Saturday night started off right with Travisfest at Rocketown. The 4th annual kid-organized concert was held to assist Travis Morgan, a "Rocketown kid," who was in an accident three years ago that left him in a coma. While he is no longer comatosed, his recovery has been extremely slow, so the concert was organized to raise money to help him with his medical expenses.

Travisfest also happened to be the final show in the Rocketown building, although the occasion didn’t seem to be marred by any melodramatic "last show in the old building" feelings; apparently the new Rocketown location will be bigger and badder than ever before. (More details about TBA).

There was a tremendous turnout, making the benefit for Travis a wild success, and making the whole night a double whammy. I was able to catch several of the bands that played, including Roaming Cloud, Alcina and Goodbye Apathy. The latter two put on particularly compelling performances because their band members are longtime freinds of Travis, and were therefore especially glad to be playing at their friend’s benefit. Travis’s parents were there as well, talking to the countless people who have been inspired by Travis and his unbelievable recovery. While I felt somewhat out of place and in danger of being slammed by a teenager in a mosh pit, I couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that hundreds of kids were wearing the t-shirts sold in Travis’s honor, and found myself wishing I still had money from my parents because hell — who doesn’t love supporting a cause?

Everyone being there to support the Morgans, each other and their friend’s band was the best thing about Saturday night. It was really cool to see so many youth form a community through Rocketown in an effort to care for someone in need. And, might I add, even the way they reacted to the band performances and the music was very supportive and "communal" as well.

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, the Rocketown crowd will be the Infinity Cat kids in four or five years. The fist pumping, the synchronized sing-alongs and crowd-surfing, the roaring and screaming? All were executed with such vigor that shivers were sent down my spine, and I feared that I was going to be caught in a youth hipster revolt of some sort, lead by Travis’s best friend and lead singer of Goodbye Apathy, Brett Ison. But no – everybody was simply praising Travis Morgan and commemorating the old Rocketown building in the proper way. Speaking of which, everyone brought old pictures and memorabilia to put into a coffin, which will be built into the new location in June. (See above pic).

After witnessing so many teens unite over such a personal issue, I can say that Travisfest 2010 was definitely a grand slam.

Note: If you’re interested in donating to the Morgan family, send a check to Rocketown and write "Travis Morgan Donation" on the memo line. They’ll take care of the rest. – Erin Manning

Probably the coolest concept of any of the films of NaFF could be found in Don’t Quit Your Daydream, a documentary by and about LA-based band The Good Listeners. They took a month-long cross-country trip to 11 different cities, where they stopped for one day, met a random artist or musician and collaborated with them on an original song. The result was a very realistic portrayal of the often financially unfulfilling lifestyle of destitution that seems to be the price to pay in exchange for the pursuit of a daydream as a career. It was also an attempt to explain why band members Nathan Khyber and Clark Stiles (and so many others) do what they do. The duo kindly sat down with me once they had finished playing the NaFF closing party with Sam and Ruby. I learned that the film was initially intended as an attempt at a new direction for their music. I also learned from them the sacrficies they are still willing to make for a career in music.

Said the band about their approach to music these days, "[I]t’s a new era….It’s such a difficult environment for musicians that you gotta do whatever you can. We want to come and play Nashville, but we can’t afford a band. Do we want to do acoustic? No. It’s a snoozefest. Let’s fuckin’ have video that’s in a suitcase that we can bring on the plane so we can actually have full production. We would rather have a band, but you have to make these decisions. It’s pragmatism in tough times…."

Before The Good Listeners were influenced and inspired by complete strangers, their sound was comparable to The Beatles, Beck, Radiohead and Pink Floyd. After recording in places such as a horse barn, a streamline trailer park and an extra-terrestrial center, with characters as varied as Entourage’s Adrien Grenier, Daddy Mack and a drunk man who wandered onto the set, it would be nearly impossible to predict what a Good Listener album would sound like. Curious?

Initially, listening to Don’t Quit Your Daydream was like being in a trance, but once you watch the movie and see how each song is created – and the nonsense that accompanied those songs – you are presented with an entirely new set of ears and an altered state of mind. Upon listening to the album once more, you’ll feast upon a musical mad lib of experimental, almost psychedelic, indie pop/rock, while reminiscing over the shenanigans you witnessed in the film. If you are a musician, or an artist, or someone who has ever attempted to make a living via creative endeavors, you might even taste a bit of bittersweet nostalgia.

Thanks to their tenacity and their ingenuity, it looks like sweet success is all The Good Listeners will be tasting for a while. The boys are going to continue playing live shows at film festivals around the country to promote the documentary. They also have plans for a new record, another film-related idea and day jobs as independent contractors if they end up deciding that they want to quit their daydreams. From the looks of things, though, that won’t be necessary. –Erin Manning

Wondering what to do tonight? 

Try The End, where Erick Brown from Stuck Lucky is headlining his side project Rainbowdragoneyes, with Allofher Twitch, a Secret Policeman’s Ball and Teenage Reverse Minds on Fire. $5

Or, if you’re feeling a little light in the pockets…

Check out The Basement for New Faces Night, with Danielle Bloom, Jessica Rae, Tribella, The Rouge, and more. FREE!

Or stay at home and do nothing and be a bum and eat ice cream and watch the trash they call music that is American Idol. –Fletcher Watson

I got a chance to sit down with Nashville duo Sam and Ruby who performed at the closing party for the Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) on Thursday evening. Two songs from their most recentl album The Here And The Now were featured on the soundtrack of the documentary "Westbound," which premiered at the festival.

"Westbound" tells the story of Adolph Vandertie, "Duke of the Hobos," who led an extraordinary life during the Great Depression as a woodworking/whittling artist. He is remembered for his uniquely beautiful pieces that have served to perpetuate the tramp art culture. Sam and Ruby contributed the songs "Heaven’s My Home" and "What Do I Do Now," which were impressively perfect for the movie. It is somewhat freakish how accurately they tapped into the variety of emotions that seemed to arise as a result of hearing Adolph Vandertie’s story. This is probably because they both related to Adolph and the hobo culture, as well as the shared sentiment of "doing the best we can" regardless of the circumstances, (which was pretty apparent after they had the experience of meeting Adolph, playing the songs for him in the nursing home and seeing the finished product). Now that they have been travelling the country and making music together for the past several years, it is interesting to witness how they’ve come full cirucle and ended up back in Nashville.

It was also cool to hear that they still try to "keep it local" and stay involved in the music community with their work. They mentioned being fans of Andy Davis and Tyler James (of course), but also used a number of other notable Nashville musicians on their soundtrack recordings, including Katie Herzig (who actually co-wrote "Heaven’s My Home" with Ruby), Jeremy Lister, Rachel Lampa, Jamelle Fraley, Michael Inge and even a Fisk Jubilee singer. On the "not-so-local" side of things, they are going to be opening for Delbert McClinton (my hero) for several tour dates in the northeast, so hats off to them for scoring a gig with a badass.

It seems that Sam and Ruby are doing quite well, and will only continue to explore new areas of the music industry and spread their creativity within and beyond Nashville. When asked if anything else has come specifically as a result of being involved with "Westbound," Ruby’s answer was, "…[A]s musicians, you write your songs, but you have to figure out how you want to get them out there, and we really feel the sense of community most in the film world. This has really been kind of a pivotal thing for us. We did Sundance this year for the first time, and now the NaFF, which is like the ‘be all, end all’ for us, and we feel like this is where we want to be. This is how we want to get our music out there." – Erin Manning

Only a few things would have convinced me to skip out on the Naked Without Us happenings, and one of those things was Chris Pureka’s show, which occured at The Basement on Wednesday evening. The night started off with a solid set by Nashville folk/bluegrass, singer/songwriter Jesse Lafser. Backed by another acoustic guitar player and two background singers, Lafser wooed the crowd with her simple and effortless songs, seamlessly moving through her material with her almost spoken/rambling style and breathless moanings. Her passionate singing for the Tennessee hills, lost lovers and the yearning for everything she hasn’t yet found were most effectively communicated through the songs "Tiny Wars," and "The Rose and The Briar."

The excitement behind her performance was admirably obvious, probably because she was opening up for one of her idols and biggest influences – Chris Pureka. (Compare Lafser’s new material to Pureka’s old and you’ll see what I mean.) Lafser is currently promoting her new album The Living Room Sessions. Score a copy of it on her website. You can also catch her playing live again on Friday evening at Music Row Bar at 8 pm. (I’ll also be playing. Hint, hint. Wink, wink).

By the time Lafser finished playing, the crowd had livened up a bit, slammed down some drinks and were ready to begin ogling over Portland, Maine’s folk singer Chris Pureka and her new backing band. They are currently on a national tour to promote her new album How I Learned To See In The Dark, and after listening to the new songs for the first time, I can safely say that Pureka has managed to outdo her fantastic previous works by exploring a new side of folk. With the added percussion and incorporation of dreamy color chords, it was like listening to Gillian Welch and Patty Griffin through a waterfall in an African rainforest. Or watching Tarzan on mute. Her voice seems to have grown into this guttural yet unconstrained whimper that manages to wrap around the words she gasped to the crowd, as we all sat there dumbfounded and transfixed on the four seemingly shy girls on stage.

Use your ears to interpret what I’m trying to say, and listen to her album. Then go chase her on the rest of her tour. – Erin Manning

You might think that all the weekend’s festivities and fun are going to end Sunday night, and that you’ll have to suffer through another hard work week until you can have fun once more. Think again!

This Monday, April 26th, The Belcourt is hosting a listening party for Evan P. Donohue’s first full length album, titled Rhythm & Amplitude, and it is to be (unofficially) bookended by a gathering at The Villager beforehand for some tasty beverages, and The 5 Spot afterward for more tasty beverages and sweet dance moves.

The actual event at The Belcourt is free, and the bar will be open for business. Says Evan about the event, "we’ll be playing the record, three songs at a time, with commentary about lyrical content, song context, notable production techniques and such and such." 

We encourage everyone and their dog to go to the event, and to support Evan’s debut independent release. It will make that gruling work week seem one day shorter, and the weekend one day longer. – Fletcher Watson

Our own Erin Manning participated heavily in the viewings of this year’s Nashville Film Festival. In the next few days we’ll be posting reviews, interviews and other news all about it. Hold onto your popcorn. – Deli Staff

Go see Nashville’s Luke And The Late Nights this Friday, April 23rd at The Basement. As a part of Chicken Ranch Records Nite, LATLN will be opening for bands The Clutters, We Were the States, and Tiger! Tiger!.

This is not a show to be fashionably late to, friends. Be there by 9pm! $5. –Mackenzie Grosser

So many bands in Nashville combine rock with country and folk, and they call it Americana – a term used so freely that it carries little weight. However, Jacob Jones may have achieved it with Bound for Glory, his sophomore album which sounds as traveled as he is.

If the name of Jones’ album Bound for Glory rings a bell, that’s because it was fittingly stolen from Woody Guthrie’s autobiography of the same name. Jones has been playing the songs from this album in bars and venues all over the country, but on April 15th, it was officially released with a showcase at The Basement.

North Carolina’s American Aquarium was on the bill along with Go Long Mule, Chicago’s version of Kopecky Family Band. Some of the crowd from Electric Western Records (Jones’ label, which he started with fellow musician Reno Bo) made it out to the show as well as a few local musicians and one especially entertaining, beer-clutching showgoer who interpreted portions of Jones’ set through dance.

Jones looked the part of a traveling song-and-dance man. Donning a white outfit and matching hat, the getup would have seemed theatric if Jones hadn’t delivered such a genuine sound. It’s the type of music one would hear on a Friday night, coming from the tiny corner stage of a booze-soaked roadside venue – right before the bar fight.

Bound for Glory is simple yet poetic; its lyrics illuminate the ordinary and the commonplace in stories of love and travel. Besides some of the best tunes from the album ("The Blues Ain’t Got Nothing on You," "Broadway Queen," "Bonnie and Clyde"), a few new ones worked into the set like, "Slave to the Grave" and "Cold Winds," as well as a cover of "The Ballad of John and Yoko."

It’s no surprise that Jones writes about travel; he has uprooted several times, living in such different locations as New York, Indiana and Georgia. With mandolins, fiddle and upright bass, Bound for Glory carries a little bit of the places Jones has visited, and creates a musical map of his own world. – Jessica Pace

There were about six thousand different things to attend in Nashville on Saturday. First, there was the Record Store Day at The Groove, where I caught the tail end of a seemingly sassy, oh-so-glam performance by dance-rock/garage-pop girl group Illnana. Since this was only their second show, the Deli will likely be covering them more extensively in the future, but for now, check out the song "Sweat You."

Next, seven-piece bluegrass outfit Danger And The Steel Cut Oats played some carefree tunes that were perfect for breezy weather. The combination of the lead singer’s (Caylin Cervetti’s) voice and the feel and variety of the band’s material was particularly interesting – somewhere between Allison Krauss/Robert Plant, Neko Case’s ingenuity and the youthfulness of our beloved Taylor Swift.

By that point, the gravel parking lot was flooded with listeners awaiting Emmylou Harris‘ performance, which was more than anyone could have asked for (considering she sat in a lawn chair in the sun for two hours before it was time for her set). She sound checked with her song "Jupiter Rising," and then took some time to talk about her animal shelter Bonaparte’s Retreat before playing "Big Black Dog" which she wrote in honor of one of the dogs that benefitted from her organization.

After some record browsing and a brief timeout at 3 Crow, I wandered over to Third Man Studios, hoping to catch a go-kart auction and spontaneous performance by "The Racontwoers." Sadly I missed all of the action, so I accepted my fate, and my consolation prize: Record Store Day Pt. 2 at Grimey’s.

When I arrived, things were firing on all cylinders. Even the parking lot crowd was bumping and grinding to some transitional music (Genuwine’s "My Pony" being the crowd favorite), provided by the boys from Nashville’s Dead.

Daniel Pujol played afterwards, which brought the energy level to an all-day high – excluding, of course, the powers of Madame Emmylou – with his sentiment of celebration over the release of his new 7" vinyl album. (I listened to this a few weeks ago and hot damn! it’s goooood.) This was one of the highlights of my day, considering I found a chair in the shade behind the Southern Girls Rock ‘n Roll Camp table, which meant there was good listenin’ and a fine view. It was tempting to catch Bela Fleck at Centennial Park in honor of Earth Day, but I had to make my way over to the theater for the Nashville Film Festival. More details on both of those events are coming soon. –Erin Manning

Friday evening kicked off the Deli Magazine’s Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) experience with the screening of The White Stripes’ documentary, Under Great White Northern Lights. The film showed footage of the legendary two-piece rock band that launched the career of the Nashville staple, Jack White. It seemed impossible to admire him any more than we already did – what with his dominating influence and wide-spread popularity – but some people probably were not aware of what a unique approach he and Meg White took to their tour of Canada in 2007, and this documentary surely opened their eyes.

The film primarily featured live concert footage from the countless shows they performed in very obscure "venues" of each province and territory, including locations such as a bowling alley, a bus, a YMCA and the meeting center for an Inuit tribe, intersperesed with interviews from the band. The concert footage was interesting because it was supported by insights from Jack and Meg. They spoke about the details concerning their aesthetic, songwriting, work ethic and anything else a lot else you might not have expected Jack to reveal about the inspiration behind his creative genius.

Although the movie took place in the faraway realm of the White Stripes, interestingly enough, all of the music was mastered at Nashville’s own Georgetown Studios (and we love to see our local celebs keepin’ it real and representin’). Despite the fact there wasn’t much else about Nashville, Under Great White Northern Lights was consistently personal and genuine. It was definitely a worthwhile endeavor to make an entire documentary about the Stripes, rather than a brief, 60-minute DVD of concert footage.

Nashville should consider the legacy of Jack White and his White Stripes one of its most prized possessions. – Erin Manning

The drive from Nashville to Murfreesboro can be made a little easier now that so many solid bands are emerging from there. Youth Empowerment through Arts and Humanities (YEAH), a youth-oriented artistic organization, has gathered a few local flavors of indie rock for a showcase on April 17th.

Gold Sounds are on the bill, as well as acoustic singer/songwriter David Sidney, lackadaisical jam-rockers Paper Not Plastic and Freak Out the Kids, an electronic group composed of two gentlemen who plan on changing their name to Sponge Brain and Clock of a Heart.

The fun begins at 8pm and is sure to please a rocking palette. – Jessica Pace