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Cafe Rooster Records Takes Over Finally Friday

Cafe Rooster Records, the six-year-old, Nashville-based independent label, debuted at Americanafest in 2016. Since then, it's made its mark on the city's music scene with a diverse roster of artists and an impressive track record of successful releases. If you're a regular attendee of The 5 Spot, you've probably encountered artists that are part of Cafe Rooster, including Brian Wright, The Minks, Lady Couch, Pink Birds, and the bonafide prince of East Nashville, Jon Latham. This week, the label will take over Finally Friday for a special post-Thanksgiving episode.

Cafe Rooster is more of a co-op than a label with a traditional structure. The artists who release albums under the Cafe Rooster name (a play on Brian Wright's song, "Red Rooster Social Club") are all co-owners. Beyond simply releasing music, the collective is dedicated to creating a community of artists who can write together, play on each other's records, and cheer each other on in an attempt to create an entity whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Combining their experience has created something entirely new and unique. The group is dedicated to releasing quality music while also being an integral part of the Nashville music scene.

We'll kick off the show on Friday at noon with a set from Cafe Rooster co-founder and American folk singer-songwriter Sally Jaye. Her experience as an independent artist has informed her work with Cafe Rooster as both a label manager and A&R scout. She's been warming up for this performance by hosting a weekly residence the past few weeks on Tuesday nights at East Nashville's favorite dive bar, The Underdog.

Along with playing her own set, she's hosted guests Ruby Force, Caleb Caudle, Leah Blevins, and her husband, Brian Wright. That's quite a lineup to put together from your cell phone contact list. But the pièce de résistance is the closeout of the residency next Tuesday night when she'll host a trio of female artists guaranteed to blow the roof off the place. The opportunity to see alt-country darling India Ramey, Americana powerhouse KP Hawthorn (who also produced the Palamino documentary, which is widely considered the most important venue for Country Music on the West Coast, and arguably second in the U.S. only to the Grand Ole Opry), and the euphonious vocal stylings of Kashena Sampson - all in the same night? This performance is sure to be an embarrassment of riches.

The second performer this week is musical connoisseur and all-around lovely guy Jon Latham, who recently spearheaded the annual Last Waltz Benefit along with co-conspirators Allen Thompson, John Jackson, and the indémodable King Corduroy (who last week married violinist and string arranger for The War & Treaty, Dayna Osan - congrats, y'all!). Latham has been a staple in the Nashville music scene for years and is known for his close friendships with other talented artists like Andrew Leahey and Aaron Lee Tasjan.

Latham is currently working on his 3rd album, which he plans to record with his longtime band, The Lifers, next year. If you miss his lunchtime performance on WMOT, you'll get a second shot on Friday night when he plays The 5 Spot with Henry Conlon, The Mike Miz Trio, and Slow Force. That show starts at 9 PM.

Brian Wright, the "Texas-born artist, producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, poet, rock n roll guitarist, independent label owner, psychedelic troubadour, Sagittarius," who describes his music as "somewhere between Woody Guthrie and Velvet Underground," will wrap out the show this week. The multi-instrumentalist has toured with LeeAnn Womack, Milk Carton Kids, and Joe Purdy while also co-writing with Guy Clark, Darrell Scott, Jim Lauderdale, and Cordovas. He'd easily snag Best All-Around in the East Nashville yearbook class superlatives list.

All this and more will occur at 3rd & Lindsley Friday, with doors opening at 11 AM. The show is free, and we can't think of a better place to bring your out-of-town Thanksgiving guests to give them a little taste of the independent music scene in Nashville.

See ya there!

Rachel Hurley is the Content Manager for WMOT, managing their website content and social media feeds. She currently travels and lives in an RV with her two dogs. She calls home any place she can plug into shore power.
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