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In the many stories we have experienced Scenes Every year there’s a ton of work from contributors and staff about musicians, the music business, and everything related to it. This is part of the ongoing story of “Nashville Music.”
As the person who assigns and edits our music coverage, I’m already focused on our 2024 coverage. But as each year comes to a close, I like to look back at the previous year’s coverage and there’s always a story that surprises me for one reason or another. Maybe they were the result of great publicity that I never thought of, maybe they were really fun to edit (or, in some cases, I wrote them myself).
Here are 12 stories I love revisiting, arranged by the date we published them. Thank you for reading and I wish you a happy and healthy 2024.
long time Scenes In his feature, writer Sean L. Maloney explains the strange and fascinating way Brazilian psych masters Os Mutantes entered fans’ lives and stayed there ahead of their Nashville debut . This hit home for me, too: When I bought my own copy, I was ninety-nine percent sure Maloney was behind the counter. Everything is possible Circa 2005, Murfreesboro’s go-to Grand Palace Records, long gone, was remembered fondly.
I really, really wish the band would put some of the shows from this tour on a live record; their “Third Man” performances were exceptional. Maloney also has a gift for narrative when it comes to music writing—if you haven’t seen his cover story about one-time rapper and rising country star Jelly Roll, set that straight!
Bikini Kill’s triumphant return to Nashville has been rescheduled twice due to the coronavirus pandemic. When the show finally hit theaters in the spring, staff writer Hannah Cron (then our editorial intern) came up with a fantastic framework for a feature story. When the opportunity to interview Katherine Hanna came up, she ruled it out. The trend continues, especially with Cron’s comments about Taylor Swift’s Nissan Stadium stop.
JonahitesThe collaboration between jazz and classical music luminary Hannibal Lokumbe and the Nashville Symphony is a monumental undertaking, made even more impressive and compelling by its coherent storytelling. It’s poignant.Ron Wynn is turning 30 Scenes Contributor, had a great chat with Lokumbe and others to preview the premiere. It is hoped that this work, which includes elements of opera, choral music, jazz, many dance styles and more, can be produced here again.
Despite the ongoing issues surrounding vinyl record production, vinyl remains a vital piece of the music industry puzzle for fans, artists, record stores and labels. Kim Baldwin, Scenes’s digital editor came up with a great idea while talking to Piper Payne, the company behind a relatively new vinyl pressing device for physical music products.
Hannah Herner, who covers health care Scenes and our sister publications Nashville Post, is also an excellent music writer. Her review of Duran Duran’s June show at Bridgestone Arena may have been a little lost in the madness that preceded Bonnaroo. Herner is absolutely spot-on in his subtle and implicit description of how absorbing music can become an important part of your life.
Editor-in-Chief Alejandro Ramirez and I were both a little surprised when Killer Mike agreed to be interviewed during the tour. Michael, the Atlanta MC’s first solo album in more than a decade. Ramirez didn’t insist on easy questions, and Mack didn’t push them away — even if what he said wasn’t something everyone would agree with.
Longtime contributor PJ Kinzer brings a wealth of institutional knowledge and background to his coverage of Nashville punk bands and other elements of the underground music scene. For a prime example, just look at his list of artists associated with or affiliated with the illustrious Peepers. But be sure to look further – don’t miss Kinzer’s Year of the Punk review and his chat with the Random Sample team, among tons of other great stuff.
One of the big things in mid-July is Beyoncé’s return to Nashville – see Kim Baldwin’s great review of it . If anyone is going to comment on Blink-182 Nashville’s return to being a “gangster, good-times nostalgia bomb,” it’s editor-in-chief D. Patrick Rogers.
You’ve mostly seen the HN James pair Scenes As a freelance photographer, she is also a great writer. Her review of rocker extraordinaire Gloom Girl MFG’s performance at The East Room cured my FOMO about the show. See also: James’ review of Knoxville’s Big Ear Music Festival (complete with her awesome photos!) and contributor Charlie Zaillian’s awesome sit-down with the band.
This year, contributor Brittney McKenna has written in depth about homelessness and the people trying to help the homeless community around Madison. But she still did a great job on our music section, including rapping Ferreira’s new Soulfolks Outpost profile and a great sit-down with artist Adeem before AmericanaFest. Their conversation makes the transphobic incidents at this year’s festival — kudos to staff writer Rachel Cholst for her in-depth coverage of the issues and possible solutions — even more poignant disappointment.
Among the many talents, newcomer Addie Moore excels at conveying the sound of music and its emotional impact.This sentence appears in the latest album of “Friendship Commander” Lots of Says It All: “Using Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, The Gits, Black Sabbath, and the entire pantheon of sludge and doom metal pioneers as guides, Friendship Commander has a strong following on Move, High “Sun” and “Distortion” tell interconnected stories. “”Blue” and other songs have the ferocity and volume of Southern rock god Jucifer and the attention to lyrical detail of the American wordsmith. ” Moore also covered Screaming Females for us this year, previewing and reviewing the beloved Jersey punk band’s Halloween show at Drkmttr – which turned out to be their last time there before announcing their amicable disbandment after 18 years.
I’ve covered a bunch of great concerts this year – “Mo’ Better Blue Room” was a huge highlight – and I sat down with Alicia Bognanno, one of Shelby and I’s Chatting with the loud Truman Steffens. However, I couldn’t let October go by without writing about Boo Dudes. An October-only Halloween band doesn’t need to have serious music or deep kafabe lore to be hugely fun. But Boo Dudes is dedicated to both, making covering them a real pleasure year after year.
When Nashville residents worry about losing their spirit of collaborative innovation amid rising costs of living and other pressures, they may not be talking specifically about “Boo Dudes.” But the health of the ecosystem that produces bands like them (and rappers, country stars, rock champions, etc.) is crucial. Without it, Music City would be less and less distinguishable from other towns.
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