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Amanda Palmer Covers Radiohead
4:25 PM | 
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Who?
Check out this video of her playing "Creep"
I myself am rarely partial to female singers for whatever unwarranted reasons, but this collection of songs is definitely listenable. Not only is it ambitious, brave, and full of talent: but it takes on an artist that is nearly impossible to hate and gives it an entirely fresh look. I was a little hesitant about the first version of "Creep," but by the time I was halfway through "Fake Plastic Trees," I was enjoying the soothing, diverse nature of Palmer's voice---and I was a fan of a chick covering Radiohead. Seriously. Listen to it while you're sort of hung over and probably pulling cold pizza out of your fridge.
Neon Indian-Remix + Tour
Neon Indian-Psychic Chasms (Apache Beat Remix)
Make sure you check out Neon Indian on their North American tour this summer--they just kicked it off this weekend @ Pitchfork!
07/17 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom
07/18 Chicago, IL Pitchfork Music Festival
07/25 San Francisco, CA All Shook Down Festival
07/30 Boston, MA House of Blues !
07/31 Montreal, QC Metropolis !
08/14 New York, NY The Beach @ Governor's Island
09/19 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl *
09/21 San Diego, CA SDSU Open Air Theatre *
09/22 Las Vegas, NV The Pearl Concert Theater *
09/23 Salt Lake City, UT The Rail Event Center *
09/26 Vancouver, BC PNE Forum *
09/27 Seattle, WA Showbox
09/28 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
09/29 San Francisco, CA Fillmore
10/01 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda
10/02 Tucson, AZ Club Congress
10/05 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
10/09 Athens, GA 40 Watt
10/11 Chicago, IL Metro
10/12 Toronto, ONT Lee's Palace
10/14 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues !
* = w/ Phoenix
! = w/ Chromeo
# = w/ Dam Funk
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Andrew Combs - Interview
Andrew Combs would eat Nickelback. On an island. When choosing between them, Ke$ha, and Justin Beiber. Although, he might also eat them voluntarily—it’s hard to sa
y. That’s just something
you’ll have to ask him yourself. He’d also like to name his hypothetical child Bullitt. Okay?
On a more relevant note: After being in Nashville for a year and being personally introduc
ed to Andrew Combs several times, I finally saw him live this past weekend at The End here in Nashville. This highly anticipated show (with Kopecky Family Band and Frontier R
uckus joining the bill) was a satisfying complement to my poolside chat w
ith Andrew a few weeks ago.
The thing about Andrew is that he has the ability to strike someone as a talented songwriter and musician before he opens his mouth or picks up an instrument. He wears jeans and cowboy boots when it’s 95 degrees, he’s reserved and pensive, and he doesn’t avoid the moments of silence and thoughtfulness that make some people uncomfortable. He chooses his words intentionally—in both his conversation and his songs. In fact, for a twenty three year old, he has somewhat of an old soul about him.
Andrew has just released his first EP, Tennessee Time, a soulful,
rootsy-Americana medley of songs that sounds like Ryan Adams (on his best days) meeting Dave Rawlings and someone older and sultrier than all of them.
As far as Andrew’s EP goes, he recorded it over recent months throughout Nashville, with his girlfriend—Heidi Feek—sin
ging on several of the songs, and co-writing his
current favorite, “Wanderin' Heart.” Heidi, who also has her own musical talents and aspirations, sings harmony with him both on the record and often live. He tells me that their “main passion is each of us doing our own [thing]...it could be harder, it could be easier, I don’t kno
w yet...” So, while the two certainly help develop each other’s talent—d
on’t exp
ect a Sony and Cher (or Nick and Jessica??) duo quite yet.
(Andrew with Heidi -and Jeremy Fetzer, Luke Herbert, + Mike Rinne)
Andrew’s music is undeniably influenced by a certain slew of musicians, but as far as getting the chance to write with anyone—he tells me he’d want to write with Guy Clark, even though “it would probably go horribly wrong.” After discussing the potential and often in
evitable awkwardness of songwriting sessions, Andrew mentions that he recently had a really successful session with Burton Collins: “It went really well,” he said, seeming confident without being overexcited. I assume, of course, that this must be true; one of Andrew’s strongest traits is his heart-gripping songwriting that sounds infinitely older than he is (in the best possible way).
Over the next few months, Andrew will be doing some weekend tours –down to Atlanta and back—as well as playing the famous Music City Roots on September 15 at Loveless Barn(A live radio program done weekly at the famous Loveless Cafe Barn.) But, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves: his EP release show is August 6 at The Basement, and this will certainly be a night nobody in Nashville wants to miss. Anyone who has heard Andrew Combs live can vouch for the fact that he can, without a doubt, mesmerize a crowd.
If you couldn't tell from listening to his music, Andrew claims Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, and others in that same vein as some of his “golden gods” of music. But, he chooses Townes Van Zandt's “Colorado Girl,” as the last song he’d like to listen to when on death row. (After vacillating between it and “Waiting 'Round to Die”). If he weren’t doing music, he said he’d probably be a fly fisherman; the weird thing is, I completely believe him. And in 40 years, he’d like to still be writing songs, and, well, fly fishing. Andrew Combs may have just gotten started with this EP, but I highly doubt his life is headed in the fly fishing direction. Make sure to check out the video of him below, as well as his website where you can stream his entire album and purchase a copy. Yes.
Adam Percy - Interview
As I sit at 12 South Taproom on a typical yet uncomfortably muggy Monday evening and Arcade Fire infects the patio, I begin to gather that Percy is hardly your typical musician. OK, so maybe he has played guitar since the third grade (paying tribute to Green Day’s “When I Come Around,”) and yes he works in one of Nashville’s favorite coffee shops (visit them all and find out yourself), but how he got here—and how he plans to stay, for that matter—say quite a bit more about him. Everything, in fact.
Originally from Traverse City, Michigan (the cherry capital of the world, for you less-informed rubes), Percy studied business as an undergrad at Michigan, despite his more artistic tendencies and—interestingly enough--more or less put his music on hold in college and even for a few years after. As opposed to writing often and playing shows, he says he “more or less gave [himself] to the books.” As a guy putting himself through college, he quickly understood the value of his education and made every attempt to take advantage of his opportunities. “I actually tried to, like, not do music. I had committed myself to becoming this Wall Street...investment banker, or working in politics....”
But as he reflects back on this old self, he tells me:
“I spent a lot of time just being somebody I thought I should be rather than the person I truly was. I wasn’t accepting of myself as an artist. I wasn’t.”
And so, instead of moving immediately into music, Percy says that he wasn’t ready to leave college and immediately start doing music. “I just wanted to do something really positive, and that’s where Teach For America came in.” So, following in the footsteps of Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig(except not in New York), Adam Percy went to teach in a low-income high school for two years in Phoenix where he taught 8th grade math. “I’ve been out of teaching now for a year, and I miss it like crazy, but it was after the TFA thing that I realized .... right now is when I have to make music.”
So what did he do? Well, let’s get to the good stuff:
“The first thing in my life that I loved was music, and it’s been the one consistent thing forever....and I hope like hell that through music I can impact people’s lives in the way that I did when I was a teacher....and I’m not going to stop until I’ve given it literally everything that I can give it, because this is who I am and it’s what I’ve always done.”
And anyone that talks to Percy about his music for longer than three and half minutes can see how true this is. His days are scheduled around his art: hours of practicing, singing, writing(and when I say scheduled, I mean scheduled, down to the minute, with a big goal in mind)—all in the aims to be the best possible musician he can be.
After Teach For America, Percy moved to Chicago to do music where he slept on his friends' couch for 8 months-ish. And they wouldn’t let him pay rent. (Sucks, right?)And after giving Chicago a “good run,” he came to Nashville with an Action Plan (and his own bedroom).
And so onward to Nashville. His thoughts? He loves it. He’s been here a couple of months, and has already begun to make his mark. He recently did some recording in April with Josiah Rosen from Augustana, but he has spent the majority of his time since then writing. (The song, which you can find on his website is called “Nervous Wreck,” and just FYI: it’s about sex...”It’s not exactly ambiguous,” he says.)
On the best advice he’s gotten since he moved here: If the songs aren’t ready, then we aren’t ready. (In terms of recording)
On cowriting and propositions to cowrite: “I should do more of it...I think it does make you a better writer.... But propositions to cowrite are about as awkward as propositioning a girl...”
On writing all the time? “Sometimes you lose track of becoming the best musician you can be when you’re completely focused on writing.”
On the next sixth months? “Writing until I’m ready to record.”
On Bullitt or Gator? “Bullitt. It is my favorite kind of Bourbon, and I hate the Florida Gators.”
On calling his fifteen year old self to say anything? “It’ll happen again....and again and again and again. And each time it will be harder and easier at the same time.”
On going into the studio with anyone: “Paul McCartney.”
On death row with a meal, a hook, and a song: “Soul food. Cajun. Spicy.” –No Hook—“In My Life-" The Beatles.
So what separates Percy from so many of the other musicians that traipse through this city every day? Well, for one, check out the video below and decide for yourself. Then, take a look at one of his daily, weekly, or monthly schedules and you won’t be able to disregard his vigorous attention to detail, improvement, and ambition. He’s not the kind of musician that plays a show extemporaneously and mooches off the free beer, and he’s not the kind of musician that only writes when it comes to him. He works himself to the bone, and it’s evident in his product. It will be impossible for Percy to not go places with his talent, work ethic, and drive; keep your heads up and ears open, and remember who told you to.
