Battle of the Bands

The WannaBeatles were invited to help judge a Battle of The Bands at the Capitol Theater in Lebanon. The event was scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 11. 

The WannaBeatles already had a presence at the Capitol Theater. We had played there last year, and were scheduled to do another concert a few weeks after this October event.

As it turned out, only one WannaBeatle was available to participate - Bloggin' Bryan. And so I went to The Capitol Theater representing The WannaBeatles; not as a performer, but as a judge, observing other performers.

In the process, I got to learn more about the Capitol Theater, from speaking to Bob Black, the owner, who has put a lot of energy and attention into beautifying the building since 2010 when he bought it.

Here's how it looked from the street as the evening began.

Art deco lighting in the ceiling - part of the makeover.

Bob told me about the adventure of finding art deco light fixtures that would enhance the classic style of the building. Searching on the internet, he found some antique overhead lamps that had been made in Germany in 1939, then installed in a theater in Oakland, California in 1941. He bought them from the theater in Oakland and had them shipped to Lebanon.

Bob has been working with other marketing people to find ways to put the 450-seat Capitol Theater to use. Amy Harris is the entertainment booker who brought in The WannaBeatles. Melody VanNus is their publicist who came up with the idea for Battle of The Bands. 

Another creative use of the theater was an interactive lecture by leadership coach John Maxwell, who was speaking in Atlanta, while his talk was simulcast in the theater, with attendees paying $99 for a ticket.

Bob is a jazz fan, and has people like pianist Beejee Adair, trumpeter Rod McGaha, and vocalist Jamie Paul perform at the Capitol. He reports Rod McGaha likes it so much he wants to come back to record his live album at The Capitol.

And of course, the Capitol Theater still shows classic movies. The lobby is decorated with classic posters, like this one from Elvis.

The Battle of the Bands was designed to showcase the musical diversity of the region. Four finalists were selected to perform, from a wide variety of musical genres.

On this particular evening, the lobby also had tables for the four artists to display their CDs and other souvenirs. 

Capitol lobby with merch tables along right side

J Collins table

Callie McKinney merch table

Voodoo Prophet merch table

The judges were assigned to a table in the back of the theater, right in front of the sound booth. I was treated to hospitality, in the form of a soda and popcorn.

"Reserved for Judges" and popcorn

hostess Danielle, married to soundman Josh

I was one of two judges. The other one, sitting beside me at the table, was Phillip Craighead, the Mayor of Lebanon. 

We were given forms to fill out for each act, rating performers in a variety of categories like "originality" and "stage presence" with a number from 1 to 6. 

The first to perform was J Collins, a country artist based in Florida. He wears jeans and a cowboy hat, and a denim jacket with his logo on the back. He brought his own band to back him up, and they came to rock. 

J Collins CD cover

J approaches his time onstage like a rock singer, with lots of energetic moves to get the crowd excited. He writes his own material, and works hard, both as a performer and as an independent promoter of his own career. He's already released two independent self-produced CDs of original material. 

The next act up was a complete change of pace, a Christian pop singer named Callie McKinney. Part of her charm was revealed spontaneously when the sound system was being tweaked for a few minutes before she started her first song - she just spoke to the audience like a casual friend, standing behind her piano, never showing any frustration, but never losing her focus about what she was doing there. 

When they finally started, she was unfazed by the delay, and delivered a pure vocal performance over her delicate songs. Callie's three-piece band included her younger brother on drums and harmony vocals, whose long curly locks resembled hers, and evoked a bit of Robert Plant. 

During a break between sets, Paula Hamblen, the manager, introduced the judges, which led to a mention of The WannaBeatles.  

General manager and stage announcer, Paula Hamblen

And they played our video "We Wanna Meet Paul," both to promote our (then) upcoming concert at The Capitol (Nov. 14), and to promote our upcoming appearance at Rippy's in downtown Nashville, across the street from the Bridgestone Arena, to celebrate Paul McCartney's appearance there October 16.

But that's another blog. Or two.

The third act was pure heavy metal, a group called Voodoo Prophet. They had elaborate stage setup, with three banners draped across the full width of the stage.

When they started, they were loud, and tight as could be. Their lead singer growled like Cookie Monster with laryngitis. They executed their metal licks with fanatical precision, even flinging their long hair together in time with the music. 

They ran into the audience with their wireless guitars, and worked at maximum energy to deliver their show and engage the audience. It was quite a sight to see, and they rated high marks for their professionalism.

Photographer Jim Young caught some photos of the evening, including this shot of the bass player from Voodoo Prophet getting into it.

The last act to play was another complete change of pace: The Blues Brokers, a local R&B show band, with a horn section and several singers. 

Their musical focus was classic soul music and some early horn-based rock songs, like Chicago's "Twenty Five or Six to Four." They were good at what they do, and did a great job with the Blues Brothers material, but because they were covering older songs, they lost points for originality.

Phillip and I were aware of our predicament as judges: we were scoring all the acts fairly high, because they were all very professional in their own way. How could we pick a winner?

When Paula, the manager who was hosting the show, gathered our score sheets and prepared to announce the winner, she mentioned how close the scores were. She even paused to invite audience cheering to break a tie between Callie McKinney and Voodoo Prophet. It was very close, but the final prize of $1000 went to Callie McKinney.

Thanks to Bob, Paula, Melody, Amy, Josh, Danielle, photographer Jim Young, the musical performers and all the other folks who help make The Capitol Theater such a special place. We're glad to play there, and glad to support the Battle of the Bands.

Bloggin' Bryan 14Dec2014

Columbia By Bike

On Saturday October 4, The WannaBeatles played Puckett's in Columbia.

Here's the hand-painted sign they put in their window.

Columbia is a charming town with its dignified courthouse on the square, like so many other Southern towns. It was a beautiful afternoon when we arrived.

The view of the courthouse 

from the sidewalk outside of Puckett's.

One thing that made this particular gig different was the presence of our "paperback writer," Sally Burbank. 

Sally, the wife of WannaBeatle Nathan, is also a doctor and a writer. In addition to various magazine articles and Chicken Soup for the Soul contributions, she has written and published her first full-length book, "Patients I Will Never Forget." 

Here's what it looks like:

It's available at Amazon.

The book was released a few months ago, and we're happy to support Sally by offering her book at our merch table, alongside our tee shirts and bumper stickers.

Dr. Sally and Nathan bringing books into Puckett's

Sally's book being out also gives us a reason to play 

"Paperback Writer," another cool Beatles song.

To make the evening even more memorable, Sally decided to ride her bike from Nashville to Columbia that afternoon. That's over forty miles, which is no small amount of exercise.

Nathan was her driver - the guy who spotted her in Columbia, and offered her a ride for the final mile of her journey. 

Puckett's is nice enough to serve us dinner when we play there. This time, as we gathered around the table, we got to hear Sally's account of negotiating the various traffic patterns and construction sites along Highway 31 between Nashville and Columbia.

Some people think the music business is rough, but the example of a doctor who publishes her own book and tackles a forty-mile bicycle ride makes us look pretty wimpy.

David and Nathan setting up onstage at Puckett's

We had a good night. We were proud to play "Paperback Writer" and announce Sally's new book. And we feel healthier, and a little bit exhausted, just thinking about that long bike ride.

Bloggin' Bryan 2December2014

Sewanee

Sewanee: The town. The school. The gig.

It's a small town -- really more of a village -- sharing a mountain top with an illustrious college. The mountain is Monteagle, and the school, often called Sewanee, is officially named The University of the South.  

Sewanee is an odd combination of country village and college town. It's more interesting and sophisticated than other small towns, but more relaxed and rustic than other college towns like Athens or Chapel Hill.

The WannaBeatles played there on September 26 at the 4th annual Angel Fest, which occurs in the newly constructed Angel Park. 

This is the poster they printed up to advertise our appearance. We saw it displayed around town, in the windows of restaurants and galleries across the street from the park. 

The Angel Fest is a community event that connects many people, businesses, and activities. An animal shelter was featured among the booths on the street.

The music stage is small but charming, with large beams forming a large A-shaped shelter over a geometric slab. 

We had Ricky Armentrout running sound for us, an old friend from Puckett's.

Ricky brought his daughter Vera to help out. We can remember when she was about 6 years old, back when Ricky did our sound at Puckett's Grocery in Lieper's Fork.

A view of Nathan from sound board

It was great to see a dancing toddler at our soundcheck

 And here's another one getting into the music

The grassy area in front of the stage was used for the first annual Canine Musical Sit, which is like musical chairs for dogs. Each dog walks with his owner around the circle, and when the music stops, the dogs sit. Last one to sit is eliminated, and on to the next round.

Conestants in position with their obedient dogs

The winner of the dog sit was a young girl with plenty of enthusiasm. 

Sewanee was very hospitable to us. We were given a room to change clothes across University Avenue at Locals Gallery, where we discovered the architectural skills of John Goodson. He had remodelled the gallery, installing beautiful craftsman style woodwork, and also designed the distinctive lighting along the periphery of the Angel Park. 

Right next door to Locals gallery was The Blue Chair Cafe & Tavern, where we were treated to a variety of craft beers and fine local burgers. Our host Jimmy offered us a taster's board of several different ales and stouts.

Checking out the beer variety with Jimmy at The Blue Chair

The show started at 7:30, with people sitting in folding chairs. The brick area in front of the stage gradually filled up with dancers, and the evening ended like a large fraternity party, with the crowd throbbing to the music and having a great time.

After the show, we returned to The Blue Chair, where we were treated to home made pies and ice cream. We had our picture taken with the woman who made the pies, along with her daughters. 

Here we are with the nice folks at The Blue Chair

Thanks Sewanee for a wonderful time!

Bloggin' Bryan 29Nov2014

TPAC and Cool Springs Pt. 2

Our evening gig on Sept. 18 was a party for the Endodontic Associates, at their Cool Springs location. 

They had erected a huge tent over their parking lot, and set up tables with record album covers as decorations. They had even installed a chandelier decorated with vinyl albums.

It was a small stage, but we made it work. 

Technical note: it's not your eyes making the photo appear blurry. It's Bloggin' Bryan not yet having learned to hold the cell phone absolutely still while taking a photo. 

We had Allan Waugh, our favorite sound man, there to set up the PA.

Allan setting kick drum mic)

David, Allan and Nathan setting up

We knew from the decorations and the hippie costumes that we were dealing with people in the mood to hear the music and have a good time.

But we didn't know that they also had planned to bring The Love Bus to the party.

Big crowd at Love Bus in the parking lot

Big Love Bus is an imaginative company, operating in Nashville and Knoxville, that has bought, refurbished and painted some old school buses, turning each one into a "party bus" with a distinctly 60's theme. 

We got to pose in front of it.

And we got to go inside the bus, and hang out a while.

We were so comfortable inside the bus that we turned it into a mobile studio. Dennis used his portable micro recorder to rehearse and record the four of us reciting a promotional spot for Hippie Radio's upcoming "Groovin' and Cruisin'" party.

On board the bus, we met Glenn, our driver. We learned that he is not only an official school bus driver but also an elected City Commissioner for Kingston Springs, TN. 

Glenn's story includes living in school buses growing up on The Farm in Summertown, which is mentioned in an article about Glenn and the Big Love Bus that was published by The Tennessean. 

Here's the link to that article: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/cheatham/2014/10/15/wheels-bus-come-full-circle-remick/17248519/

We made plans to connect with the Love Bus again. We invited them into our plans to celebrate Paul McCartney's return to Nashville. We set up an afternoon show at Rippy's rooftop, across the street from the Bridgestone Arena, on Oct. 16, the night of McCartney's show. We invited the Love Bus to bring nearly two dozen dancers from Belmont to the Arena as a "flash mob" on the street responding to our music coming from the rooftop. We had to set up a parking spot on 5th Avenue in front of Rippy's explicitly for the Love Bus.

But that's another blog.

Meanwhile, we had a good time playing for the Endodontic Associates as they pretended to be hippies for an evening. And after a day that included playing earlier at TPAC with Richard Courtney, we knew the wheels on the bus had gone round and round for The WannaBeatles - one more day unlike any other, making music, making friends, and having fun. 

Bloggin' Bryan 11November 2014

TPAC and Cool Springs Pt. 1

On September 18, The WannaBeatles played two gigs in one day.

The first was at TPAC, an event co-sponsored by Vanderbilt called Inside Out of the Lunch Box, a monthly program designed to connect TPAC to the community. They hand out 300 box lunches to first 300 people to respond. Students and other visitors arrive at 11:30, then the show runs from noon till 1 pm.

The TPAC show gave us a chance to collaborate with our friend Richard Courtney, Beatles fan supreme and co-author of "Come Together: The Business Wisdom of The Beatles." 

Richard with Kristin Horsley in the wings before the show

Our show consisted of Richard at a podium, introducing us, and then giving mini-lectures between songs, each anecdote providing an insight about a particular song or personality trait of the Beatles, which we would then demonstrate in a live performance of the song.

It turned out to be a delightful combination of fascinating lecture and music concert, more interesting than either would have been without the other.

Working at TPAC meant dealing with high levels of professionalism, with all the fine staff and equipment of the Polk Theater, which seats over a thousand people. 

Here's a shot David took from his drum kit during our sound check:

Here's David in our dressing room.

And the four box lunches they left for us in the dressing room:

It was a fun gig, made even more memorable by the photographs taken by Steve Green, a Beatles fan officially employed by Vanderbilt. Here are some shots taken by Steve that capture that day at TPAC.

We had access to the full video capability at Polk Theater, maximizing our synchronized version of the songs The Beatles performed on Ed Sullivan.

Here Comes The Sun

Nathan rocking

Nashville's favorite singing drummer

Dennis really rockin'

The WannaBeatles horn section

(It looks like Dennis is playing a guitar, 

but his amplifier produces the sound of a trumpet.)

Nathan on keyboard

A serious WannaBeatle at the drums

Guitar heroes

 Onstage with video

Richard tells another Fab Four story

Dennis on acoustic

David and drum set in red light

The audience at TPAC

Wireless WannaBeatle out in the audience

Panorama stage shot

Gail Carr Williams of TPAC

There was no time to waste after that show. We gathered out in the lobby, signing CDs and meeting new friends. Then we packed up to drive down to Cool Springs to play at a private party.

Stay tuned for the followup blog about that afternoon, and our first encounter with The Love Bus.

Thanks to Steve Green for the wonderful photography (not the blurry ones), Richard Courtney for partnering on a unique show at TPAC, and to Kristin and Gail at TPAC for helping everything run smoothly.

Bloggin' Bryan, 11November 2014