THE RHYTHM OF
THE SOUTH II NASHVILLE | NEW ORLEANS
Our music editor Donivan Berube and the brilliant photographer Robert Lindholm continues on their road trip through the historic recording studios and musical tool sheds of Atlanta, Nashville and New Orleans in search of residence in Southern rhythm. Here´s part two of their story.
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WORDS BY DONIVAN BERUBE | PHOTOS BY ROBERT LINDHOLM
ountry rock singer Nicki Bluhm arrived at Carter Vintage just before sundown. Like almost every other musician who either lives in Nashville or tours through regularly, she’s bought and sold guitars here too. Today a vintage Gibson acoustic catches her eye. Formerly a lifelong native of the San Francisco Bay area, Bluhm’s move to Nashville three years ago encapsulated every life change imaginable: a new band, a new city, and new relationships, having split with her husband and longtime musical collaborator. Leaving the only hometown she’d ever known has made for an entirely unfamiliar yet
welcome new pattern in music making, finding songwriting partners who helped craft her newest solo record, To Rise You Gotta Fall. The album is buried in this journey, rife with the scars of love, loss, and starting all over again. “I was a total child of the radio.” She described turning dials and searching out every female soul band she could find, from the early days of Motown vocal groups all the way up to the superstars of the 80’s & 90’s such as Salt & Pepa, TLC, and Whitney Houston. We shot pool at the deep end of the Lakeside Lounge in Nashville’s Five Points neighborhood, and she seemed to know every last line to each song that came on overhead. “Maybe so,” she admitted, humming along to ZZ Top. “But I can never remember what the song is or who it’s by.” 24 24
AMERICAN AMERICAN TRAILS TRAILS SUMMER SUMMER || 2021 2021
