An afternoon of great American Roots Music at Bailey Park in East Lansing. A family friendly event, with music, food, facepainting, a playground for the kids and more!
The line up of major acts this year is: TOMMY WOMACK, HARPETH RISING, BILL BYNAM & CO, & MARTINE LOCKE TRIO!
Saturday, June 2, 2:00pm-8:00 pm
East Lansing Bailey Community Center Park, 300 Bailey Street
*Bring chairs and blankets!
*Free parking in Bailey subdivision and at Community Center.
*Rain location: Bailey Community Center Gym
“My last record was called, ‘There I Said It’…a record about being washed up and hung out to dry. [My new one] is about what happened after that first record gave me my career back,” says Americana artist Tommy Womack, as he plans to release his fifth solo studio album, “Now What!.” The Nashville singer/songwriter sounds like he’s in a comfortable place on this twelve-track offering on the Cedar Creek Music label. He has a hand in writing every song, showing his way with loose lyrics and bluesy rock/folk melodies.
It’s hard to imagine Womack ever languishing in a writer’s Sahara hell; he can write volumes on a topic. Recurring themes here are infidelity, getting older, substance abuse and life on the road. He’s a bit of a wisenheimer at times, quick to poke fun at his aging libido, but when he’s poignantly honest, he can make a listener hang on to his every word.
“Bye & Bye” is the proverbial unexpected run-into an old girlfriend, where the soft arrangement by the artist and producer John Deaderick back him as he wistfully sings, “It’s a pity, I miss our conversations/You could talk a man down to the bone.” A whimsical oom-pah tuba and pedal steel combo push along “On & Off The Wagon,” contrasted by the rap “90 Miles An Hour Down A Dead-End Street” – a cautionary tale of self-destructive behavior.
Back to back blues songs are imperfect gems. A litany of little wisdoms make up the lyrics of the uptempo romp “Guilty Snake Blues” (“I’m not much for ritual and don’t care if I’m uncouth/I don’t care about the facts as long as you tell me the truth.”) and the gentle acoustic “Pot Head Blues” is Womack’s opportunity to look back at “wasted” years: “12 year-old shoes/Furniture that’s used/Starin’ at the news.” Stripped-down stunner “Wishes Do Come True” examines cheater’s regret. On the one hand, Womack’s writings are thoughtful and far from romanticized; on the other hand, they’re a hoot and a half. A band hog, he plays in several bands all over town, most amusingly, The Alphabetical Kinks with Bill Lloyd. They play Kinks tunes in order from A to Z…got to love it. via Tommy Womack – Now What! | Music News Nashville.
Rising from the icky depths of the lyrically, vocally, and harmonically abject “A Songwriter’s Prayer,” a 40-year-old Nashville lifer finds solace in a forgotten WTF he wrote at 28 and by age 44 comes up with a bunch of new ones about bad jobs, fluorescent lighting, and low-grade cigarette, beer, and Xanax dependency. The climax would be the proud admission “I’m Never Gonna Be a Rock Star” except that the climax is the seven-minute must-hear “Alpha Male & the Canine Mystery Blood,” a world-historically unromantic rocker about rock after 40. Also crucial is “Nice Day,” about his boy and his wife and a friend’s swimming pool. It won a prize. A MINUS
Tommy Womack: Now What! (Cedar Creek)
Reflective without wallowing in might-have-beens, his nasal drawl weary and at ease with itself, he’s an established failure who’s calmed down considerably for a pimple on Dylan’s ass who believes the best thing about ADD is that it never bothers you too long. “90 Miles an Hour on a Dead End Street” is no advertisement for chianti just as “Pot Head Blues” is no advertisement for cannabis. In one strong song, he feels the heat of an old flame on a checkout line and is so glad the burns have healed. In several other strong songs, he pitches woo wifeward. A MINUS
The singer, songwriter, and author Tommy Womack, a fixture on the Nashville music scene, mixes country, blues, and rock like a fast-fingered bartender on his new album, “Now What!,” a follow up to his 2007 release, “There, I said It!” His broad approach isn’t a surprise, given his background. Listen to a song from Tommy’s new release andRead More Here!
Nashville, TN—Following up a career-defining album release can be a daunting task, as it’s by definition putting oneself behind the proverbial 8-ball from the start. Thankfully, fans of Americana artist/ songwriter/author/producer Tommy Womack are not likely to experience a letdown on Now What! (February 21/Cedar Creek Music), Womack’s fifth solo studio album and a release that he is categorizing as a natural progression following 2007’s aforementioned fourth studio effort, There, I Said It!
“This record is totally a sequel,” said Womack. “Hence the title. The last record was all about being washed up. This one is about what happened when There, I Said It! gave me my career back.”
Indeed, Now What! picks up where There, I Said It! left off. Songs about home and family (“Play That Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick Play”; “It Doesn’t Have to Be That Good”) collide into songs about the perils of road life (“On and Off the Wagon” and the hilarious – if blood-chilling – “90 Miles an Hour Down a Dead-End Street”.) In between, there are songs about old flames in the grocery (“Bye & Bye”), growing old ungracefully (“Over the Hill”) and pondering simple love (“I Love You to Pieces”; “Wishes Do Come True”; and the album closer “Let’s Have Another Cigarette”.)
Ironically, on There, I Said It! Womack sings resignedly about how his better days appeared to be behind him. But the song “Nice Day”, a heart-tugging tale of a father enjoying a day swimming with his son while financial worries swirl in his head, won the “Best Song” award in the 2007 Nashville Scene Critics poll (an award Womack also received in 2004 for the “The Replacements”, an 8+ minute song about the band of the same name). And Womack’s epic tour de force “Alpha Male & The Canine Mystery Blood,” is (another) eight minutes of cathartic musings on life, love and aging that often moves audiences to standing ovations.
An award-winning songwriter, recording artist and a published author, Womack writes songs as honest as anything Hank Williams or Steve Earle ever recorded, and has attracted the attention of the national press while accumulating a loyal following. Womack is omnipresent in Music City, both live and in the studio, whether working with Will Kimbrough in their band DADDY, who have released two records, or being in his harmony vocalist’s band backing Lisa Oliver-Gray (who’s record he co-produced), or simply playing his own show being backed by his own fine band, the Rush to Judgment. He has also had songs recorded by Jimmy Buffett, Todd Snider, Jason Ringenberg, Dan Baird, Scott Kempner and others.
“I like being busy.” Womack says, “It keeps me out of trouble, and I’ve been in enough trouble as it is. I feel lucky getting to do all this. After growing up such a square peg and spending so much time miserable, I like getting near 50 and actually thinking, ‘hey, it’s fun being me.’”
“[Womack is a] Nashville rocker whose best songs are insightful, funny and penetrating.” – USA Today
“Womack leavens searing emotional honesty with observational wit and wry wise-guy charm as he moves among rock, country and blues.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Publicity: Mike Farley/Michael J. Media Group/ 608-848-9707 / mike@michaeljmedia.com
Management: Mary Sack / Mary Sack Management /615-275-7225 / MarySackManagement@gmail.com
Booking: Rodney Metoyer / The Metoyer Outfit / 615-260-7676 /RPMetoyer@gmail.com
Jack Frost is nipping at our noses in Tennessee. It’s that time of year again, when most of all of us get an extra day off and ponder why the heck we’re all here and what it’s all about. Some of us may even exchange gifts. Some of us will watch an excited child rip wrapping off a box while we’re cradling a cup of coffee and trying to wake the heck up.
SPEAKING of coffee, my favorite barista manager and long-time stage cohort LISA OLIVER GRAY has her debut CD out, called “Dedicated to Love” and it’s a beautiful tuneful stocking-stuffer if ever there was one. It was produced by MICHAEL WEBB “with” me, and the backing band is basically DADDY, so you can’t go wrong. Like any good Christmas tree, it’s got a star on top and a big solid bottom. You can get it here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lisaolivergray
In Nashville, this is tribute season. The gigs have slowed down for the holidays and so we invent our own gigs paying tribute to this great artist or that great artist. In December, I’ll be paying tribute to THE KINKS with Bill Lloyd at The Family Wash Dec. 2nd, TOM WAITS at The 5 Spot (Benefit for the Second Harvest Food Bank) and JOHN LENNON (Benefit for the Coalition to End Gun Violence) at The Mercy Lounge both Dec. 9th (I’ll be burning rubber that night.) and THE CLASH at The Basement Dec. 22nd. I’ll be at the annual Jambodians benefit in Bowling Green, KY Dec. 27th. My final performance of 2011 is back at The Family Wash on Dec. 29th with Tommy Womack & the RUSH TO JUDGMENT joined by Richard Dobson. He’s been called the “Hemingway of country music,” by Nanci Griffith.
So from all of me to all of you, I wish you the safest, happiest, sturdiest, freshest, crispiest of Holiday Seasons. Think Indie, Act Globally.
I’m excited to be going back to Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, GA this weekend. I’ll be there with Amy Speace at 8 PM. You can find them online at eddiesattic.com or facebook.com/eddiesattic. It’s one of my favorite venues to play and if you know any people in the Atlanta/Decatur area, I would appreciate you spreading the good word to them.
This won’t be my typical solo acoustic deal at Eddie’s. I’m bringing my band the Rush to Judgment with me: Lisa Oliver Gray on vocals, Dan Seymour on bass and Justin Amaral on drums. If you’ve seen me stripped-down at Eddie’s before, let me assure you that the band experience is a whole different animal. Well, not THAT different. More like me, but just with more people.
I hope you can make it to the show, or let friends in that area of the country know that I’m coming their way.
The Americana Music Association fest this past was a big success. My gig at the Basement was the bomb (in a good way). The good folks at Music Fog shot the raw footage for a long-form video to help promote my upcoming record and I’m chuffed to see what turns out from that.
I’ll be back at the Music City Roots show at the Loveless Cafe barn on Oct. 26th and don’t forget the big Lisa Oliver Gray record-release shindig at the Rutledge November 11th. Her upcoming debut CD, “Dedicated to Love” is a great piece of music.
I hope you’re doing well wherever you are. Cheers!
The line up of major acts this year is:
