M83 at Club Nokia

Live: Patrick Stump delivers post-Fall Out Boy rock, funk, soul, sweat

by Bill Palmer

“It’s only getting funner,” quips Patrick Stump midway through his second set of the night. “And that’s not even a word.” The singer for Fall Out Boy is flying solo tonight, though he’s got a backing band, and he’s bringing the kind of intensity to his live performance which might lead one to believe – or to conclude that he believes – that his entire solo career rides on the success of this evening.

The music consists of rock, funk, and soul. The atmosphere consists of sweat as much as anything else, as Stump hops around stage like a man possessed throughout the entire hour long set (he even jokes about having ruined his suit from perspiration). Those who’ve heard his solo EP Truant Wave knew more or less what they were in for, as the Michael and Prince inspired places Stump seemingly always wanted to go to during Fall Out Boy have been breached without apology in his emerging solo career. New song “Spotlight” somehow finds its way into both the front and back of the setlist, but the audience doesn’t seem to mind the repetition as Stump’s energy by that point has grown to an arena-like atmosphere despite the confining nature of the tiny Hotel Cafe, more often known as a haven for singer songwriter affairs. By the end of the set he’s inexplicably in the crowd, singing to those who’ve gathered in front of the dinner tables, and then he somehow manages to disappear into it for an end to the evening just as punctuated as the performance has been.

Although most of the crowd for the latter of the evening’s two performances appears to be intimately familiar with Patrick Stump’s previous work (and indeed, many of the same faces had been there for the night’s first set), this was no Fall Out Boy tribute show. Regardless of whether the band ever finds its way back together, Stump appears to have an innate need to be creating the music he’s currently creating on his own, as if it’s the most important thing he’s ever done. But that intensity doesn’t keep him from keeping things affable during the set. At one point, after mangling the last name of one of his cohorts, he jokes that he himself has the worst last name possible. The name “Patrick Stump” may not have the kind of popular cache as the name of his longtime band, but if tonight is any indication, that may change before the year is over. Right now “Soul Punk” only exists as a logo on the t-shirts being sold at the club, but the forthcoming album of the same name is one worth watching for – and not just because it’s from the guy from Fall Out Boy.

Anna Nalick finds her inner poet in concert, still finds time to Breathe

by Bill Palmer

Those in the audience Tuesday night knew right from the start they were in for a different kind of set when Anna Nalick took the stage and began gently singing a bit of Sinatra to get the talkative crowd’s attention. With heavy black eye makeup and shoulder length tousled red hair, those who’ve only seen Nalick in the video for her hit song Breathe (2 AM) of five years ago might not have even recognized her. And after performing a new song, she picked up a book of self-penned poems and matter of factly began reading one of them, as if this is the kind of thing that all singer-songwriters do during their live sets.

Backed by a four piece band, Anna Nalick spent most of her fifty minute set, aside from the poetry, focusing on performing new material from her forthcoming album. New songs like Words and The Lullaby Singer, which are streamable from her official site, made the setlist. As did one haunting song she performed solo at the piano, which captivated the previously noisy crowd to the point that no voices were audible during the song but her own.

The new material, which ranged from that ballad to a full band electric charge, was impressive and demonstrated an evolution as both a singer and a songwriter. Here in 2011, Breathe is far enough into her past that she’s wisely not trying to re-create it with her new material. But speaking of Breathe, just as her set time was winding down and it appeared as if she might actually leave the stage without performing her biggest hit, Anna promised to do one more song and coyly encouraged the audience to sing along by quipping that most of them probably know it. After all, “it’s just one word,” as she put it. As it turns out Breathe, which has often been credited by fellow singer-songwriters as being the songwriter’s anthem, is even more impactful live. As she reached the final verse of the song, the band dropped out and Nalick continued a cappella, delivering the line “If I get it all down on paper it’s no longer inside of me threatening the life it belongs to” while placing one hand on her poetry book, as if to say, do you get it now?

You can hear some of Anna Nalick’s new unreleased stuff at annanalick.com

You can find Anna Nalick’s old stuff in iTunes

The Black Crowes: the 2010 concert experience

If you think the nature of the Black Crowes concert experience in late 2010 is going to change just because the band is on its farewell (for now) tour, think again. The band’s gig at the House of Blues this week revealed that the brothers Robinson and crew are carrying out the latter days of this incarnation of the band in the same fashion they always have: the music goes where it wants to, and the music speaks for itself. In fact, if there is a perceptible change in the nature of a live Crowes show of late, it’s that the concept has been taken even further toward its logical conclusion. And for those who’ve come to savor just what it is that makes a Black Crowes concert such a different experience over the years than a Black Crowes studio record, it’s more than welcome.

Here’s what concert goers weren’t greeted to this past Wednesday night: there wasn’t any sort of banter or conversation between songs. Band members didn’t laboriously introduce each other at any point during the set. In fact the Crowes have worked so hard to streamline their shows down to what counts that there wasn’t even an opening act. What the audience did get was a setlist spanning the band’s twenty year catalog. Jealous Again from their debut album. Appaloosa from their recent “Before The Frost” experiment. A bit of everything in between.

That meant opening the night with Gone, which also opened their third album Amorica, which was as close to a hit song as the band performed during its first several numbers. During the course of the evening there were eventually plenty of hits mixed in of course, including radio staples Hard To Handle and Remedy along with live favorite Wiser Time. The latter was one of several songs which simply refused to end, with an extended breakdown which at one point consisted of nothing but keys and rhythm section while the band’s guitarists vacated the landscape. Not that there weren’t plenty of exposed guitar features (and for that matter harmonica features) in there as well. Those expecting a Crowes concert to consist of nothing but faithful to the studio versions aren’t going to get what they came for. Rather, the loyalty is devoted to what the songs could have been if not for the constraints of an album, each evolving over the years into a road life of their own.

Don’t get me wrong. The Crowes know how to interact with their live audience, and on a deeper level than a lot of other bands who try a lot harder to. But rather than telling funny stories in between songs, these guys simply speak to their audience with their instruments. At this point most people coming to Crowes concerts know what they’re in for, and they’re hanging on every note of it. Those looking for studio-faithful renditions of nothing but the band’s biggest radio hits are better off staying home and cherry-picking them from iTunes instead.

You can count on one hand the number of bands that are still commercially relevant in the twenty-first century (Croweology debuted in the top ten this past summer) and yet so brazenly indifferent toward that commercial success when it comes to their live shows. It’s not that the Crowes shy away from their biggest hits as a matter of course; it’s that they’re only going to play the hits that they feel like playing, the ones that feel right for the moment. It’s part of what makes them worth seeing on a repeated basis, because you’ll never end up seeing the same show twice. While their set this night included a number of songs from their heady debut album, their massive radio hit She Talks To Angels wasn’t one of them. Instead the band dusted off Could I’ve Been So Blind, from that same record, and dutifully presented it as one of those songs that’s morphed into something that the original studio version could only have ever dreamt of being.

It’s true of all bands to varying degrees, but with the Black Crowes more so than most others: they either work for you or they don’t. Particularly when you’re talking about a band that’s never tried to hide the fact that they’re rockers from the south, while never pretending to be southern rockers (you either get that delineation or your don’t). But if these guys are your thing, then do yourself a favor and catch them on what’s left of this tour if they’re coming to your town. Not that this will probably be your last opportunity ever, as both Chris and Rich Robinson told me earlier this year that it’s unlikely they’ll never reunite. But as they and their bandmates prepare to part ways at the end of 2010 in order to go home and raise their kids for awhile, it’s worth noting that they’re doing so at a time when their live set is at a historical peak.

Heat’s LeBron James, Dwayne Wade turn up at Kris Allen concert in Miami (update: not really)

New teammates LeBron James and Dwayne Wade haven’t yet played a game together in a Miami Heat uniform, but that hasn’t stopped them from enjoying some quality time together in LeBron’s new hometown. So where did they surface on Thursday night? At a Kris Allen concert of all places. According to the 2009 American Idol winner, Wade and James turned up at his Thursday night show in Miami. Neither NBA star mentioned anything about the concert on their respective Twitter pages, but we’ll take Kris at his word that they were indeed there. Allen publicly thanked them for “a special one in Miami last night.” No word on whether Allen, who is originally from the NBA-less state of Arkansas is now a Miami Heat fan.

Update: Consider us officially duped by Mr. Allen. When pressed on his Twitter page by a follower, Kris has since admitted “shhhh. They weren’t. Hehehehe.” So yeah, nevermind. Move along, nothing to see here. Except that the talented Mr. Allen has a drier wit than we were expecting

Runner Runner: the 2010 concert experience

The beginning of August found me in Lancaster, PA, known for horse and buggies, Intercourse, and farmland for miles. But, I wasn’t there for the shoo fly pie and chicken corn soup, rather I was there for the up-and-coming pop-rock band, Runner Runner. They have been on tour with Secondhand Serenade, the White Tie Affair, and Go Radio since late July. Upon arriving at the small Chameleon Club in town, I was surprised to see how many people were already inside. For a Thursday night, there usually aren’t as many people. I can only hope that some of them were in attendance for the openers rather than just the main attraction, Secondhand Serenade.

Following the opening act, Go Radio, it was Runner Runner’s turn to show off their chops. After a quick setup period, the boys started their set with “Breakup Song.” Lead vocalist, Ryan Ogren, reminded me of the All American Rejects’ Tyson Ritter based on how frenetic he was. His voice is well suited to the pop-rock genre, and occasionally his punk roots come out. His singing tends to be tinged with a little hardcore edge that you don’t really hear from bands like We the Kings and The Maine.

The energetic set continued through songs about girls and dating, like “Hey Alli” and “Kinda Girl.” When they got to “Papercuts,” however, it sounded like a very heartfelt ballad. It had more to do with the mushy feelings associated with relationships than the “passionate” feelings. You always know it’s time to take it down a notch when the acoustic guitars come out too.

It came to my attention following the slow jam that the crowd was not really feeling it, so to speak. When Secondhand Serenade was mentioned, they exploded with squeals of excitement. But, when it came to praising the song that was just played, their reaction was the equivalent of “cheer, clap, silence”. I imagine it just takes some time to build up your street cred with new audiences.

They played close to a minute’s worth of Drake’s hot summer single, “Find Your Love”, to no avail.  I can’t say that I was personally thrilled with this facet of the show.  On stage, there was a copy of the lyrics to the song fragment taped next to the set list.  Maybe it was just part of the show, but I feel like there are better ways that they can grasp the attention of the audience.

Despite the fact that the crowd may not have been picking up what they were laying down, the guys in RR made the best of it.  They did call the crowd out on their quietness, and followed the statement up with photographing everyone from the stage. That’s not a common practice for most bands, so it did get everyone’s attention for a while. When it comes right down it though, as good as these guys are, they don’t need the cover songs to prove to anyone that they’re music is worth paying attention to. It speaks for itself, and, if they are truly as into their music as they seem, they will have no trouble converting the masses.


To finish their speedy set, RR cranked out their latest single, “So Obvious.” Even though this is the song currently being pushed by the RR camp, I’m convinced that it isn’t going to be the best song on the debut. With their combination of skills, they are capable of so much more awesomeness, for lack of a better term. Their first album doesn’t come out until September 28th, but Ryan, Peter, Nick, Jon, and James rolled through the new songs like they’ve been playing them for much longer than they probably have.

Their set was short with only eight songs, and it felt even shorter because they were so obviously having so much fun (no pun intended). From start to finish, their onstage energy was undeniable. They sound like they aren’t taking themselves painstakingly serious.  They are passionate about the music they are making, but they seem to be having too much fun to care about what everybody thinks.  Though, if you are having doubts about this band, you need to go see them live. There is just no comparison to the over-production of their single releases. Put simply, their passion translates much better on the stage than on the plastic.

by Keri Franz

Tour dates at RunnerRunnerMusic.com

Steven Tyler American Idol rumors boost Aerosmith FM radio airplay

Time will tell what impact the rumors of Steven Tyler joining American Idol as a judge, if true, will have on the future of his band Aerosmith. But in the short team at least, the storyline appears to be having a positive effect on Aerosmith’s popularity and exposure – and not simply because the band’s name is being mentioned in the headlines so frequently of late. Aerosmith has seen its songs in rotation on FM radio for a generation, even though the band hasn’t had a new hit song (or even released a new album of mainstream material) for nearly a decade. But this past weekend, I spent a total of about six hours on the road, the majority of it tuned into various FM radio stations in the multiple markets that I passed through. And what I found was seemingly all Aerosmith, all the time.

Based on my own (admittedly fading) memory, I’d say that Aerosmith songs were easily being played three times as often this past week as they have been during any other time I’ve sunk myself into long-term radio listening in the recent past. As usual, the classic rock stations were playing the Sweet Emotion-era stuff, while the pop forty stations were more focused on Crying and What It Takes. But stations seemed to be digging deeper into the Aerosmith catalog, playing songs I hadn’t heard on the radio in years, and doing so with such frequency that if I weren’t a fan of the band, I might have even been annoyed by it (actually it’s the contrary; call me old-school, but when Aerosmith comes on, I crank it up).

It’s not as if every local DJ suddenly and independently got the idea to start playing more Aerosmith; most of these “local” stations are owned by the same handful of soul-destroying conglomerates, and so this is more about a few stiffs in suits deciding somewhere in a board room that more Aerosmith should be played on the radio across the country for as long as the names “Steven Tyler” and “American Idol” are appearing in the same headlines. But if it serves to help properly introduce Aerosmith to a younger generation, then so be it. After all, when I was in high school and Aerosmith had their (second) big comeback in the early nineties, we were only vaguely aware that they were an older “seventies” band making a comeback. If anything, we started with Get A Grip and then some of us worked our way backwards to the classic stuff. With Aerosmith not having made a radio-suitable album since about 2001 (Honkin’ on Bobo doesn’t count in that regard), there hasn’t been that new bridge to hook the younger generation – but perhaps the Idol tie-in is it.

After all, as crazy as it seems to someone who’s just old enough to remember back when Paula Abdul was the coolest, trendiest pop singer out there once upon a time, a lot of today’s younger audience had no idea who she was until she appeared on Idol. Of course by that time her pop career was officially over, whereas last I checked, Aerosmith is still selling out major concert venues as we speak. What effect Tyler’s twice-weekly appearances on American Idol would have on Aerosmith’s ability to go on tour, let alone finally make a new record, is unclear. But if it helps introduce one of the most important rock bands of all time to a bunch of teenagers in a positive way, them I’ll for Steven signing on as an Idol judge. After all, just the mere rumor of it has already helped improve FM radio.

Norah Jones: the 2010 concert experience

If the shift from her traditional seat on the piano bench to a more guitar-oriented approach on her latest album The Fall begged the question about what effect it would have on her live performances, Norah Jones wasted little in clearing up any any doubt as she took the concert stage with an electric guitar in hand. Accordingly, she opened the show with a rendition of the smoky “I Wouldn’t Need You” from the new record, and that guitar didn’t leave Norah’s hands for the first several songs. But no fear, old-school fans, as she found her way over to the electric keyboard eventually, then later over to a real piano on the other side of the stage, and then eventually to acoustic guitar by the encore.

But none of the shifts in instrumentation took away from the fact that Norah Jones is still Norah Jones, and that’s a good thing, of course. Her dreamy evening music is served up mid tempo, slow tempo, and even slower tempo – a fact that she herself couldn’t resist poking fun at midway through the set. In what might come as a total surprise to someone attending one of her concerts for the first time, Norah just can’t seem to resist cracking jokes and telling silly stories between songs, which only served to add to the humanity of it.

Of the fact that she had just attended a theme park the day before, Norah cracked that “I screamed a lot on the roller coasters, that was dumb” before she mocked choking on her own voice. Of the fact that Aerosmith has its own Disney rollercoaster, she quipped that if there were a Norah Jones roller coaster, it would be “the slowest ride in the world.” The quips kept coming, seemingly spurred on by the fact that various audience members worked up the courage to shout things to her in the hopes that she’d riff on them. And yet Norah being Norah, it somehow didn’t take away from the music itself.

The hit songs were there. New hit single Chasing Pirates. The classic Come Away With Me. And a beautiful rendition of her biggest hit Don’t Know Why, featuring nothing more than Norah on piano along with a pair of backing vocalists and no other instrumentation. But as if to balance it out, there was the absurdly funny song Man Of The Hour whose lyrics were directed at her dog but in such a way as to take one humorous backhanded jab after another at an ex.

Bottom line, though, is that the music sounded great live, with the six piece band often offering up live versions of songs that were arguably superior to the studio originals simply due to having that palpable live in-the-room feel.

Either you like the ever-mellow stylings of Norah Jones or you don’t. But if her kind of music is your cup of tea, then seeing her live in concert at least once is something you should consider mandatory.

Tour dates at NorahJones.com

Fourth of July White House concert includes The Killers, Brandi Carlisle

The Killers will descend on the White House lawn tomorrow as Brandon Flowers and his band will be there to participate in the Fourth of July concert on the White House South Lawn. The USO event will also see performances from Brandi Carlisle and Cedric the Entertainer. Of the July 4th concert, Flowers has said “”It is a monumental honor for us to be a part of this 4th of July celebration at the White House.  We could never repay the service men and women of this country for their contributions and sacrifice.  To perform for them and their families on America’s birthday will be our pleasure.  We’d also like to thank the USO for inviting us to be part of this awesome event.”

The Killers performance comes despite the fact that the band is technically on hiatus, with Brandon Flowers preparing to release a solo album entitled Flamingo in the fall.

KT Tunstall returns with Tiger Suit new album (well not quite yet)

KT Tunstall will release her third album Tiger Suit on September 28th, which she recorded in the same Berlin studio as U2′s Achtung Baby twenty years earlier. Tunstall’s new album follows her first two releases, Eye To The Telescope which first put her ont the map and the chart topping Drastic Fantastic. Her new album is produced by Jim Abbiss and is said to be along the lines of “Nature Techno” (we don’t know what that means either, but we’re looking forward to hearing it). While KT Tunstall fans will have to wait a few months for Tiger Suit’s release, she is performing a pair of intimate solo shows in the mean time, on July 13th at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City and onJuly 15th at Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles.

KT Tunstall has a special place in Beatweek history, as she was the first female artist to appear on our cover, gracing the cover of Beatweek Magazine issue #4 all the way back in early 2008.

Katy Perry performs surprise concert in New York City today

Katy Perry has revealed she’s performing an unannounced live concert today in New York City on 46th and Broadway within the hour. The secret show comes as the singer prepares to debut the music video for California Gurls tomorrow. Perry has revealed no further details about her surprise performance today beyond the fact that it’ll be a “pop up” show.

David Cook, David Archuleta meet at SLC airport

American Idol finalists David Archuleta and David Cook managed to cross paths by apparent coincidence at the Salt Lake City airport this week as Cook was arriving in town for a gig and Archuleta was headed out of his hometown for a stint with the Children’s Miracle Network. On Idol’s seventh season the two had competed with each other as the top finalists for the season’s title, which ultimately went to Cook. Both stars tweeted of the encounter, which Cook referring to it as “awesome sauce” and Archuleta publicly plugging Cook’s Salt Lake City concert.

Hayley Williams, Paramore sell out first night at London’s O2 Arena

Hayley Williams and her band Paramore got some good news at the end of a rough week for the singer, as the band has sold out its first night at London’s O2 Arena, which is scheduled for November 13th. The sellout has led the band to schedule a second concert at the 23,000 seat venue which was built in 1999 and was originally known as the Millennium Dome. The good news for Williams comes just days after a furor erupted on the internet when a TwitPic of the twenty-one year old singer not meant for public consumption found its way onto her public Twitter account anyway. Paramore’s next concert dates are in Germany in mid June, and the band’s next U.S. concert is on June 23rd in North Carolina as part of the Honda Civic Tour. The Raleigh gig will also include Tegan and Sara as well as New Found Glory.

Hayley Williams’ reaction on Twitter to the news that Paramore had sold out the O2? “THANK YOU LONDON for selling out our first night at the O2 Arena! That’s right… the O2… WHAT!? Yes, that’s right.”

Taylor Swift performs her first-ever headlining stadium concert at LSU

As unlikely as it seems, Taylor Swift had never headlined a concert at a football stadium until tonight, when she performed a LSU’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The twenty year old country pop singer has been a sales chart phenomenon over the past couple of years but had previously been limited to arenas. Tiger Stadium has an official football game capacity of 92,400 people; that number could be higher could be higher or lower for a concert depending on field capacity and the number of obstructed view seats not made available. For her part, Swift remarked that before the show, she and her bandmates “could be found taking pictures on the stage like tourists.” She went on to sum it up with “It was just.. Wow.”

Taylor Swift is in the midst of an extended U.S. tour which will next see her in Washington, DC on June 1st and 2nd for a pair shows at the Verizon Center (perhaps ironic, as Swift herself is known to be an iPhone user and therefore AT&T customer), ahead of another stadium show in Foxboro, Massachusetts at Gilette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. She’s also doing a charity gig in her hometown Nashville, Tennessee, on June 22nd in aid of flooding victims, a cause to which she’s already donated half a million dollars.

Janet Jackson considers concert tour after TV success

Janet Jackson’s performance on television has apparently surprised more than just the audience members who didn’t know it was coming . Jackson is reportedly so caught off guard with the overwhelmingly positive response she received from the performance that she’s now looking at launching a solo tour by the end of 2010. Her performance included her newest song “Nothing” as well as her classic “Nasty” which apparently served to remind America about Janet’s back catalog of hits which have for some reason been largely forgotten about by the zeitgeist – at least until she went on television this week and and reminded everyone.

Paul McCartney plays first-ever Utah concert

Paul McCartney has seemingly accomplished everything there could possibly ever be to accomplish (except for getting his old band’s music in the iTunes Store, of course). He’s a Beatle, he’s been knighted by the Queen, he’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he’s won every award and honor you could think to list – and yet there’s one obscure milestone that the living legend has never reached, albeit one that’s likely considered very important by the people of Utah. As it turns out, in his generation-spanning career, McCartney has never performed a concert within the State’s borders. But that’s finally about to change, as Sir Paul is set to take the stage at Rio Tinto Stadium, a soccer stadium in Sandy, Utah, which is located about half an hour outside of Salt Lake City.

The Utah show is part of Paul McCartney’s “Up and Coming 2010″ tour which is currently underway. Full details for the full tour are available on PaulMcCartney.com.

Kesha to hold Nashville flood benefit concert

Nashville native Ke$ha will put on a benefit concert to help her flooded hometown on June 16th, with tickets going on sale this evening. Tickets are $30 and $100 (the latter of which includes a meet and greet with the singer), and all the profits from the event will go to the “families and animals affected by the flood.” The flooding in Tennessee has caused loss of life as well as catastrophic damage to property.

Having released her debut album Animal in January, Kesha has enjoyed success with hit songs Tik Tok and Blah Blah Blah; her latest single Your Love Is My Drug is currently at number two on the iTunes pop singles chart.

Tickets for the Nashville benefit concert can be purchased here.

Taylor Swift gives herself a haircut mid-concert

By now she’s hopefully making enough money to leave the real haircuts to the professionals, but country pop star Taylor Swift recently found herself doing what she described as a “first for me”: she trimmed her own bangs backstage while changing outfits in the middle of one of her own concerts, and posted visual evidence of the results. Swift is currently in the midst of sold out U.S. headlining tour and perhaps the hecticness of being on the road left her without the time to visit a hair salon. She’s currently on a brief break in the tour (perhaps she’ll have time to presumably get her bangs evened out) before resuming this Thursday in Iowa City.

Justin Bieber concert canceled by police

Justin Bieber saw his only public performance in Australia canceled by the police due to “safety concerns” which left the teen pop star taking to Twitter to apologize to fans and state that he had no role in the cancelation. According to the television network hosting the sunrise performance, which was canceled during pre-dawn hours, advance overcrowding on the part of fans was to blame. Bieber was clearly unhappy with the move, tweeting “I love my fans….and I am just as disappointed as everyone else with the news from this morning. I want to sing for my fans.” A short time later he took to Twitter again, this time in a frustrated all caps, to drive his point home to his audience: “I want to make this clear…I don’t cancel.”

The cancelation came just two hours ago, as it’s still early morning in Australia.

Jonny Lang interview: guitar stories, new live album and more

Since first bursting onto the scene as as teenage blues prodigy back in the nineties, Jonny Lang has released several studio albums but never got around to offering up a live album – until now. Live at The Ryman, recorded at the Nashville venue of the same name, captures his biggest hits over the years along with jam sessions that never made it onto the original studio versions. Jonny and I talked about a little bit of everything, including whether singing or playing guitar is nearer to his heart, why Lie To Me made it onto the live album, and the stories he’ll have to tell his kids someday…

You could have chosen any of your recent shows to turn into a live album. How do you choose a show?

In this case it decided afterwards, because how we try to do it now, is leading up to that show, we had recorded a bunch of shows, so we record to a hard drive just about every show. It’s pretty cheap to do, and it’s cool that you can do that, cause it used to be that you had to drive a big sound truck out and it cost a bunch of money, and then if you didn’t have a good show, you wasted all that money [laughs]. So yeah, we were able to kind of pick and choose. But that show just happened to be kind of a special one.

You’ve played everywhere. Is there something special about playing in Nashville?

Yeah man, I love Nashville as a music town and a community. I think it’s kind of unparalleled. It seems to be a real tight knit music community. It doesn’t seem to be that competitive.

But when you play there, there’s usually a lot of great musicians in the audience, which is a cool thing. It’s kind of intimidating.

With a song like Turn Around, on the original studio version it was four minutes long, and then on Ryman it stretches out to twelve minutes.

The outro thing on Turn Around is something that we did do in the studio originally, and then just decided not to have it. Sometimes to interpret it differently live is a good direction to go, just for the listener, in that they get a little something else in the song or added to the song, other than what they’ve already heard.

Some artists, when they’ve had a long successful career, they start to shy away from their earliest big hit. But in your case, Lie To Me is your big encore on Ryman. I guess you’re not shying away from it.

I owe a lot to that song, you know? Being the first live record, I feel like I guess it should as much of a spotlight as anything else.

You’ve been in the upper echelon of guitar talent for years now. Once you get to that level, do you have to keep practicing? If you sat your guitar down for a few months, would your skills be diminished?

I think it stays in your head and you know what to do, but physically you’ve kind of got to keep at it because you’ll get out of shape and be unable to actually physically do the things that you know how to do, you know? So I think yeah, if you left it for a year or something, totally didn’t play guitar for a year, it would probably hurt you. I don’t know, I’ve never done that.

What’s the longest you’ve ever gone?

I’ve probably gone a month or two without playing guitar, just because I’ve gotten so burnt on it touring all year or whatever. I’ll just put it away. I won’t even listen to music. [laughs]

If you were stuck on a desert island and you could only have one with you, would you choose an acoustic or electric guitar?

If I was on a desert island, I would pick an acoustic cause it’s louder. [laughs]

I see the impracticality of my hypothetical [laughs]. Let’s say you had an amp, you had electricity.

That’s a good question, man. I would probably [long pause] pick acoustic guitar.

If you had to choose between only ever singing or playing the guitar, would you have a clear choice there?

Probably singing.

You just made a guest appearance on “What I Need” on the new Dave Barnes album. How did that collaboration come together?

I’ve known Dave for some time now, maybe a couple years I think. But yeah, we toured together a little bit, and he lives in Nashville and we have a lot of the same friends. So yeah, it’s just one of those things where “Hey man, I’m recording today, you wanna come over and sing on something?”

You’ve collaborated with some guitarists who are much older than you, and statistically speaking, someday when you’re Buddy Buy’s age, people are going to come up and say “Hey Jonny, what was it like to play with Buddy? What was B.B. King really like? What was Clapton like?” Have you thought about the fact that you’re going to be carrying the legacy of some of these guys that you’ve played with?

Yeah, man. And being on this Hendrix tour has really made me think more about that. I guess when Muddy [Waters] and Buddy Guy and Junior Wells and all them were sitting around playing, they weren’t thinking that they were gonna be legendary kind of guys. Some of the people I’ve been able to meet and hang with are definitely like that. It’s just an honor to be a part of something like that, and it’s a cool thing to be able to tell my kids stories.

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