Archives For christian lerchenfeld

Show Preview: Smooth Hound Smith, Charlie & The Foxtrots, Ryan Culwell and Jane Ellen Bryant – 10/12

Cause A Scene —  October 11, 2013 — Leave a comment

CAS October 12 - Smooth Hound Smith

Join us this Saturday night for another evening of doing what we do best; bringing you another night full of up and coming talent and fresh original tunes. This weekend we return to Edgehill Cafe at 1201 Villa Place with a lineup of four incredibly talented acts from right here in good ol’ Music City. Anchoring the evening’s set is a duo that is on the fast track to success among the local music scene. Smooth Hound Smith is comprised of singer/multi-instrumentalist Zack Smith and vocalist/percussionist Catie Doyle. Together they fuse their talents utilizing kick drums, tambourines, wailing harmonicas and soaring harmonies to produce a sound that brings a contemporary flair to the familiar and nostalgic sounds of old school rock n’ roll, blues and soul.

The duo played their first gig together just more than a year ago in early 2012, and the electric chemistry between the two musicians was palpable and instantaneous. In the months since Smooth Hound Smith has set their pace at ‘full throttle’ and haven’t let up on the gas since. In the short period of time that they have been playing together, the duo has played nearly 200 shows, helmed a self-booked national tour that spanned seven weeks and covered over 8,500 miles, spreading their music across the country to all who care to listen. While traveling and playing nonstop, they also found time to write, record and release their debut full-length album. The self-titled effort was released earlier this year and consists of ten well-crafted songs that possess a timelessness that gives high hope to this band’s potential.

Also on the docket for the evening is Charlie and the Foxtrots, a six-piece band out of Georgia who have recently set up camp in Nashville. The six members of ‘Foxtrots’ hail from all across the Southeast, and each member brings his own set of talents to produce a sound that is rich mix of folk and pop. That sound is defined by a carefully orchestrated combination of guitars, banjos, mandolins, harmonica, slide guitars, trumpet and upright bass that leaves a lasting impression on the band’s listeners. Charlie and the Foxtrots’ recent EP, The Evergreen, was released earlier this year.

Fleshing out the night’s bill is two artists who are both originally from Texas. Red Bull Sound Select artist Ryan Culwell is a seasoned musician from the Texas panhandle who has recently brought his folk/Ameicana tunes to the fair city of Nashville. If his EP, Winter Wheat, which released earlier this year is any indication of what this musician’s future efforts are to bring, we for one are excited to see what Culwell has up his sleeve. Culwell is currently working on a full-length record that is due out in the coming months.

Singer-songwriter Jane Ellen Bryant currently splits her time between her hometown of Austin, TX and her current home here in Nashville where she moved in 2009 to study vocal performance at Belmont University. Bryant’s distinct and sultry melodies paired with her talents as a songwriter yield a sound that seamlessly blur the line between homegrown folk and southern rock paying equal homage to both the deep musical heritage of Music City and her Texas roots. In 2012 Bryant recorded and released her first full-length album and also appeared as an official SXSW artist. Jane Ellen Bryant is currently putting the finishing touches on her follow-up album, which she plans to release later this year.

Help us bring in the autumn season as we kick back with some righteous tunes and sip on tasty home-brewed coffee at Edgehill Cafe this Saturday. As with prior shows at Edgehill both general admission and VIP tickets will be available. VIP tickets include a three-course meal and beverage for you to enjoy whilst the performers give it their all. Space is limited, so be sure to get your tickets in advance here. Doors open 7:00 PM with the music soon to follow.

– Christian Lerchenfeld

In Nashville Concerts , , , ,
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Communion Artist Spotlight: Willy Mason

Cause A Scene —  October 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

willy mason

As we draw closer to The Return of Communion show in Nashville this Thursday at Cannery Row, we are proud to spotlight another immensely talented artist on the evening’s bill. Willy Mason has been a name on the indie circuit for the better part of a decade, first popping up on the radar at the young age of 19. It was his self-written song “Oxygen,” that he played in an appearance on a local radio show in his hometown of Martha’s Vineyard, that caught the attention of Sean Foley, a friend of Connor Oberst of the band Bright Eyes. This little bout of luck was all that Mason needed to cause a chain reaction that would eventually lead to the release of his first full-length album, Where the Humans Eat, in 2004, on which “Oxygen” appeared as one of the 13 tracks.

Mason’s unique affinity for songwriting was one that he had carefully cultivated from a young age and it yielded a sound wrought with a blend of youthful angst and gentle wisdom that seemed well beyond his years. This is what I like to think Foley heard when “Oxygen” danced over the Massachusetts’ radio waves for the first time. It’s what I can still hear in his most recent works and what I believe drew him such rapid and devout fan base following the release of his first record. The echoes of the folk music his parent’s played in his childhood home and the edgy, revolutionary sounds of bands like Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana that he discovered in his adolescence, are some of the many influences that are evident in Mason’s early works and still remain prevalent as he has grown as an artist over the last 10 years.

Since he began his journey at age 19, Willy Mason has continued to write and play songs that have connected with his fans and critics alike. In the near 10 years since, he has arduously crafted a resume that mirrors his level of talent and ability. In 2006 he re-released Where the Humans Eat, which included new bonus tracks and extra videos, and in 2007 released his follow-up effort, If the Ocean Gets Rough, all while touring world wide with the likes of Rosanne Cash, My Morning Jacket, Evan Dando and Beth Orton. While this period of production and travel exposed Mason to a large expanse of new listeners, it ultimately took its toll. By the time 2008 rolled around, Willy had burnt himself out and remained on an indefinite hiatus until this year.

It is the length of his absence that perhaps makes his return so sweet. That, and the fact that he has not lost his edge. The guy can still play kick-ass music. Nothing makes that more evident than his long awaited return effort, Carry On, which recently released earlier this year. He has not lost his step as far as his live performances are concerned either, touring alongside Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Laura Marling. If that isn’t evidence of a comeback, I don’t know what is. He is also making several appearances on the Communion Club Night Tour, which to the advantage of Nashville music lovers makes its stop here tomorrow night, October 10th. Carry On is available now on iTunes and Spotify and you can check out the official video for the ablums’ third track, “Talk Me Down,” below.

– Christian Lerchenfeld

Willy Mason- ‘Carry On’

In Artist Spotlight, Communion Artist Spotlight ,
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Communion Artist Spotlight: Rubblebucket

Cause A Scene —  October 2, 2013 — Leave a comment

rubblebucket

In anticipation of the long awaited “Return of Communion” show on October 10th at the Mercy Lounge and The High Watt, we are highlighting each artist on the stellar bill right here at causeascenemusic.com. Today we are featuring the headlining act, Rubblebucket. Over the last four years, this eight-piece outfit has been stirring up the indie scene far beyond the confines of their home base in Brooklyn, NY, cultivating a sound that blurs genre lines with a unique mashup of horns, synth, catchy guitar riffs and multi-part harmonies.

The 2011 release of their full-length album, Omega La La, led to large increase in exposure nationwide and attention from the likes of Rollingstone, Spin, Paste and the Wall Street Journal. This personal milestone led to an increase in touring in 2012, which included multiple festival stops as well as an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The band also released their follow-up EP, Oversaturated, in late 2012.

Coming off a heavy year of touring, Rubblebucket has spent the better part of this year on hiatus from touring full time, focusing their efforts on their full-length writing process and pinpointing the future direction of the band. Their new EP, Save Charlie, is the result of this past year’s labor and dropped officially yesterday, October 1st. The release of Save Charlie also marks the end of the band’s break in touring, as they embark on an extensive 28 date, nation-wide tour, that began yesterday, alongside the album’s release, and runs through early December. We here at CAS are more than thrilled that the Communion show here in Nashville is one of the first stops on the long list of cities on their two-month tour schedule, and can’t wait to see these guys blow the roof off Cannery Row.

Save Charlie is now available on the band’s website, iTunes and Spotify.

Fun Fact: The track list on Save Charlie includes a remix of the title track by Big Black Delta, whom we featured right here at causeascenemusic.com just this past summer.

– Christian Lerchenfeld

In Communion Artist Spotlight ,
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Daily Dicovery: Everest Cale

Cause A Scene —  September 17, 2013 — Leave a comment

everest cale

Based in Brooklyn, NY, Everest Cale is a band that is making long strides within, whilst pushing the limits of the indie rock genre. Swelling guitars, anthemic climaxes, and narrative lyricism are just a handful of the key traits that give this band their distinctive and lingering identity. Meeting in South Carolina nearly ten years ago, college friends Brett Treacy (vocals, guitar), Jeremy Kolmin (guitar) and Aaron Nystrup (bass) have bounced in and out of each others’ lives but have always found themselves reunited by their love of music. It is this shared calling that eventually led the trio to New York, where with the addition of drummer Nate Becker, Everest Cale was formed in 2010.

In the time since, the quartet have constructed a unique sound that draws from classic rock and explores the reaches of experimental indie, and is rooted in Treacy’s songwriting. The band released their first EP, Beast in 2012 and has developed a strong fan following in New York and around the US, playing alongside a number of rising indie acts, such as Radiation City, who played a Cause A Scene show earlier this summer.

Everest Cale has spent the last year hard at work on the material for their new EP, Constellation Choir, due out October 22nd. “Fossils,” the first single from their sophomore effort, released just last month and if it is any indication of the direction that this band is heading in, I for one can’t wait to hear what is next. The band already has plans to head back into the studio before the end of this year in hopes of a third EP release in Spring of 2014. With what appears to be no limit of creative inspiration and a sound that often explodes with passion and heart, Everest Cale is a band you will want to keep a sharp eye on.

– Christian Lerchenfeld

Fossils by Everest Cale

In Daily Discovery ,
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Show Preview: Gabriel Kelley, Mercy Child, Stephen Gordon & Annalise Emerick – 9/14

Cause A Scene —  September 13, 2013 — Leave a comment

CAS September 14 - Gabriel Kelley - Web

Join us this Saturday night for some stripped down folk tunes for our first show ever at The Edgehill Cafe. Headlining the evening is Nashville-based folk singer songwriter, Gabriel Kelley. Kelley’s music is rooted in the experiences of his “life’s journey” that span from his childhood, growing up on a farm just outside Athens, GA, to his adolescence abroad in Sweden and his early adult years in which he traveled his traveled across the country in his Astro van with only his music in exchange for food and shelter. In his early twenties, his developed writing chops landed him a gig in Nashville as a staff writer for a country music publishing company. Despite the material gains that the job provided it caused a rift in Kelley’s creative spirit. He eventually left Nashville and the staff writing position on Music Row and once again set off on the open road. It was in this time that he immersed himself in his songwriting, dwelling on his own life experiences to write the songs for his first album, It Don’t Come Easy. “I waited six years to make my first album,” Kelley says of his 10 track album, which released last year. The statement draws reference to the meticulous and personal nature of each song, as well as the recording process in which he collaborated with engineer/producer, who engineered Alison Krauss’ 2011 album Paper Airplane, for which he won a Grammy, as well as several other revered talents in the industry. Kelley is currently spending his time and effort doing what he loves most, writing and playing music. He is currently touring while also working on his sophomore effort, Lighter Shades of Blue. You can help Kelley bring his second album to fruition by visiting his Kickstarter page here.

Playing alongside Gabriel Kelley this Saturday night are Nashville natives Mercy Child and Kentucky boy Stephen Gordon. Mercy Child is the collaboration project of three close friends, Erika Chambers (vocals, lyrics), Kyle Aaron (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Madeline Lewis (lyrics, vocals, guitar). This newly formed trio’s musical identity is rooted in the sounds of folk and Americana music and is characterized by characterized by tight, three-part harmonies, emotive lyrical imagery and dynamic fiddle and mandolin solos. Mercy Child’s video for their first single, “Closer” released just last month and the band’s debut EP is expected out this fall. Bowling Green, KY native Stephen is and indie-folk singer songwriter who has been perfecting his craft for over ten years, drawing influence from artists such as; Ryan Adams, Frank Sinatra, and Josh Ritter. In the time he has been making music, Gordon has written and released one full-length album and two EP’s, the most recent of which, Out of the Jar, released last year.

Capping off the evening’s lineup is Boston, MA-based folk songstress, Annalise Emerick. Emerick writes songs that resonate deeply with a wide audience, as demonstrated from the release of her acclaimed 7-track debut EP, Starry-Eyed in 2011, which debuted on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart at #9 its first day. She began her “Somewhere in Between” tour this year and has continued raking in the awards, earning first prize in the 2013 New England Songwriting Competition and second place in the 2013 Solarfest singer/songwriter competition. Needless to say, we are excited that she is making a stopover in Nashville to play with CAS this weekend.

Don’t miss out on a lineup chocked full of talent and beautiful music at 1201 Villa Place this Saturday. Doors are at 7:00 PM and the music starts at 7:30 PM. VIP tickets are $25 and includes dinner, salad, desert and drink. General admission is $10. Get your tickets ahead of time and ensure your spot at this unique event here.

– Christian Lerchenfeld

Gabriel Kelley- ‘Only Thing To Do’

Mercy Child- ‘Closer’

Stephen Gordon- ‘Fall For You’

Annalise Emerick- ‘This Love Won’t Break Your Heart’

In Nashville Concerts , , , ,
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