Sounds music notes

Grindstone cowboy celebrates one-year anniversary with May 6 KentucKy derby Party, craiG caMPbell to PerforM at his eaGleville venue

BrEAk OuT ThE hATS, fascinators and seersucker suits to celebrate Grindstone Cowboy’s one-year anniversary with a special Kentucky Derby-themed party on Saturday, May 6. Opened by country hitmaker Craig Campbell and wife Mindy in 2022, the popular coffee shop, restaurant and music venue will feature live music, mint juleps, sweet tea, prizes for the best hat and for picking the winning horse, and more that day.

Doors of Grindstone Cowboy, located at 115 Main St. in Eagleville, Tennessee, will open at 7 a.m. with free live music starting at 10 a.m. Craig Campbell will deliver a special performance at 3 p.m.

For more on the Grindstone Cowboy, including its menu and information on other upcoming events, visit thegrindstonecowboy.com.

Campbell served as a keyboard player for Luke Bryan and Tracy Byrd prior to launching his solo career in country music. With hits including “Family Man,” “Outta My Head,” “Fish,” “Keep Them Kisses Comin’” and “Outskirts of Heaven,” Campbell’s sound balances traditional values and modern industry trends.

He now operates Grindstone Records and has been busy recording and releasing his own music as well as signing other artists to his label.

Grindstone recently released Campbell’s 16-song The Lost Files – Exhibit A, his first full-length album in 10 years, and the artist will continue touring in promotion of the album and its first single, “Tractor Songs,” written by his buddy Walker Hayes.

For updates on tour dates and more on Craig Campbell, visit craigcampbell.tv.

Jazzfest 2023 brinGs

sMooth sounds to fountains at Gateway May 6

ThE NExT ChAPTEr OF JAzzFEST will kick off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, at The Fountains at Gateway in Murfreesboro.

The annual Murfreesboro tradition, which for 25 years hosted student jazz ensembles and professional talent on the Murfreesboro Public Square, will keep the jazz playing at its new home.

Many area school jazz bands will participate in this year’s fest, as will Vinnie and the Hitmen—a Nashville-based 14-piece horn band playing instrumental arrangements of classic R&B and pop tunes—the First Fruit Jazz Project, and the Wendel Werner & Terry Schmidt Jazz Duo.

The community music festival is once again presented free to the public; attendees can bring chairs if they like.

The Fountains at Gateway is located at 1500 Medical Center Pkwy., Murfreesboro. For more information on the 2023 Murfreesboro JazzFest, visit borojazzfest.com.

2023 M Urfreesboro J Azz F Est S Chedule

 saturday, May 6

MaIn stage

10 a.m.

Wendel Werner & Terry Schmidt Jazz duo

11 a.m.

MTSu Jazz Band

11:30 a.m.

La vergne high Jazz Band rockvale high Jazz Band riverdale high Jazz Band

12 p.m.

12:30 p.m.

1 p.m.

Central Magnet Jazz Band

1:30 p.m.

Oakland high Jazz Band vinnie and the hitmen

2 p.m.

3 p.m.

Siegel high Jazz Band

3:30 p.m.

Blackman high Jazz Band

4 p.m.

Smyrna high Jazz Band

5 p.m.

First Fruit Jazz Project second stage victory drumline

11 a.m.

11:30 a.m.

Stewart’s Creek Middle Jazz Band rocky Fork Middle Jazz Band rockvale Middle Jazz Band

12 p.m.

12:30 p.m.

1 p.m.

St. rose Jazz Band

1:30 p.m.

Providence Christian Academy Jazz Band

3 p.m.

Blackman Middle Jazz Band

3:30 p.m.

Oakland Middle Jazz Band

Music Notes

May 20 MixtaPe show suPPorts alzheiMer’s tennessee

MixTAPE, ThE POPuLAr LOCAL BANd celebrating the music and style of the 1980s, will play a benefit at Hop Springs on Saturday, May 20, in support of Alzheimer’s Tennessee.

Alzheimer’s Tennessee invites all ages to join the party as the group raises money and awareness to support those battling Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

The May 20 show kicks off at 7 p.m. and the evening will feature a special Purple Rain signature cocktail, food trucks and a full night of ’80s music.

Find tickets for the May 20 Rockin’ Against Alzheimer’s event with MixTape at Hop Springs at ticketweb.com.

Alzheimer’s Tennessee serves those facing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, promotes brain health through education, champions global research, prevention and treatment efforts, provides family support and financial assistance, offers community and professional education, and advocates for the needs and rights of those with Alzheimer’s disease.

It operates a 24-hour helpline, 1-800-ALZ-4283, for people with memory loss, caregivers, family members, healthcare professionals and the public to call for assistance.

Alzheimer’s Tennessee also runs an adult day care in Knox County.

The group, once part of the National Alzheimer’s Association, returned to its original independent status under the name Alzheimer’s Tennessee in 2011 to ensure that funds raised in Tennessee go to support local families within the state. Alzheimer’s Tennessee now operates offices in Knoxville, Cookeville, Johnson City, Franklin, Tullahoma and Jackson.

For more information on Alzheimer’s Tennessee, visit alztennessee.org.

JiM hurst, J.P. corMier celebrate GallaGher Guitar co. birthday with concert, worKshoPs, JaM sessions

MurFrEESBOrO-BASEd guiTAr BuiLdEr gALLAghEr guiTAr CO. will celebrate its 58th anniversary on May 26 and 27 with concerts, workshops, jam sessions and presentations at its Walnut Street shop and at the nearby First Baptist Church fellowship hall.

The weekend kicks off with a gathering and jam at Gallagher Guitar Co. (118 N. Walnut St., Murfreesboro) from 5–8 p.m. Friday, May 26.

Doors to the building will reopen at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 27, followed by presentations by David Mathis, David Tipton, Steve Kerr and Don Gallagher at 10.

Jamming will continue throughout the day and Gallagher players Jim Hurst and J.P. Cormier will host workshops at the facility at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Hurst and Cormier will later perform a closing concert at the Murfreesboro First Baptist Church fellowship hall (200 E. Main St.) at 6 p.m.

All activities are free to attend, though Gallagher Guitar Co. will accept donations for the artists and expenses. For more information, email gallagherguitarco@gmail.com or visit gallagherguitar.com.

blacK Joe lewis & the honeybears hit Murfreesboro May 18

BLACk JOE LEWiS & ThE hONEyBEArS will guide its national tour through Murfreesboro, making a May 18 stop at Hop Springs.

The Texas-based group has been playing its soulful, funky, rock ’n’ roll jams—dripping in slide guitar and a little humor—for 15 years now, keeping alive the now somewhat vintage concept of a hard-working touring guitar rock band.

Black Joe Lewis has seemingly never been one who tried to fit into a particular stereotype, growing up listening to a mix of grunge rock, rap music and Prince. He says he picked up guitar while working as a youth in an Austin, Texas, pawn shop handling, buying, selling and restocking the instruments.

Today, Black Joe—a name proudly taken from the antebellum Stephen Foster tune “Old Black Joe,” which to some may represent slave days and racial oppression—may pair a cowboy hat with his gold chains and Jordans.

And he leads his band back on the road on an extensive tour, following a stint working construction in Texas while the live music industry offered little opportunity during the height of the pandemic, according to an interview with NPR.

The Thursday, May 18, show at Hop Springs Beer Park kicks off at 8 p.m. Tickets, starting at $20, are available at ticketweb.com. Hop Springs is located at 6790 John Bragg Hwy, Murfreesboro.

Following the Murfreesboro gig, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears hit the Southern Skies Music Festival in Knoxville on May 20, and then play an Atlanta engagement on May 21.

Positive country live: May 7 country concert features larry Gatlin, collin raye, douG Mathis, t. GrahaM brown and others

POSiTivE COuNTry LivE! presents a star-studded country concert event at The Capitol Theatre, located at 110 W. Main St., Lebanon, on Sunday, May 7.

Billed as “Amazing Voices Making Joyful Noises,” the show will feature performers including Larry Gatlin, Collin Raye, T. Graham Brown, John Berry, Doug Mathis, Jon Brennan, Glen Templeton, Val Storey and Hunter Lott. Mathis, a proponent of the “positive country” genre—country music with messages of faith, family and home—is the founder and host of Positive Country and an online radio station and YouTube series promoting such tunes. As a senior in high school, Mathis began performing at Opryland USA. He went on to become senior pastor and a minister of music at several churches across the South prior to rededicating his career as a full-time performer.

Country and Southern gospel singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin achieved considerable success as part of the Gatlin Brothers trio, as well as a solo artist, and is known for “Broken Lady,” “All the Gold in California,” “Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer to You),” “She Used to Be Somebody’s Baby” and other country hits recorded in the 1970s and 1980s.

Collin Raye made his solo debut in 1991 with the album All I Can Be, which produced his first Number One hit, “Love, Me.” It was the first of four consecutive albums released by Raye to achieve platinum certification. Between 1991 and 2007, Raye charted 30 singles on the U.S. country charts.

T. Graham Brown has recorded a total of 13 studio albums, and has charted more than 20 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

The Sunday, May 7, concert begins at 7 p.m. and tickets are $35. For tickets, more information on the performers and updates on future Positive Country concerts, visit positivecountrylive.com.

dewdroP JaMboree hosts show at seasons of Murfreesboro on May 27

PriOr TO rETurNiNg TO WAShiNgTON ThEATrE later in 2023, the Dewdrop Jamboree will hold a special edition of its local musical variety show at Seasons of Murfreesboro on Saturday, May 27.

Presented by the American Musical Arts Group, the ongoing series of Dewdrop Jamboree productions aims to showcase, preserve and promote a variety of American styles of music—classic country, bluegrass, gospel, rock and blues, just to name a few.

May 27 performers include Teresa Camp, Mark Thomas, Bobby Howard, Rhonda Tenpenny, Pat Roden, Buddy Baker, Larry Martin, Chloe Beth, Macy Tabor and Mickey Gannon; Thom Christy will serve as MC. Seasons of Murfreesboro is located at 2227 Old Fort Pkwy, Murfreesboro, inside the Clarion Inn.

The May 27 show kicks off at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. For more information, visit amagroup.org or find Dewdrop Jamboree on Facebook. Also on the horizon for 2023, Dewdrop Jamboree will hold shows July 15, Sept. 23 and Nov. 4 back at the Washington Theatre inside Patterson Park Community Center.

auBryn Live at Needle Drop Music Fest

The first decade in the career of Nashville, cabaret-tinged singer-songwriter Aubryn, launching out of California, saw a couple of live concert recordings, a six-track debut EP— Nothing Civil—a 2018 Christmas collection, and other DIY single releases. There’s also a ghostly duet, “You Haunt Me,” produced and performed with England-based singer-songwriter Matty Twigg, and “Struggle,” co-written for a werewolf movie. All of this leads up to Aubryn’s latest offering, Live at Needle Drop Music Fest, recorded in Lebanon, Tennessee, Sept. 17, 2022, and released online this March. This one actually contains the most original material from the artist collected in a single release.

The live album teases a “storytellers” aspect with Aubryn’s between-song banter, though the majority of the nine Americana/cabaret-esque, indie-folk-rock (sometimes dark) tracks have not been previously recorded and released. Aubryn delivers in this production a honed, soulful vocal, lyrically inspired by the fantastic and mythological just as much as by a bluesy cabaret, captured in the nature of a live show setting.

The two previously released tracks open the set, starting with “Nothin’ Civil,” a mid-tempo, bluesy acoustic strummer with Aubryn’s palm-muting and guitar-body percussion backing her solo songbird vocals. She wrote “Gonna Get It” using an old episode of The Twilight Zone for inspiration. Aubryn exudes strong vocal range and tactful placement in “Spirits,” originally released under the name Madame Poltergeist due to the production vibe being so different from her usual stuff.

A Lilith Fair sensibility blends with filk music (played by a sub-culture of writers who share and sing science fiction and fantasy-inspired works at sci-fi conventions) on “Frankenstein.” Aubryn says the song is “my letter to Frankenstein.”

“Medusa” is written as a letter to Medusa, mythologically a beautiful refugee taken advantage of by Poseidon and then punished for it. Another tune turns to the villain of The Little Mermaid. What if the mermaid was a siren, Aubryn speculates.

Drawing from real-world events, a spooky folk tune, “Knots (Towards the Philippines)” comes from a true story of an ’80s seaman friend serving on the U.S.S. Poel, traveling the Indian Ocean at 15 knots. He spotted something that flew out of the water to perch on the ship’s hand railing before jumping back in. A few years later, it happened again. Aubryn determined the apparition/tiny leviathan(?) was haunting her friend enough to warrant a warning in a dark, folk ballad song.

Aubryn’s Live at Needle Drop Fest can be found on Spotify or at facebook.com/aubrynmusic, aubrynmusic.com or aubrynmusic. bandcamp.com. — Bryce harMon