Tall Tale Tuesdays

In the previous post I wrote about Cafe Coco. The above video is one of my Cafe Coco, "open mic" performances and was captured using a Sony Webbie.

There's a lot of stories I want to tell about my time in Nashville. I've told a few of them already...like the one about when I gave my CDs to Kevin Costner. There's the time I served K.T. Tunstal and she asked me where the bathroom was and whether I'd recomend taking a cab or walking back to her hotel. My best interaction with a famous person happened recently...I got to hang out with Eddie Montgomery and play him and his guitar player a few of my songs. The amazing thing about these guys is that they are still so excited about music and songwriting. There wasn't a shred of "coolness" surrounding these Kentucky boys. They just play music for a living because they love it and they'd be doing it even if they weren't making a living at it. There was also the time I sat a couple of seats down from Miranda Lambert, whose gravelly, Southern voice makes me a little bit quivery, and I swear she gave me the "up and down" look. Now she was with her fiance, Blake Shelton, so maybe I just had a boog hanging or something. Or maybe I'm just that handsome... I prefer to think the latter and I'll appreciate it if you don't correct me.

There's a lot of celebrities in Nashville and I have to admit that I still get a little excited when I see them. I may not even be a fan of whatever a particular person does but it's kind of cool to see these people in the flesh. Most of the time though it's the non-celebrities that make Nashville an interesting place to live. People have moved here from everywhere and a lot of them are trying to be musicians. Some of them ought to go home and some of them should have come here years ago. I think it takes a certain kind of person to pack things up and move to an unknown place in pursuit of an intangible, hoped for dream of a possibility. There's an above average number of these kinds of people in Nashville because they've all left wherever they hail from and are now scattered throughout Nashville, Murfreesboro and Franklin. They work in coffee shops and bars and restaurants and book stores and most of them live with a bunch of room mates and except for the ones who work at Starbucks, they all stay up 'til 5am every night. The Starbucks crowd have to get to bed early because their days start at 4am. Nashville may not be New York City but with all the hopeful artists here it's certainly a city where there's something going on 24/7.

In Nashville, I've played music to people from all over the world. I've played for the average joe and I've played for celebrities. I've worked the night shift and had my share of those 5am days. I've worked the day shift and had my share of days that start at 6 am and end at 4am the following day. So I've been tired a lot in Nashville. I've gone to watch bands that I've been listening to since I was a kid and I've been blown away by artists I'd never heard of before and just happened to be in the right venue on the right night. So after living here for a little over two years I'm starting to realise what a rich time of life this has been for me.

The night that the above video was taken was a Tuesday and I met Joel Crouse and Nick Zini that night. We talked about music and preachers and girls and snow and after I heard them play I invited them to play a gig with me next month. The open mic nights at Cafe Coco aren't particularly prestigious but there's something about them that makes them kind of cool to me. It reminds me a little of some of the places I used to play back home. Even though I want to tell the stories about famous people I want to capture the Tuesday nights too. Because those are the nights I met the Joels and Nicks. Those are the nights I remembered why I came to this town in the first place. Those are the nights that make me feel alive inside.

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I borrowed the title of this post from a song written by Adam Burrows, a fellow I've had the pleasure of playing a couple of shows with. I think he's one of the most talented artists I've met in Nashville and hopefully we both will play high profile shows in time. But until then we have our Tall Tale Tuesdays. I'll be playing a show with Adam and another Nashville artist, Joe Dunn at Drifters in East Nashville on March 4th. Please do come and show your support if you happen to live in Nashville.

I'll also be playing at Casablanca Coffee on Saturday, February 12th with Joel Crouse, Nick Zini and Anna Johnson. Mark your calenders and please come support.

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It's Tuesday night and I'm driving to Cafe Coco in Nashville, Tennessee. It's a little cold and rainy tonight and somebody's car has broken down in the center lane of the highway. In the slow moving traffic I have time to take in the scenery. In the distance I can see Nashville's skyline and lights. I've driven this route hundreds of times and I always get a little bit excited when I see it. There's something about living in a city where my heros live that gets me excited.


I'm on my way to play music. Every Tuesday night Cafe Coco hosts an open mic night. That means I can go play music for a live audience and I don't need a booking. I just have to show up early enough to put my name on the list. This isn't a high-profile gig. I won't be written up in any publications and I won't be playing to very many people tonight. I'll mostly be playing for other songwriters who've come out tonight for the same reason I have. We just want to play. I'd stay up on stage all night if I could but I only get two songs. I'll take it because I just want to play.


I came to Nashville a couple of years ago with my guitar in one hand and a sense of entitlement in the other. I thought I was on the cusp of being "discovered". I was going to play a few shows and get "noticed" by the "right people". I don't know who I thought those people were but I figured they would seek me out when they heard I was in town. You know...because I'm sooo talented.

Well none of that happened and in a strange way I'm happier that it didn't. I'd have been full of shit if any of that had happened because I was expecting it. I thought I deserved it. I would have been walking around thinking, "Yeah! See, I was right!" Instead I am humbled to be in a city where so many people are as good and better than me. I'm happy to be able to play shows and get out there and experience live music at it's best and worst in a city whose heartbeat is literally a kick drum. I've rediscovered the joy of getting on stage and making converts of the people sharing the room with me...even when it's only me and a couple of assholes that keep talking while I'm playing. I actually LIKE playing live again. I want to do it every day. I actually LIKE playing my guitar again. I am inspired again.

Make no mistake...there's only one thing I want to do with my life and it involves playing my guitar and writing songs every single day. Make no mistake...I believe in what I came here to do. Make no mistake....I'm going to be discovered, one person at a time. And I'm actually going to LIKE it. I've been at work all day and now, for at least a few minutes, the stage at Cafe Coco...and therefore the world obviously...is mine. And I LIKE it.

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ISAAC RUSSELL - HE'S REAL Y'ALL

The above video is a performance by Isaac Russell. I have written about him below and was originally going to provide a link to his site. But then I found this video and thought that I had to share it with you. WAAAY down at the bottom of this post is one of my own songs and I hope you will take to the time to listen to both Isaac and myself. It's kind of like a little concert...so go make some popcorn and get comfy...who needs t.v.?


A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of watching Isaac Russell play a set at 12th and Porter in Nashville. He was playing solo and opening for a few other bands. Isaac is a slightly awkward 18 year old with a big, bluesy, man’s voice. He’s got all these inward-facing features when he plays..his body hunched over the guitar, his head bowed in reverence and his feet slightly pigeon-toed, pointing toward one another. All of that suggests a contemplative, soulful, introverted singer-songwriter that you could hear just about anywhere in the world. But you couldn’t because when he starts to sing he booms out with this incredibly lovely, old voice. This is someone singing with authority. This guy has something to say and he’s very good at saying it. Pardon the lingo but this is a kid who’s been through some shit and he knows how to transport you through it with him while he remembers the stench of it. Some other acts played that night with full bands but Isaac Russell is what I remember from the show. For me, and I don’t know if it’s simply because I am drawn to this kind of music or if he really was that good, he stole the show.

He sat on a chair and played songs for a room full of people and it was awesome. These were real songs. Not the kind of song that so many people in Nashville are trying to write. I don’t believe Isaac has ever given a thought to writing a ‘hook’ or really considered the structure of a song much. He learned how to write songs by listening to the music he loves, which evidently includes Ray Charles because he awesomely covered one of his songs. Isaac Russell reminds me of what I love about music and that is this: If you have a great voice and a great song, all you really need to sell it is an audience.

Among the crowd of people that consider themselves musicians there seems to be an understood theory that all music falls into two categories. The first category is Pop Music which includes some very awesome Real Music (which is the second category) and also some very, very Crap Music which is a sub-category of the first category. Most of the Crap Music involves slightly to quite talented people who are above average looking or at least unique looking in a not bad way. The thing about Crap Music is that it’s not really that crap to listen to. A lot of Crap Music is well written and pretty enjoyable which is why so many people buy it. However it’s still Crap Music because it’s a formulaic copy of something that someone interesting created and the only thing awesome about it is the amount of money that has been spent on getting it onto the radio all over the world.

Now I know that different people like different kinds of music for different reasons. I also know that certain kinds of music fits certain kinds of events and I’ll admit that if you want to get up and dance Isaac Russell isn’t going to be your first choice…or really any of your choices. If you want to dance you have no problem because there is all kinds of Crap Music out there that will do just fine. But Isaac makes Real Music and damn good Real Music at that. It’s as unique as Isaac himself and he has the chops and vox to perform it convincingly. I caught myself wrapped up in the story of his songs and quite frankly feeling a bit sorry for the life this guy has had. I caught myself feeling real emotions because of what this kid was doing on stage. And that’s what I love about music and if it doesn’t do that for me then I think it’s Crap.

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The song posted in the player above is, "Cry Cry Cry". I've spent a lot of hours in my home studio recording this. It doesn't sound like a radio song because it's not supposed to. It is as unique as the person who created it. I like it and I hope you will too. But if you don't I'm not going to change it...and that's what I love about my music...I can play it the way I like it.

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What You Do Becomes You

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What you do becomes you….

I can’t get this idea out of my head. I’ve been attaching it to email messages and telling people about it for the past couple of weeks. You can’t call yourself a meat cleaver if you don’t in fact cleave meat. However, no matter what you call yourself, if you cleave meat on a daily basis, you will inevitably be a meat cleaver and you will inevitably be recognized as a meat cleaver. What you do becomes you.

There’s a lyric in a song by The Avett Brothers, “decide what to be and go be it.” That sentence encapsulates what is required of anyone who wants to be anything. You have to make a decision and you have to go do it. It can seem fairly overwhelming along the road to becoming something but that statement really does hold true. Just go and be the thing you want to be and don’t let anything stop you. Especially don’t let yourself stop you.

I have spent a lot of time trying to do what I want to do in life. I’ve talked about it and thought about it and prayed about it and analyzed it. I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with that but sometimes I let all that get in the way of actually going out and doing it. In the words of the great and wise Jedi Master, Yoda, “There is no try. Only do or do not.”

This year I stopped talking about quitting smoking and I quit smoking. I want to carry that over into other parts of my life. Less talk and more do. Just go and be whatever the hell it is you’re trying to be. Think about it and talk about and analyze it as you must but at the end of the day go out and do it. Do it every day consistently and eventually you cannot help but be the thing you already are.