I’ve had East Nashville’s legendary indie music scene on my mind lately because of my conversation here with Derek Hoke, architect of the late great Two Dollar Tuesdays at the 5 Spot, the coolest place to hear or be heard throughout the 2010s. This week’s Finally Friday could easily have been a TDT lineup back in the day, a sublime sampling of women who’ve made roots music livelier, smarter, and farther reaching.
To start with, Caitlin Rose is back, baby. “After a seven year absence following the release of her sophomore LP, The Stand-In, she was finally ready to dismiss any preconceived idea of what a “Caitlin Rose Album” should be,” says the artist’s new promo around her upcoming album CAZIMI. “The resulting 12-song collection reflects the multifaceted complexity of a fully-realized person, even if things had to be pulled apart and put back together a few times to get there.” All we can say is we’re ready for it. Caitlin, daughter of Nashville hit writer Liz Rose, burst on the scene like a firework in 2008 with rocking noir country that perked up Pitchfork and the New York Times, etc. What’s she been up to? That’ll have to wait for a good interview, but the songs released so far from CAZIMI are spectacular, including the motoric “Nobody’s Sweetheart,” a soaring, steel-guitar etched anthem called “Black Obsidian,” and a sweet power folk duo with Courtney Marie Andrews called “Getting It Right.” It’s beyond tantalizing, from one of our city’s most interesting artists, even if some of that intrigue comes from scarcity.
Next up is the wonderful Amelia White, who’s as cool hanging in the scene as she is on stage making earthy, heart-swelling alt-country. I got to write the bio for her very well received 2019 album Rhythm of the Rain, and I led off this way: “If there were an East Nashville Music Hall of Fame, Amelia White would already be in it. The now-famous scene was in its formative days when White arrived from Boston in the early 2000s and became a fixture at the Family Wash. . .She’s a poet who’s been compared to more famous songwriters for years; now, it would be more appropriate to use her as a benchmark.” I feel even more like that now that Amelia has issued her sixth LP Rocket Rearview, an album that seeks sanctuary from pandemic-addled American fire and fury. With sonic maestro Dave Coleman producing, we have here an East Nashville classic, but one that will reach Amelia’s fans across the country and overseas just when we need the succor the most.
Rounding out the lunchtime all-star lineup is fiddler and songwriter Molly Thomas, somebody I’ll be glad to see again, because she was an asset to the East Nashville community before she moved to the Gulf Coast of Alabama some years ago. Her stature as a musician working with the likes of Matthew Ryan and Todd Snider offered hints of the comprehensive talent and vision she revealed with her debut solo album in 2005. After her move, I wasn’t sure how forward leaning she’d been about her music, but I’m belatedly discovering her impressive work as leader of a band called The Rare Birds that includes among other folks, Wet Willie co-founder Rick Hirsch. The praise for their 2020 album Honey’s Fury was overwhelming. “Thomas has seamlessly woven 12 songs of love, betrayal, destruction, forgiveness, reflection, and healing into a powerfully inspirational album,” wrote Glide Magazine. Her old friend Matthew Ryan says: “She's vulnerable and stubborn while she honors the themes of loneliness, literature and that ethereal humidity that comes with the southern perspective.” I’m loving Honey’s Fury so far, with its echoes of the amazing country rock of the Continental Drifters. Molly’s down in her native deep south making jewelry and dazzling music besides, and we're more than ready for a visit.
