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