Finally Friday

The winter weather has been tumultuous across the country, including in Nashville, where we plunged to single digits for days before a warm snap that brought a week of rain. But believe me, none of our team had any foresight about this when they booked the talent for this week’s Finally Friday, where we’ll open with a singer named Sunshine and close with an acoustic roots trio named for stormy weather.

Artists have come from the West, South, and East to make this week’s Finally Friday possible. We’ve set up a particularly interesting trio of musical concepts as we feature the hard swinging cowboy country of Wylie Gustafson, the blues-drenched slide guitar of Jeff Plankenhorn, and thoughtful commentary on Appalachia from native son Erik Vincent Huey.

When Jobi Riccio staged a show at The Basement a couple of weeks ago to mark the release of her single “For Me It’s You,” a packed house of friends and well-wishers came out in support. The set made a fine tease for the album Whiplash, which is coming soon from Yep Roc Records. Let’s hope we can pack the house as well on Friday when Jobi plays for our live WMOT lunch series at 3rd & Lindsley, where she’ll share the bill with duo Slowforce and young songwriter Stella Prince.

Every January I brace myself for learning about really good albums released the previous year that eluded my attention, because it’s inevitable. In my defense, there are a lot of releases. In my prosecution, Power Up! by David Newbould is absolutely fantastic and I wish I’d covered it. I’ve known his name for years, but I should have been more zoned in on this formidable Nashville veteran. But you can get the crash course you’ve been needing or the fix you’ve been craving of the David Newbould thing on Friday at our weekly live 3rd & Lindsley showcase in a triple bill with country adventurers Lake & Lyndale and roots rocker Foster McGinty.

Economists, bummers that they are, will tell you there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there is free music during lunch once again this week at 3rd & Lindsley, as Finally Friday returns with an interesting triple play: progressive bluegrass from California, tasty guitar skills and powerful singing from a Nashville songwriting fellow, and the edgy music of a fiery-haired, second-generation folk rocker.

It’s a landmark week for Finally Friday, because WMOT’s lunchtime artist showcase is returning to an all-live calendar after more than two years of at-home shows required by the Covid-19 pandemic. And we’re returning to the last venue where the community-based shows regularly took place, historic 3rd & Lindsley. To celebrate, we’ve got a stacked triple play of important songwriters with new music to share: Oregon’s insightful Anna Tivel, British American roots rocker Lilly Winwood and the Nashville/North Carolina favorite Caleb Caudle.

This week on Finally Friday we have a heartland rock double feature with Michael McDermott and David Newbould playing new songs from each of their latest albums.

Aaron Raitiere (Ray-Tee-Air) is a lyricist, performer, and visual artist from Central Kentucky. He is highly sought after in the Nashville songwriting community for his unique ability to coax coherent and focused creative output from his co-writers. His debut album "Single Wide Dreamer" is a long-awaited dream realized by Raitiere with producers Miranda Lambert and Anderson East. Ten years in, The Accidentals have established themselves as an internationally touring folk-rock band (with drummer Michael Dause), film composers, workshop leaders, arrangers, improvisers, engineers, and producers. During the pandemic, Sav Buist’s DIY Guide to Livestreaming aided countless musicians, landed her spots on panels hosted by The Recording Academy and the Grammys, and was a bridge between her and Katie Larson with legendary writers like Kim Richey, Tom Paxton, and more.Check out their Finally Friday Live from Home sets, only on WMOT.

Check out two brand new live sets featuring Little Quirks and Sam Burchfield, today on Finally Friday from Home.

Watch two brand new sets from home. Jeremy Garrett will be playing tracks from his new solo album Wild River, and Steve Dawson will play songs from his latest, Gone Long Gone, accompanied by Fats Kaplan.