 13 Days - Étant Donnés (Reissue) (LP)
2/21 - Seablight - High-Rise Mannequins (EP)
2/28 - Kristen Englenz - Ingenue (LP)
2/28 - Close Lobsters - Post Neo Anti... (LP)
3/?? - Strange Majik - 20/20 (LP)
3/06 - Surrija - "Sylvette" (single)\
3/06 - Dean Fields - While the Baby Was Sleeping (LP)
3/06 - Broads and Milly Hirst - Ollust (LP)
3/13 - The Flatmates - The Flatmates (LP)
3/27 - Lilly Hiatt - Walking Proof (LP)
4/03 - Surrija - Surrija (LP)
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