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Inside This Week's Music Section (and on the Cover)

The Hives play Friday, 16th at the Wildhorse.

Global Citizens: From their lineup and sound to their diplomatic functions, there’s probably no other group on earth like the Sparrow Quartet (Playing Tuesday, 20th at Station Inn.)

Tick Tick Tick: The Hives continue to paint rock in black and white.

True Believer: Matthew Ryan vs. the Silver State is Ryan’s strongest collection in a consistently good catalog (Playing Saturday, 17th Mercy Lounge w/Jon Dee Graham.)

Scenecast Episode 132 is a furious explosion of wildflowers on the strip-mined musical landscape of your soul with David Wilcox, Bradley Walker, Ghostfinger, David Vandervelde, The Coal Men, Jon Dee Graham, Liam Finn, Laura Viers, Ricky Young, Ladyhawk, Neva Dinova, George Jones, Heroine Sheiks, Bill Frisell, and Will Kimbrough at Dragon Music Sunday.

In The Spin: AutoVaughn, DND, The Pink Spiders, Wizardz, Japanther, The Pharmacy, Combined Visions' Ice Cold Hip Hop Night.

Our Critics' Picks: Ricky Young, Jon Dee Graham, Quote, Ladyhawk, Liam Finn, Bill Frisell, KT Tunstall, Heroine Sheiks & more.

From our Summer Guide: How to record an album for under $600.

Inside This Week's Music Section

(Photo by Steve Cross.)

Asylum Seekers: Singer-songwriters John Hiatt and Mary Gauthier help raise money for Sudanese refugees living in Nashville. (Lost Boys Celebration: A Benefit for the Lost Boys Foundation of Nashville featuring John Hiatt and Mary Gauthier playing Wednesday, 14th at The Belcourt.)

Adult Material: On his latest, Hayes Carll mines his younger, freer days with sharp, roadhouse-friendly songs. (Playing Thursday, 8th at The Belcourt.)

Peer as Folk: Robby Hecht’s full-length debut proves he’s found his kind of people in Nashville. (CD release show Thursday, 8th at Mercy Lounge.)

Sad Soul: Altered Statesman play white soul with a bohemian edge. (Playing Thursday, 8th at Family Wash.)

To celebrate the day dedicated to our birth-givers, Scenecast Episode 131 has a real mother for you, with Rooney, De Novo Dahl, The Moaners, Mr. Gnome, The Bravery, The Sword, DeVotchKa, Basia Bulat, Rachael Sage, John Prine, Sierra Hull and sounds from the Ice Cold hip-hop night at The Rutledge.

In The Spin: The Privates, Lou Reed, M.I.A.

Our Critics' Picks: The Moaners, DeVotchKa, Basia Bulat, The Sword, John Prine & more.

Inside This Week's Music Section

A Tribute to Louis Armstrong: 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday & Saturday at Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

The Original Wrapper: Lou Reed’s musical mind games. (Playing Friday, 2nd at The Ryman.)

True Tales From San Francisco: American Music Club’s Mark Eitzel on inspiration, L.A. musicians and lightweight entertainment. (Playing Friday, 2nd at The End.)

Music for Rebels and Revels: M.I.A.’s cheeky radical-chic rhythms move the (m)asses. (Playing Monday, 5th at City Hall w/Holy Fuck.)

Stick to Your Guns: Today Is the Day leader Steve Austin returns to Nashville as an ambitious label head. (SuperNova Records Showcase—Sunday, 4th at The End w/Today Is the Day, Complete Failure, F.U.C.T., Admirals Club & Trampskirts.)

Scenecast Episode 130 erects a musical maypole and decorates it with Louis Armstrong, Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, Jeffrey Lewis, British Sea Power, Reggie Young, Jordan Sweeney, George Clinton, Brett Dennen, Josh Ritter, Uh Huh Her, Murfreesboro Jazz Fest and some early Jerry Seinfeld...not that there's anything wrong with it.

In The Spin: Film School, Cory Branan, Wax Fang, Heypenny, The Protomen.

Our Critics' Picks: Holy Fuck, Brett Dennen, Uh Huh Her, A Tribute to Louis Armstrong, British Sea Power, Jeffrey Lewis, George Clinton, Josh Ritter & more.

Inside This Week's Music Section (And a Film Review)

Folk Meets Noise Meets Whatever: Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore on Nashville’s noise scene. (Sonic Youth play Friday, 25th at City Hall w/Leslie Keffer.)

Gettin' Real Stupid: Jay Reatard’s gradual overnight success. (Playing Wednesday, 30th at Mercy Lounge.)

Southern Detour: Two international acts with American influences make rare Nashville appearances. (Habib Koité and Bamada play Tuesday, 29th at The Belcourt; The Waifs play Sunday, 27th at The Belcourt.)

Yeah Yeah Yeah: Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp founders open arts center and all-ages space for teens in Murfreesboro. (Turncoats, Kelly Kerr & the Distractions and Rock Paper Scissors play Saturday, 26th at 8 p.m. at Youth Culture & Arts Center in Murfreesboro.)

All the Real Girls: Girls Rock! is really a paean to the endangered culture of girlhood. (PG, 90 min. Opens Friday at the Belcourt.)

In The Spin: Rites of Spring, Kathleen Edwards, The New Pornographers.

Our Critics' Picks: Bon Jovi, Alex Sniderman & the Nu-Sonics, Film School, Pelican, Earth, Destroyer & more.

Not Playing Here Redux: Uh, Can I Get More of Me in the Monitors?

I got a lot of great feedback on the "Not Playing Here" story I wrote about why bands skip Nashville, but there were a few points I could have explored more had I been able to write longer.

One is the importance of radio support for acts thinking about touring here, and though we have WRVU and Lightning 100, our big commercial rock stations (102.9) are actually active rock, which could mean anything from AC/DC to Puddle of Mudd.

From Lynne in Pittsburgh:

One point that also deserves mention is radio support; if radio isn't there, it's a lot harder to sell certain shows. And as you well know, in an era when religious stations can co-opt public radio signals, it's harder than ever to find great music—and promotional avenues—on terrestrial airwaves.

But a bigger point I didn't go into, because honestly, I'm not sure I should have, is about the sound quality in Nashville. I'm not qualified to gauge precisely how bad sound is in this town—having mostly lived here, Murfreesboro and Los Angeles, I can say with total expert certainty that I've been to shows that sound "good" and shows that sound "bad" in all three cities. But the particular subtleties and nuances of how this stacks up on a national scale, I cannot say. I know I've heard shows at City Hall and the Cannery—places notorious for bad sound—that sounded terrific. And I've heard shows at The Ryman—famous for gorgeous acoustics—whose sound didn't do the band justice.

Still, a few people emailed to say the sound here has more or less reached a ground zero of terrible:

Inside This Week's Music Section

Fuck Buttons at Mercy Lounge. (Photo by Steve Cross)

Call of the Weill: German cabaret singer Ute Lemper indulges “The Seven Deadly Sins.” (Playing Thursday, 17th, Friday, 18th and Saturday, 19th at Laura Turner Music Hall.)

Petals and Thorns: Kathleen Edwards and her new album, Asking for Flowers, have room for tough talk and soft spots. (Playing Saturday, 19th at Mercy Lounge w/Dan Wilson.)

Tapes ’n Tapes: A new local cassette label resurrects the spirit of tape-trading culture—but it’s not all nostalgic romanticism.

Polymer Plaudits: Saturday is Record Store Day—got vinyl?

Scenecast Episode 128 is smoother than cold beer in the middle of a double-header with line drives from Thad Cockrell, Reckless Kelly, John Gorka, Dixie Bee-Liners, Moody Blues, Okkervil River, New Pornographers, Old Ceremony, Nick Lowe, Braille, Steve Earle, Allison Moorer, Elvis Costello and multi-band events like Rites of Spring, Dirty Rabbit Carnival, Grimey's Spring Festival & the MTSU Record Convention.

Our Critics' Picks: Reckless Kelly, Thad Cockrell, New Pornographers, Rites of Spring, Moody Blues, The Dixie Bee-Liners, Braille & more.

In The Spin: Caribou and Fuck Buttons, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Inside This Week's Music Section (And On the Cover)

This week, I wrote a cover story that explores Nashville as a booking market, and offers some answers to the question, "Why isn't so-and-so playing Nashville?" Warning: The answers ain't always pleasant.

Inside:

Passionate Pickin': From their originals and subject matter to their ear for covers, the Gibson Brothers are an anomaly in the bluegrass world. (Playing CD release show Thursday, 10th at Station Inn and Friday 11th at the Grand Ole Opry.)

Some Depression: Son Volt soldier on while the alt-country bible they helped inspire, and whose first cover they graced, is lamentably laid to rest. (Playing Thursday, 10th at Exit/In w/Bobby Bare Jr.)

Steady as They Go: The Raconteurs overcome side-project status with second album. (Playing Monday, 14th and Tuesday, 15th at Mercy Lounge—both shows sold out.)

In The Spin: Nobility, The International Noise Conference.

Love is in the air but Scenecast Episode 127 is here and in your ear with sweet nothings whispered from Romantica, The Bittersweets, Jason Eady, Charlie Sizemore Band, Garrison Starr, Hotpipes, Howlies, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Mike Birbiglia, Tristan Prettyman, The Pink Panther, and the Zeitgeist Music Festival at University School.

Our Critics' Picks: Romantica, The Bittersweets, Trisha Yearwood, Jason Eady, Jett Williams, Skeletonwitch & more.

Inside This Week's Music Section

Perfectly Aligned Stars at The Belcourt (Photo: Elizabeth Jones)

Brain-Teasing: Caribou twists your melon with intelligent psych-pop. (Playing Tuesday, 8th at Mercy Lounge w/Fuck Buttons.)

Gang of Four: Tokyo Police Club release a full-length—finally. (Playing Tuesday, 8th at Exit/In.)

Quarterly Report: Taking stock of 2008's most buzzed albums...so far.

In The Spin: Stars, Fuck Cancer Benefit, Stephen Malkmus.

Scenecast Episode 126 is a bad case of spring fever, measured in degrees of Marvin Hamlisch, The Felice Brothers, The Nobility, Kyle Andrews, Tori Sparks, Soulphonics with Ruby Velle, Etta James, Eisley, Ronnie Bowman, Brett Rosenberg, MCA-tv9 Benefit and Mod Night at The Rutledge.

Our Critics' Picks: The Nobility, Felice Brothers, Tori Sparks, Soulphonics, Sasha and Digweed, Fuck Buttons, Etta James, Eisley, MAPS CD release & more.

Inside This Week's Music Section (and on the Cover)

Archangel of Cool: Mick Collins of Dirtbombs (Photo by Steve Cross)

The Good Life From Now On: Steve Earle's son Justin struggled with addiction in the shadows of giants—and came out swinging. (Playing CD release on Thursday, 3rd 6 p.m. at Grimey’s and 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge.)

Hello, Goodbye: Patty LeMay and her Spiritual Family Reunion release a debut five years in the making—and it may be their last. (Playing CD release Sunday, 30th at The Basement.)

Honky-Tonk and Heartache: A new Hall of Fame exhibit looks at country music’s most iconic family. (Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy Exhibit at The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opens Friday, 28th and runs through Dec. 31, 2009.)

Killer Instincts: Shelby Lynne’s Dusty Springfield covers are freewheeling in the studio, but thoughtfully refined onstage. (Playing Friday, 28th at Polk Theater.)

Scenecast Episode 125 is an audio oasis for a world in turmoil. Presidential election, financial meltdown and the run up to our most hypocritical Olympics since 1936 won’t hinder a sweet breeze from Minton Sparks, Upside of Envy, The Cab, Cary Ann Hearst, Mike Doughty, Duraluxe, The Weakerthans, Scream Club, Steve MacKay, A.A. Bondy, Minsk, Shawn Mullins, Spiritual Family Reunion, Rudder and more.

In The Spin: The Dirtbombs, Black Lips, Quintron and Ms. Pussycat, The Country Music and more.

Our Critics' Picks: F*ck Cancer Benefit, Cary Ann Hearst, The Weakerthans, AA Bondy, Jason Ringenberg, Minsk & more.

Inside This Week's Music Section

Goofy-sexy Spanish dance-rock band We Are Standard. (Check out an MP3 of their song "On the Floor.")

Brighten the Corners: Stephen Malkmus on drummer Janet Weiss, his parents’ record collection and being “the Pavement dude.” (Playing Tuesday, 25th at Mercy Lounge.)

Shout Out: De Novo Dahl’s major-label debut is carefully orchestrated chaos. (Playing Tuesday, 25th at Grimey’s at 6 p.m.)

Vampire Week: Everything that’s wrong with SXSW is everything that’s wrong with you and me and everyone we know.

In The Spin: SXSW reviews, Van Morrison at The Ryman.

Scenecast Episode 124 springs harder than the most vernal of all equinoxes with blossoms from Honi Deaton & Dream, Natalie MacMaster, The Black Lips, Peter Cooper, Monotonix, Happy Birthday Amy, Randy Kohrs & the Lites, The Dirtbombs, Amelia White, All We Seabees, Anna Kramer, Doyle & Debbie, John Vanderslice, The Waybacks and sounds from the Lightning 100 Birthday Show.

Our Critics' Picks: Happy Birthday Amy, Stars, Lightning 100 Birthday Show, Randy Kohrs, The Dirtbombs & more.