We just completed a successful family vacation to Nashville Tennessee. I highly recommend Music City as an adult vacation destination. Nashville is absolutely booming as evidenced by 15 cranes in its skyline. It is a very tourist friendly location with most destinations within walking distance or a $5 Uber ride of downtown hotels. April was a good time of year as it was 60 to 70 degrees – perfect for walking.
If you are into music (mostly country, but not exclusively), eating and drinking in an urban environment, Nashville is perfect. I assume there are other things to do, but those were our focus. We went for a week and never ran out of things to do. You could get a great flavor of the town on a long weekend if you don’t want to make a big time commitment. This was not a sit around vacation – we were in pretty much constant motion – which was our plan.
There were lots of highlights and you can find my day-to-day blog here. Below are my Nashville greatest hits.
Family – when you have adult children it is priceless to have their full attention for a week. We did this last year in Seattle and it was a big success. We had an equally great time together this year. A special shout out to my wife Laura and daughter Al for all the pre-planning. Al took the extra responsibility of being our daily event coordinator.
Country Music Hall of Fame – There is the Hall itself and then there are its “children:” RCA Studio B, Hatch Show Print and the Ryman Auditorium. All are well run and have a consistent message focused on the history and appreciation of country music. Tour them all and see any show available at the Ryman (we saw Jethro Tull – further proof Nashville is not all about country). As an added bonus we got to support the Hall and its mission by attending the All For The Hall concert.
Grand Ole Opry/Eric Church – The Opry is a musical variety show. No matter who is the headliner, be prepared for something old, something new and something corny and that is all part of the charm. We had the good fortune of seeing Eric Church give an intimate, joy filled and mischievous 60 minute performance (he was scheduled for 30 minutes).
Arnold’s Country Kitchen – Arnold’s a simple cafeteria specializing in southern comfort food (lunchtime only). Assume you will need to wait in line 15 minutes, share your table, eat your lunch and move on for the next guest (they are expanding so it will likely get better). But the food is worth it – best fried catfish I have ever had.
Corsair Distillery – I have never toured a distillery before so this was a new one for me. Corsair is a small operation and you can tell there is a passion going into the product. The bonus: the whiskey is amazing. Their Triple Smoke was like an Isly Scotch.
Robert’s Western World – Nashville’s Broadway is a strip of honky tonk bars, most of which have live music. We did not explore every one of them, but the one that stuck out was Robert’s. It was small, crowded, old, just enough of a dive to feel right and it had the most authentically country band I heard in Nashville (John England and the Western Swingers).
The Musicians Hall of Fame – This Hall could easily get lost in all that Nashville has to offer. If you are a music fan of all popular genres it can’t be missed.
Mammoth Cave – Mammoth Cave National Park is about a 90 minute drive from Nashville. It is an amazing work of nature.
The Listening Room Cafe– The Listening Room Cafe is a simple performance space with a good bar and restaurant too. We got to see some young singer songwriters chase their dream.
Yazoo Brewing Company – We visited several breweries in Nashville and Yazoo is the most successful, yet it has not lost its soul.
There was still tons that we did not do, so I guess we will just have to go back. Thanks Music City for a great time!
I started the day listening to the new Sturgill Simpson album on Spotify (A Sailors Guide to Earth). Sturgill’s music is a pretty good analogy for Nashville: it is pure country, but it is not; it sounds old-fashioned, but it is totally modern; and it is hip as hell.
Day 7 (our last day in Nashville as day 8 is lost to travel) started with yet another museum experience: The Musicians Hall of Fame. This is the museum for the music obsessed, as it is focused on the behind the scenes: studios, studio musicians and producer/engineers or as this hall puts it: “Come See What You’ve Heard”™. This hall is not on most tourist’s radar and it is in a part of downtown that is off the typical tourist path. A friend of mine insisted on it in a recommendation of what to do in Nashville and he was right on, it was a great experience.
It has been augmented (just this month) by the GRAMMY Museum Gallery which somewhat focused on the GRAMMY awards, but more significantly on the music making process with interactive displays. It is an impressive interactive museum.
If you are a music nerd or musician, I highly recommend The Musicians Hall of Fame.
Next we headed over to lunch at Arnold’s Country Kitchen. Arnold’s is a cafeteria style restaurant where they serve “meat & 3” (an entree of meat of your choice and three sides). The ambiance upscale soup kitchen, but the food is truly amazing. I had the best fried catfish of my life, a top 10 mac & cheese and a top 10 bread pudding.
Next we headed over to Broadway for some souvenir shopping. Once that was accomplished we stopped by the Beer Sellar – where they proudly permit smoking. It was dark, dank and smelled of stale beer and smoke – it reminded me of my youth, but did not create a sentiment to partake so we moved on to the George Jones roof deck (it was a perfect weather day in Nashville) for a beer. The rooftop was great with a nice view of the river and a good country cover band, but it may have the worst beer selection in Nashville. We stayed for the ambience and not the beer.
In need of a more serious beer we headed over to the Gulch neighborhood to a couple of brewery/tap rooms.
Jackalope Brewing Company was hopping and had an impressive beer line up for a small brewery. I had a maple brown ale infused with chai that was delicious. In addition to great beer the brewery is notable as being founded by women (Robyn Virball and Bailey Spaulding). The tap-room is homey, but of limited space.
Tennessee Brew Works is a short walk from Jackalope and it had a great tap-room with great outdoor space. They also have a bar food menu (we tried the sweet potato poutine 👍). The beer was good but honestly by this point in the trip my taste buds where a bit overwhelmed and their brews were a blur.
We were ready for dinner and headed over to the Tavern. This is a classic gastro-pub with a contemporary ambience and eclectic menu. Sports is on TVs that are both strategically located and unobtrusive. I had a fancy pot pie that had an amazing curry sauce.
That ended our final night in Nashville. I plan to write one more post summarizing and highlighting the trip.
Day 6 we drove out to the Loveless Cafe for some classic southern cooking. It is about 30 minutes from downtown. The menu is pure comfort food (I had country ham and eggs and of course their famous hot biscuits). Portions are generous. Everything I tasted was excellent. The cafe has a nice homey ambiance.
We headed back to town by way of Vanderbilt University and stumbled upon the Parthenon. Yes, Nashville has a full-scale reproduction of the Athens original. In addition to being a stunning art piece of its own, it is also a museum. We skipped the museum and just took in the building itself.
After that we headed over to what my research suggested was Nashville’s best record store: Grimeys. Grimeys has a used store called Grimey’s Too that also is a book store (specializing in the music topics). The book store goes by the name Howlin’ Books. There is also a coffee shop connected (Frothy Monkey). The used LP selection is a bit thin, but I managed to find a few items. The new selection is quite good. I am starting to learn how good we have it in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area with record stores. It is hard for other cities to live up to that standard.
We headed back to the hotel for some down time.
Next we went to Fat Bottom Brewery. Their Knockout IPA has been one of my go to beers in this trip. They have a tap-room with a nice funky vibe. It has a nice little stage and we got to hear a partial set from Jessica Cayne.
Cayne has a blues voice in the style of Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi. She played a few covers associated with those ladies. She is also a songwriter, but we only heard a couple of those before we headed out. One of those originals was called “Vinyl” that had me interested in hearing more from Cayne.
Across the street was a brand new brewery Smith and Lentz. They have a spacious tap-room – an open and clean look. Most importantly the beer is good. I tasted the El Cuarto IPA and the Black Rye IPA and both were tasty. The tap room looks to be a great hangout.
We went to dinner at Lockeland Table and had the best meal of our trip. They have an eclectic menu, well crafted cocktails, charming ambiance and attentive wait-staff (shout out to Haley). Our feature was a couple of their pizzas – I could have consumed the crust naked and I would have been satisfied. We left the restaurant fully satisfied. Highly recommended.
We were too pooped to party and called it a night.
Day 5 we drove out of Nashville (about 90 minutes) to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. So far, this was the first activity we did that required a car (we rented one for two days). The drive was scenic and easy (3 lane interstate). On the way there we previewed Jethro Tull songs as that was going to be our evening activity.
Once at the park we wandered around a bit, had a simple lunch and then went on a cave tour.
We did the two plus hour Cleveland Avenue tour and it was pretty amazing. Approximately a football field below the surface, we then walked laterally about a mile. I have never gone caving so I had no expectations. The route we took was not particularly beautiful, but it was amazing due to the size of the cave (mammoth) – there were some huge “rooms” and the passage ways were spacious. At no point did I feel uncomfortable or cramped. The coolest part of the tour was when they turned out the lights and it was pure darkness and silence. Having done this cave I am definitely interested in more caving. However I have zero interest in the tours that require crawling and have size restrictions – that would freak me out.
We headed back to Nashville and my son DJed All For The Hall artists from the night before.
We had a dinner of Jimmy Johns in the hotel (after days of restaurant eating this was actually a treat) and headed over to The Ryman to see Jethro Tull.
This was not a normal concert. It was billed as Jethro Tull the rock opera. Using a back drop of videos, recorded performances (audio/video) and a live band, Ian Anderson performed his catalog in a way that told a story (in typical ham handed opera style). As my daughter put it “we forgot to drop acid before the show.” It was pretty weird. But at the same time I preferred it to a legacy classic rock act playing a greatest hits show. It made the show pretty engaging.
Anderson was spry, running around stage, doing his classic stage antics, singing and best of all playing lots of flute. I play the flute myself and I really enjoyed his playing – the flute playing in this show was much more front and center than on any Jethro Tull albums.
As for the Ryman as a performance space – it was worth the price of admission for that alone. We were in the balcony and from there the site lines are great (having toured the building my guess is some of the floor seating is questionable). I really like the wide stage and short house. As for the sound, it was just okay. I would like to see a more acoustic show. Tull was a bit over amplified which muddied the sound. I have often experienced that in acoustically great halls. So I guess I will just have to find my way back to The Ryman for a more acoustic centered show. I will point out that Anderson’s flute solos were pristine – further proof that an acoustic show is likely to be great.
I chatted briefly with the guy in front of me. He made a point of requesting me to check out the writings of his father Jim Wayne Miller. Reading his Wikipedia page he sounds like an interesting chap so I will give it a try.
After the show we headed over to Flying Saucer which is a beer hall with a nice funky vibe. It is a big place and fortunately for us it was a slow night so it was perfect for a nice quite nightcap. Great beer selection, not much of a food selection (granted their kitchen was being remodeled, but even then it is not much), and a great vibe.
With that we went back to the hotel in time to see Golden State win number 73 and Kobe score his 60th point. A nice exclamation mark to a great day.
I have to tip my hat to Nashville, they are on message as to the sanctity of the history of country music.
The morning of Day 4 we toured the mother church of country music: the hallowed hall that is the Ryman. I was captured by its story and its simple beauty. In my next post I will let you know how the great lady sounds (we are going to a show Day 5). The Ryman does a great job presenting her story both formally (guided back stage tour and video on steroids) and informally (just letting you wander). Touring an auditorium does not seem like an attraction, but this is a genuine attraction (similar to visiting a famous church) and is highly recommended if you visit Nashville and have even the slightest appreciation for country music. I won’t repeat her story here and be a spoiler, but it is fair to say her story is intertwined with the history of Nashville and country music.
The day before we had loitered in the Hatch Show Print gift shop and based on that we scheduled a tour (yet another unlikely tourist attraction). Like the Ryman, Hatch Show Print has a unique story and its history and influence is deeply intertwined with Nashville and country music. The Hatch poster style is iconic. We had the good luck of being there for its 137th birthday and got to help celebrate that by making the handbill above. We also had the good luck of seeing the poster for the Ryman show we are seeing being made.
By then we were hungry and headed over to East Nashville which is kind of like my hometown’s (Minneapolis) Nordeast – a former worn out neighborhood that has become hipster heaven.
We had lunch at a famous burger joint – the Pharmacy. We had the good luck of the weather properly behaving like spring and ate out on the patio/beer garden. Given it was mid-afternoon there was not the usual wait. The burger and hand cut fries were great – of special note was the burger bun and the European beer selection.
We walked a few blocks to The Groove, a record store, to do a little crate digging. Groove had a nice ambience being located in an old house. They had a nice selection of new and used. Prices were typical of the vinyl resurgence (high but fair).
A half a block away was one of the cooler coffee shops I have ever been to: Barista Parlor. It has a really cool ambiance in a big open space. They don’t have the typical chain selection and I had a coffee cocktail – an espresso tonic. Sounds questionable, but it was delicious.
We headed back to the hotel for a little downtime.
By our good luck the annual “All For The Hall” fundraising concert was scheduled during our visit. We headed over to the Bridgestone Arena (the NHL Predators play there) for the show. I have been to a lot of concerts in my life but I have never been to this kind of event. Keith Urban took the primary hosting/MCing duties which fit him perfect. Vince Gill seemed more than fine deferring.
The basic format was for each artist to play one of their hits and a cover – with the go-to artist to cover being the late Merle Haggard.
It was a good cross-section of artists from old to new and from traditional country to rock/pop country. The transitions between artists was remarkably smooth.
The only odd paring was Peter Frampton – but not so odd given he is now a Nashvillian. He did a nice solo, acoustic version of Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” and a classic full band version of “Do You Feel Like We Do” including a talk box solo. Over all a fun show and great sampler platter.
We reprised Bakersfield for a nightcap and called it a night.
Day 3 was a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Although it has been many years since I have been to the Rock and Roll Hall, the Country Hall kicks its ass. A great building, nicely curated and well-organized. Rock and roll does not really have a hometown, where Country does – so the ambiance of the Country Hall being located in Nashville makes a difference. It was my good luck that the featured show was Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats. The story of Dylan’s impact on the Nashville music scene is well documented here.
One thing I should have mentioned in the Day 1 post was the ghost of the late Merle Haggard on Nashville this week. There is more joy than sadness as every performance we have seen has a shout out to the great Hag.
There is lots to call out at the Hall, but my two favorite things was seeing an oversized album cover of Dylan’s Nashville Skyline that had the following note scrawled on it: “To June and John, Love Bob Dylan.” And the other was Gram Parson’s famous Nudie suit.
We paid extra to visit RCA Studio B. Studio B had the distinction of being the favorite Nashville studio for Elvis and it is the source of over 1,000 hit records. The Hall has done a good job of keeping the studio intact, yet making it user-friendly for tourist groups. Just being in a room where there has been so much music history was pretty cool. For example, the Steinway piano that has been a studio fixture since the beginning, is where Elvis would warm up before a session.
Back at the Hall we checked out the Hatch Show Print – a print shop which has specialized creating posters for country music shows. There were many great ones but this was had special resonance:
We headed back to the hotel for a little down time and then headed down to Broadway for some dinner and honky tonking. We had dinner at ACME Feed and Seed. The menu specialized in southern comfort food. I had fried catfish and it was perfect. While we were eating we enjoyed “Grateful Monday” – they have a cover band playing Grateful Dead songs. The Craig Jackson Band did a nice job of being inspired by the Dead without aping them.
Next we headed to Roberts Western World to listen to some real country music. What a great place – a hole in the wall jammed with people listing to a great band playing traditional country classics. John England and The Western Swingers played familiar songs (e.g. Bob Wills “Cherokee Maiden” and Hag’s “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down”). Almost as much fun as the music, was trying to figure out how the 6 piece band managed to fit on the tiny stage. Thank goodness they don’t have a trombone player or someone would have gotten hurt. After their set we headed on to another joint.
Tootsies Orchid Lounge had a more of a contemporary country feel (AKA rock). It had three floors and a different band on every floor. The place was packed and so we headed up to the top floor and found a little breathing space on the outdoor deck. Pretty cool vibe and ambiance best described as upscale shitty. I left my mark:
It started to drizzle and we were one drink short of regret so we decided to call it a night.
Below is a nice curated Spotify session on Dylan’s impact on Nashville.
Nashville is a land of dreams. I wonder how many people move to Nashville each year in pursuit of their dreamof being a songwriter, singer, player, etc.? We went to Sunday morning brunch at the The Listening Room Cafe and we witnessed some of those dreamers. On stage was a “round” – 4 singer-songwriters each taking a turn performing their songs. We heard Josh Roberts, Meredith Oswald, Ryan Thurmon and Emma Barge. Unfortunately the PA was a bit too loud and the mix a bit too wet to hear the words well, so I did not get a great sense of their gifts.
At some point our waitress overheard our conversation and we realized she was a fan of whysowhite and the Haines Sisters – Chicago acts my son had a hand in. My son and Alaina Stacey traded names of people they used to run with and it turned out they used to occupy a piece of this small world together, yet had never met before. We learned that she is in the all-female trio Maybe April that is making a little noise in Music City.
Shortly after discovering our connection, Alaina was invited on stage to perform one of her songs. I am sure I was slightly biased by our new connection, but I thought she was the best of the bunch/brunch. What a way to start the day – this was the kind of Nashville experience I was hoping to have – discovering new talent – a waitress star to be!
Next we headed on to Corsair Distillery for a tour and tasting. I have been on several brewery tours, but this was my first distillery tour. I was really impressed by the care that Corsair took to creating their liquor All their booze was impressive, but my favorite was Triple Smoke which was like an American Isly. I got a kick out of the little touches like the distillery cat Pizza Patches and her critical role in the operation: grain = rodents – cat = chemical free extermination.
In the same building as the distillery was Antique Archeology an antique store owned by the stars of American Picker TV show. It was more like museum than a store (and the price tags made the items pretty much untouchable). The store had a nice old timey twangy band performing and as I waited outside the door I met Doc Bennett who appeared to be an impresario for the little people. I promised I would email Doc and learn more about his mission – and will.
We then moved on to Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery. This was a much more corporate operation than Corsair and that kind of reduced the charm. The back story on the distillery is fantastic, but I was having a hard time fathoming that somewhere between the Nelson brothers discovering their heritage and today, that there weren’t venture capitalists involved. Plus the whiskey did not capture my imagination in the same way that Corsair did. Still a great experience and a truly cool space.
We headed down to Broadway to get a snack and peek at the honky tonks. We stopped at Broadway Brewhouse where we had two for one beers and wings. Pretty generic sports bar, but the Masters was finishing up so that was a good place to be.
We weren’t in honky tonk mood so we headed back to the hotel for a little downtime. We took a detour at the Goo Goo Shop for some sweets. The Goo Goo cluster is a similar concept to Minnesota’s Nut Goodie with better marketing and a less adventurous nugget.
Back at the room we lost some of our mojo but rallied to go to Bakersfield for a late dinner. Nice fresh tacos and other Mexican fare. With that we were done for the night.
My wife and I have adult children (Patrick 26 and Allison 25) and last year we decided to reprise the spring breaks of their teenage years with a twist. Instead of a cruise or an all-inclusive in the sun we decided to visit great American cities. Last year it was Seattle and this year it is Nashville.
Day 1 – Saturday April 9, 2016
We arrived a little before noon and the first thing that struck me at the airport was the advertising – airport advertising is always revealing of the underlying industry of the town (ignore the stuff aimed a tourists). We were in music city as indicated by an ad for BMI (a music royalty/copyright organization) and Gibson (the guitar maker).
We are staying downtown and our hotel room was not ready so we checked our bags and went for a stroll – the intention was to go to a micro brewery, but we took a wrong turn and ended up at the top of Broadway (Nashville’s Beale Street/ Bourbon Street). We were not ready for that, so we headed to the Nashville Visitor center to get our bearings.
My first impression of Nashville is that seems like a nice clean city. It looks like the economy is booming – there is construction going on all over downtown – a bit of an inconvenience, but I love seeing a town growing.
We then headed for the “Gulch” which appears to be an industrial area that is becoming gentrified with restaurant and retail. First stop was Yazoo Brewing. This is your typical brewery tap-room that could be found in pretty much any major city these days. We had a flight of their beers and all were tasty. My favorite brew was from their “Embrace the Funk” series – it was a sour called Indomintis Dolium. It had a nice fruity taste and was just sour enough to give a little bite. It is aged in cognac barrels – but I did not find it having the boozy flavor you can sometimes get with barrel aged beers.
We then headed to Party Fowl for lunch. Party Fowl is a self-described “chicken restaurant.” We all had variation of fried chicken. The fried chicken was perfect: not too greasy and crisp without drying out the meat.
We finished out our “Gultch” adventure at Third Man Records. The house that Jack White built is less a record store, than a shrine to White and his kitschy genius. There are some pretty cool souvenirs, but the music inventory is exclusively the Third Man catalog (not uncommon for a label store). We picked up a few souvenirs and I picked up the 2004 White produced Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn and a Margo Price single (for the unreleased B-side).
We then walked back to our hotel for a nap. The Hampton Inn Nashville is a nice enough place: good downtown location, nice lobby, better than average hot breakfast, but the rooms are in need of updating – they are just a bit frayed.
After out nap we Ubered to the Grand Ole Opry. This is pretty much a bucket list experience for a music fan. The whole experience very touristy, but overall it is great. It has a nice authentic down home feel without the hipster irony of a Prairie Home Companion. I was not that familiar with the artists on the bill, but it did not matter – they were all fun. I even got a kick out of the square dancers and the radio ads.
The headliner was Eric Church who was frankly breathtaking. Rather than play with a band, he played solo – just him and his guitar. Scheduled for 30 minute he thumbed his nose to that and played his hits for 6o-minutes. He was a humble yet engaging. Slyly charismatic. If you were a true fan this must have been an amazing experience to see him in this kind of intimate setting. I am merely a casual fan and I was blown away. My wife, who as never heard a note of Eric Church in her life, was sold. You can see why this guy is a star – it’s the songs. In the end that is all that really matters – great songs win – and Church has written some great songs.
We headed back downtown and crowned the night at Whiskey Kitchen. We had some bourbon, yam fries (fantastic) and fried pickles (nothing special) as our appetizers and some nice speciality pizzas for our main course. The ambience was a bit loud for my taste, bad 90s music videos blaring, but overall a pretty cool place.
I woke up this morning before the rest of the family to watch Margo Price’s performance on SNL – she was perfect – she had an elegant look, a polished performance and of course those amazing songs. After Chris Statplton’s great year I am bullish about real country’s comeback.
With a voice somewhere between Emmy Lou and Dolly and with the pen of Loretta Lynn, Margo Price storms out of a Memphis studio in a Nashville state of mind. This is one hell of a debut.
The LP opens with the autobiographical “Hands Of Time” which is an amazing story and assuming it is true, reveals that Margo is COUNTRY to the core. How she rose out of this mess to record this amazing record is a testimony to her genius and resilience.
“About To Find Out” is a sassy dress down of an arrogant asshole. Margo rewrites one of my favorite Dylan lyrics (“Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride/You will not die, it’s not poison”): “Tell me what does your pride taste like honey/Or haven’t you tried it out?”
Looking at the liner notes it does not look like White is involved beyond the label, but “Tennessee Song” is the most Jack White song on the album.
“Since You Put Me Down” is a classic Country tale of betrayal and the self loathing that comes with it: “I killed the angel on my shoulder with a handle of tequila/So I wouldn’t have to spend my nights alone, all alone.”
“Four Years Of Chances” has a bluesy groove and is a kiss off song that has extra bite given the protagonist has found some one better.
“This Town Gets Around” is a nice country swing that calls out the sleazy side of Nashville (or any world where you have to whore yourself to get ahead). Margo manages some gallows humor and some wisdom in the muck: “Maybe I’d be smarter if I played dumb.”
“How The Might Have Fallen” takes 2 Samuel 1:25 for a new ride. It is the only song on the album that Margo did not have a hand in writing. The song has a cool mix of anger and compassion.
“Weekender” is about serving a short sentence in jail. It is a pretty simple observations from someone who should have known better.
“Hurtin’ (On The Bottle)” is a classic Country song about drinking too much. It follows in the grand tradition of “Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down” (RIP Merle). If this song doesn’t make her a star then the Country charts are deaf.
“Worlds Greatest Loser” ends the album as a gentle lullaby and the gentle sentiment: “If I lost you I’d lose it all.”
I don’t know a whole lot about country music, but I know what I like and I like Margo Price. Listen and love it. Congratulations to Third Man Record for sponsoring this tremendous debut – this could be the defining moment for your label. Tomorrow I go to Nashville with the family- this is a pretty amazing prelude.
Although I listened to Hüsker Dü, it never really resonated with me. However Mould’s first post Hüsker Dü album Workbook completely blew my mind. Sugar’s File Under Easy Listening was in constant rotation for about year when it first came out. Mould’s autobiography See a Little Light revealed a fascinating man and made his music even more intriguing (and it was in that book that I first discovered the term catch groove).
I greatly enjoyed his last album Beauty & Rain, but Patch The Sky is in the Workbook/File Under Easy Listening stratosphere. This is one great album. Mould is a punk elder at the height of his powers. The guitar playing on this album is amazing: classic Mould buzz saw droning chords accented with classic rock leads. The sonics of this recording are gorgeous. The beauty of Mould’s “punk rock” is that it always had a tasty bubble gum soul – at his core Mould is a pop musician – which is not an insult in my book, but a badge of honor. Anyone can make harsh noise, but only a great artist can make beautiful noise – Patch The Sky is beautiful noise.
The album opens with “Voices in My Head.” The song intro is a cool chiming backward sounding effect that is interrupted by classic Bob Mould rock: his combo of pop hooks and punk heat. There is a very nice solo guitar break which is reprised at the end of the song. Lyrically this is a song I can really relate to: “voices in my head they multiply and amplify the fear.” Mould concludes it is time to stop listening to them – pretty good and simple advice.
“The End of Thing” leaps out of the speakers like Neil Young & Crazy Horse on amphetamines. Beyond the obvious big guitar on this song, I love the drum foundation.
“Hold On” starts out relatively quiet and then kicks in. The song has an elevating quality – with every chorus you feel higher than the last one.
“You Say You” is a great example of the influence Mould has had on his disciples – this song would not sound out-of-place on a Foo Fighter’s album. I love how Mould juxtapositions angry lyrics with upbeat music.
Mould takes a turn with a whole different sound on”Losing Sleep.” On this song Mould connects with his inner XTC. A nice little distraction in the middle of the album. Mould has always had a great voice to cut through the noise of his guitar, but on a less guitar centric song you get a chance to hear how beautiful his voice truly is.
With “Pray for Rain” the buzz saw drone returns coupled with percolating crashing drums. The noise just pours over you. The side ends with a short unnamed hidden instrumental.
“Lucifer and God” opens side two in epic fashion. This is a big arena style anthem both musically and lyrically.
“Daddy’s Favorite” has some great rock and roll licks. It is a an honest reflection of the loss of one’s parents.
“Hands Are Tied” is a fast-moving punk rush.
“Black Confetti” brings all Mould’s musical strengths together: big hooks, a huge wash of guitar, giant riffs, piercing vocals, cool sound effects – the music rolls over you.
“Losing Time” is more power punk. I can’t say enough about how fun it is to really immerse your ears in Mould’s noise. At first blush it is just buzz – but there is so much more if you really dig in.
“Monument” ends the album on a contemplative note. Mould slows it down – not a ballad per se, but slow burning rock. It is a bit quieter than the rest of the album and that lets you really sink your teeth into the beauty of Mould and the band’s playing.
Mould has always been a brainy punk and there has always been a depth and complexity to his noise. Mould is not introducing anything new here – just a perfect manifestation of his craft. There is not a clunker on the album. Often when I fall in love with an album at first sight, on further inspection it does not hold up. But Patch The Sky is a so richly layered that it just keeps getting better with each listen.
Addendum: This review as been sitting in draft status a few weeks. When I was finishing it up I remembered that I had not ever bothered to get tickets to Bob Mould’s two night stand at First Avenue (Minneapolis). It was now too late as I had other plans. Googling about Mould I learned there was a free invitation only afternoon mini-concert at the Turf Club. I signed up to be considered on The Current website and forgot about it. The day before the show I got an email mail that I was invited.
April 21, 2016 was the day of the show – it was also the day that Prince died. A pretty big deal for pop music fans world-wide – and a bigger deal here in Minneapolis Minnesota. I am not sure if there is another rock star that is so affiliated with “a place” as Prince is with Minneapolis. And of course Bob Mould is a pretty big deal in Minneapolis too – in fact his First Avenue star is right below Prince’s star on the First Avenue wall of fame. So a pretty weird vibe for a show.
Bob Mould bounded on stage, subtly acknowledged the sadness of the day and then unleashed a solo maelstrom. I was only about 10 feet away from Mould and I focused on his hands the whole time trying to understand how he makes his music. His right hand wildly flails – yet a coherent voice comes out of that chaos. Mould is working so hard that he glasses fog up. It was fascinating to watch. In what seemed liked seconds it was over (actually it was 45 minutes). I felt honored to see one of my rock heroes so up close and personal. Set list here.
Check out this Ryan Adams interview of Bob Mould (really a conversation).
Axl's Catch Groove 