KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR JANUARY | FEBRUARY ISSUE 9.3 ISSUE FEBRUARY | JANUARY : Danny Bua ARTIST IN PROFILE: SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER VOL. IX ISSUE 1 Ed Nash : James Threalkill ARTIST IN PROFILE JANUARY | FEBRUARY VOL. IX ISSUE 3 Niko Gehrke : MAY | JUNE VOL.VIII, ISSUE 5 KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR JANUARYVOL.VIII, | FEBRUARY ISSUE 3 NASHVILLIAN EAST THE AND JOHN AND LILLY HIATT PLUS ROCK TO 2018 MUSICRECOVERY ISSUE ON FAMILY, TRAGEDY, AND LIFE TOLD THROUGH SONGS JD MCPHERSON Musicians FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Phil Bogard helpWes Geerfolks andget BOOK ENDS JOHN PRINEa groove& on getting OH sober NewBOY books from Randy RECORDS THE WORLD ACCORDING TO and Fox and Daryl Sanders DOES WHAT KariHE WANTSLeigh Ames • Ben Blackwell • The Boom Bapbroaden • Tim perspectives Carroll on • Cold Lunch Recordings Chloe Stillwellsomeone likes says, to push‘Whoa!’ it till Nashville's music history BLUEBrenda AS SHE WANTS Colladay TO BE • Creamer • Mike Floss • Jason Galaz • HOME • Anna Lundy Magnolia Record Club • Chase McGillis • Jonell Mosser • Jim Sherraden • Alicia Witt BIG HELIUM HOT RODS Vroom Vroom Balloon keeps up the pace OLAN ROGERS’ SIGN O’ THE TIMES FINAL FRONTIER Venturing into the 2017 EASTFor moreNASHVILLIANS than 50 years, Weiss Liquors’ neon OF THE YEAR unknown has never has been a beacon for thirsty East Siders BEAT looked so bright NORTHBOUND An East Nashvillian in Alaska Margo Price 2019 BIG BEAT BIG BEAT for the 21st Century for the 21st Century JD MCPHERSON DOES WHAT HE WANTS JD MCPHERSON DOES WHAT HE WANTS by Randy Fox photography by Jeremy Harris by Randy Fox photography by Jeremy Harris Wardrobe provided by Black Shag Vintage. Special thanks to Tommy Dale and Cait Brady. March|April 2018 theeast nashvillian.com 4 7 46 theeast nashvillian.com March|April 2018 42 theeastnashvillian.com January|February 2018 January|February 2018 theeastnashvillian.com 4 3 42 theeastnashvillian.com January|February 2018 January|February 2018 theeastnashvillian.com 4 3 THE THE ANALOGUE AFICIONADO PSYCH-OUT Ben Blackwell rocks CURATING Far Out Fest co-founder Kari the primary colors of Leigh Ames soaks up the sun at home in East Nashville. THIRD MAN RECORDS photographed by photographed by The Soul Travis Commeau Vinyl Frontier Travis Commeau Ben Blackwell, Third Man’s resident ‘psychedelic The Vibe stooge,’ steers the label’s vinyl ship Music advocate Kari Leigh Ames sets the OFActor/musician WITT Alicia Witt finds stage for creativity, from behind the scenes her people in East Nashville BY THERESA LAURENCE By Nicole Keiper s he leads a relaxed yet highly informative tour of Third Man clearly casts a wide net, releasing eclectic music in a Third Man Records’ downtown headquarters, it’s clear range of genres, prioritizing the quality of the music over the poten- BY BRITTNEY MCKENNA Eastwood Neighbors resident and vinyl expert Ben tial for chart-busting sales. “If we’re excited about it, we’re probably Blackwell is in his element. going to get other people excited about it,” Blackwell says. “It’s second nature to me, being here since day one,” As Third Man’s Nashville emporium has evolved, and grown to ven if you’ve never met Kari Leigh Ames Ames gets ample vibe-curation time with Far Out ver a 30-odd-year career, Alicia and recording to it, it became hard to imagine it he says, sharing musician, producer and label head Jack a staff of 28 employees, Blackwell’s role has changed, but it is in - personally, there’s a good chance you’ve Fest, created alongside Brianne O’Neill. The festival Witt’s been a lot of things: a cos- any other way.” A White’s musical wonderland, a hub that includes offices, tentionally fluid. Like all Third Man employees, Blackwell created mic, glowing-eyed “abomination” in The delicate dance of leaning in and stepping encountered some of her handiwork draws musicians and visual artists from around the a storefront and “novelties lounge,” photo studio, and the famed “Blue his own title: “psychedelic stooge,” an homage to his all-time favorite around town. country, and along with offering psychedelic music, Dune; a zombie-bashing badass in back is one Witt’s had to become adept at, as she Room” venue. band,The Stooges. O juggles set time and studio time, Hollywood and A real estate agent by day, Ames spends her art installations, and more (Far Out’s second iteration, The Walking Dead; a honey-voiced country superstar Day One was back in 2009, in a little less “It City” incarnation of In reality, Blackwell serves as the in-house vinyl expert, overseeing E free time as a fierce advocate of Nashville’s hosted earlier this year, featured an accompanying film on Nashville. Nashville. On Sept. 9, she wraps a quick EP release Nashville — back before this yellow and black spectacle of a building “most everything we do that touches vinyl records.” He coordinates music scene: She co-founded Far Out Fest, a psychedelic festival at Third Man Records), the team also uses the The first two: bit of a stretch. The latter role, of tour with a hometown show at Nashville’s City regularly hosted some of the biggest names in the music business manufacturing with United Record Pressing in Nashville and Third music festival that launched in 2017, and started “mul- event to promote the potential healing properties of singer Autumn Chase, let Witt pull from her own Winery, then jets off to Connecticut to start film - (from Jerry Lee Lewis to The Shins), before it was embedded in the Man Pressing in Detroit, and keeps an eye on the distribution of timedia kinetic light show” Labrys, performing at ven- properly used psychedelic substances. Ames says they’ll experience: About as long as she’s been an actress, ing a new Christmas movie, Hallmark’s Christmas fabric of Music City. Third Man’s vinyl records, whether wholesale or direct-to-customer. ues across the city and touring with acts like local band introduce a recycling component to the festival in the now-East Nashvillian has been making mu - on Honeysuckle Lane. When White opened his Third Man storefront in Nashville, And of course, most everything Third Man does touches vinyl in Ttotals. She also DJs at Nashville’s freeform community 2019, too. sic, growing up as a classical piano prodigy, and “And I just got back from [New York] where I Blackwell and business partner Ben Swank were the operation’s only some way. radio station, WXNA, and volunteers at the Tennessee “Since Far Out Fest is run primarily by women, we’re expanding into pop singing and songwriting — a was filming an indie movie for five weeks,” she says on-the-ground employees. “We did a Margo Price release that was cassette-only, something Teens Rock Camp. tuned in to the hospitality vibe really hard,” she says. career that’s grown alongside her IMDB resume. of Modern Persuasion, a modern adaptation of Jane “Ben and I were doing everything,” Blackwell says, conjuring special just for the U.K. I believe. Besides that, I can’t recall any other Though Ames, who was born in Michigan but moved “We really try to make it worthwhile for the guests and Witt issued her first LP, Revisionary History, in Austen’s novel Persuasion. “In May, I also filmed an a Third Man shop that was assuredly not the highly polished and release we’ve done that has not had a vinyl component,” Blackwell to Nashville during her formative years, is a trained vi - make the venues really happy, but also treat the artists 2015, produced here in Nashville by piano-pop episode of the anthology series Lore, for Amazon, meticulously curated showplace it is now. “We were running the store says, whether it’s a live Dinosaur Jr. recording from Third Man’s Blue sual artist, her heart keeps leading her back to work in really well. From my time in the music industry, I’ve hero Ben Folds. Her latest release, EP15,000 Days, in Prague, and I combined that with filming two like a merch table — cash only, no tax, no receipts.” Room or a reissue of ’50s and ’60s gospel music. and around music. It’s a passion she in part attributes seen a lot of mistreatment of artists. I’m really trying to is another Nashville creation, helmed by Grammy- music videos for my EP. So far it’s been an effort - If he had to venture a guess about what the Music Row estab - Vinyl sales may be dwarfed by digital music sales overall, but vinyl to her family: Her father, Mike Waldron, is a success - bring a platform to all of these people.” winning producer Jacquire King (who’s worked less balance. I find I need music to feel centered lishment thought of Third Man back then, “I’d imagine folks would remains the most popular physical format for music sold today — ful local bandleader who has worked with Lee Ann Ames also donates five percent of her real estate with Kings of Leon, James Bay, and onetime East when I’m acting, and I also depend on the specific think that we’d just putter along for a few years before eventually and CD sales have dropped off by 90 percent since their 2000 peak, while Womack and Martina McBride, while her stepmoth - commission earnings to Tennessee Teens Rock Camp, Nashvillian cover stars Moon Taxi, among many catharsis of acting to balance out the catharsis of unceremoniously closing up shop.” vinyl has gone in the distinctly opposite direction. In 2009, when er, Marcia Ramirez, currently sings backup vocals for which she says “encourages kids to be themselves,” and other bold names).