In addition to the awards ceremony, the AMA puts on a pretty hot music festival for the 3 days following the ceremony. Â It’s a great chance to see some old favorites and hear some up & coming artists. Â Grouped by the “how” I heard them versus the “where” or “when” here are some of the highlights I caught of the festival.
Showcase Performances. Â This a code name for hearing music at one of the local bars. Â The festival kicked off on a high note with Corb Lund performing at the Mercy Lounge right after the awards show. Â For a lone singer-songwriter, he really had the crowd worked up and capped it with a performance of Bible On the Dash with co-writer Hayes Carll. Thursday night, Â Twangville favorite Lydia Loveless turned in a great performance at The Basement. Â Later that evening Sons of Fathers converted a venue full of people who were hearing them for the first time into hardcore fans. Â And while I seemed to be the only one in the room who wasn’t already on the bandwagon, The Deep Dark Woods followed that with a performance that blew me away. Â On Friday, in a larger venue, The Dunwells played Public Square Park for a free show as the openers for the BoDeans. Â Nashville music fans, a discerning lot, got some insight into why the mix of rock and twang from this group has turned the band into a must-see act.
Richard Thompson & Sara Watkins at XM Studio, photo by Krissie Gregory
Radio Tapings. Â Satellite and Internet radio channels used the opportunity of all the great musicians in town to tape some single songs and multi-artist segments for later playback, and in some cases live broadcast. Â My favorite was an XM broadcast featuring Steve Forbert, Jason Isbell, Richard Thompson, and Sara Watkins. Â Although no one in the group is a slouch, Thompson had the audience and the artists on the stage in awe of his guitar playing. Â Perhaps it was best summed up when Watkins switched from guitar to fiddle with the comment, “I hope he can’t play one of these.” Â And you can never have too much ’52 Vincent Black Lightning. Â An honorable mention goes to Corb Lund and Hayes Carll doing a taping for CMT Edge of the aforementioned Bible On the Dash. Â The duo have clearly spent a lot of time together, finishing each other’s sentences in the interview questions that followed. Â More than anything, though, you just know there was some autobiographical content in the song about being pulled over for speeding. Â Officer, “my foot was heavy with redemption…”
Admission Sign, photo by Tacy Judd
Registration Bag. Â When you checked in for Festival credentials, you got a bag full of magazines and flyers, and buried down at the bottom several recently released, or soon to be released CDs. Â The Wood Brothers doubled our pleasure with 2 discs, Volumes 1 & 2 from live performances. Â The recordings are part Creedence Clearwater Revival, part New Orleans second line, and a sprinkling of insights on the relationship between bars and heaven. Â Amy Black caught my attention with a disc that’s a musical variety show that I’m still finding new sounds on. Â And Trevor Alguire dropped one in that even on first listen is like an old favorite sweater. Â His voice wraps around his songs delivering warmth and sincerity and wry observation. Â And his guitar on Darknessreally conveys an anxiety that makes it my favorite on the album.
That’s just a quick take from me. Â Mayer is going to paint a more detailed picture with multiple posts over the next few days that will have you lined up to go to Nashville for next year’s event.
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About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.