Last night I went to the Southgate House ballroom and witnessed a concert from the biggest band you’ve probably never heard of. The Ten Out of Tenn Tour returned to this historical haunted mansion-turned popular local music venue, for the first time since last year’s Christmas show. I went into the show with an idea of what maybe I might see, but came away with much more than I expected. Ten Out of Tenn is a touring group of ten singer/songwriter’s who are based out of Tennessee, most of them from Nashville, or Music City, USA. I was expecting some solo sets and some group performances, but the entire show was pretty much of superjam of all of these musician’s.
For the most part, this group of musician’s seemed to fit somewhere in the pop and rock categories, although there was so much more to their music than just labels. The tour was founded by Trent Dabbs and K.S. Rhoads in 2005, and every year, they bring in a whole new crop of musician’s who are starting to emerge or have their breakthrough in music. The show featured twenty-one songs in all: two song’s written by each of the ten artists, and the show’s closer, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds”, which was performed unplugged-style from the floor of the ballroom. A crowd gathered around closely for what became a rare, intimate setting not all that often seen in music.
Aside from the ten singer/songwriter’s, the show featured Will Sayles on drums. As for some background on the singer/songwriter’s, Dabbs music has been featured on television shows like The OC, The Mountain, The Hills and October Road. He has opened for R.E.M. and written songs with Mat Kearney and Joy Williams, who was also a part of this tour. One of Dabbs highlighted songs was “Your Side Now.” Rhoads was an impressive multi-instrumentalist, as were most of these ten musicians, and he often reminded me of G. Love. He often rapped his poetic lyrics and even managed to break out into some freestylin’. The two songs selected from his repotroire, had a very Southern, bluesy feel, often fueled by energy and driven by slide guitar riffs and solos. The 26-year old, Joy Williams, played her spiritual, Christian songs, like “Charmed Life”, which was written with Dabbs and has been featured on Grey’s Anatomy. She also started a new band called The Civil Wars, and even gave a shout out to local alternative, pop-band, Seabird.
Some of the other women of this show covered a mix of acoustic pop, country pop and Contemporary Christian songs. Sarah Siskind showcased her melodic, strong vocals that were full of deep, raw emotion. The highlight of her set came with her song, “Lovin’s For Fools”, which has been become famous by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, who has often covered the song on tour. The ending of the song featured four musicians huddled closely around one microphone, singing acapella style. Siskind has also made fans in Alison Krauss and Randy Travis, who have both recorded their own versions of her songs. Madi Diaz comes from a musically-rich background, growing up with parents, siblings and relatives who have all had a hand somewhere in music. Madi attended the Paul Green School of Rock, which led to a scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Her style falls in the range of roots, indie, pop and country. She is considered one of the best new emerging artists of this year. Ashley Monroe is a young, up-and-coming country musician, very similar to Julie Roberts and Sara Evans. She has been nominated for a CMA and has recently toured with Jewel. The highlight of her set came in “Has Anybody Ever Told You”, which was played as a trio last night, featuring the acoustic and electric guitars and a keyboard. The song had a very nice solo on the slide guitar.
As for the other men on the tour, there was one of my personal favorites, Mikky Ekko, who fell more into styles like post-pop, electronic, alternative and ambient. His songs were driven by abstract lyrics, rich, harmonic textures and hypnotizing drum beats that gave it a much harder rock feel. Another one that I really enjoyed was Kyle Andrews, who gave off an indie rock/electro/80′s New Wave feel with synths and samples. Andrew Belle often reminded me of someone like Brett Dennen, playing catchy, soft pop tunes with feel-good lyrics. Lastly, there was one of the more famous of the group, the Australian-born Jedd Hughes, who has played in Keith Urban’s backing band. He was often the one playing solos on the slide guitar, which happily did not remind me of Keith Urban at all. Hughes also gave a local shout out, noting that he likes to stop by Mike’s Music when in town, although he can’t always afford to buy something new, and he enjoys just looking at the gear.
Although these styles of music aren’t necessarily my favorites, I really enjoyed seeing this show. I do have a soft spot for pop/rock in my heart, but lately it’s just been crowded with so many other styles. I’ve seen these shows twice in the past two years, and I’m sure I’ll return next year. Like I said, while it may not be my first choice of what to listen to, these musicians work very well as a group. It’s not often that I can say a show like this rolls into town and it really is a special thing to see and hear. You may think that because they are singer/songwriter’s that one person gets up there with an acoustic guitar and plays a song and gets off stage. No. These musicians are much more than someone holding an acoustic guitar and singing. All of these musicians all very talented, and can jump to any instrument at any given time. Some of them have been classically-trained since a young age, some have attended schools, but all of them work hard and live to create music. Seeing them onstage, you can feel a spirit and joy pouring out of the instruments and smiles of these ten musicians. Ten Out of Tenn will always work because these musicians respect and help each other out. They feed off each others energy and want to help each other succeed at doing what they love. And it shows.
For photos of last night’s show, check out Scott Preston’s work at Cincygroove.com