Why not call it a tour? Sure it was just Knoxville – some 100 miles away, but by the time the day was finished, the Reagan Boggs Band had played a live radio performance for lunch, a live TV spot in the afternoon, some underwhelming mexican food in between a performance at Cat’s Records and a late night show in downtown at The Preservation Pub – 4 performances in one day and that was just the beginning.
We all took a vacation day last Wednesday (February 8th) and left for Knoxville early in the morning. Our manager, Jeff Malone had worked out a full days agenda as we begin the first official day of the promotional tour to promote Reagan’s second CD – Never Looking Behind.
We rolled into Knoxville between the morning rush hour and lunchtime and converged at the studios of WDVX. This radio station is like no other and is a listener supported phenomenon promoting homegrown talent and they have a daily show called ‘The Blue Plate Special’ that features the best original Americana, Bluegrass and Mountain Music in the region. Tony Lawson is their program director and I don’t know alot about their station and just beginning to learn, but I was impressed with what I’ve experienced thus far. It’s certainly a treasure in East Tennessee and a great venue for original artists.
The studios for WDVX are located right on the corner of Summit Hill and Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. A pretty cool place too – easy to see as you turn left onto Gay Street- they have one of the only ticker tape electronic signs and they also house the Knoxville Sports and Tourism Company, a gift shop and a gourmet coffee shop too.
Just outside the door on a streetside blackboard, Reagan and several artists were visible to the street traffic and I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went inside. I had supposed the studios would be somewhere else on a different floor, but to my surprise, as soon as I walked into this building, the coffee shop gave way to a stage surrounded by ‘blue plates’ and a glass window separated the studios of WDVX.
This was our earliest performance yet and as everyone woke up with free coffee, John Gillespe arrived from the band Dark Hollow Band (and volunteer) and began to set the stage for the 12.00 show.
The stage at WDVX is a small, but the legacy of players makes this stage quite unique as WDVX has been broadcasting a live lunch show here for many years.
Red Hickey introduced the band and we had a great time playing for the small audience that gathered during lunch. I hardly paid any attention to the fact we were sending a signal out to Knoxville with this live performance and was impressed with our sound. The small stage forced us to think lean and the purely acoustic instruments gave the music a different vibe altogether and it was refreshing.
The audience was appreciative too and we met a lot of new folks. We played for one hour and when we were finished, we tore down the set quickly and decided to head on over to WBIR- TV10 for a sound check in their studio.
WBIR is located in North Knoxville and has an older building and we had several minutes to work with a producer, run through the single ‘Share Them With You.’ Reagan, Greg and Jason were the only ones playing this gig as Kevin went to meet some friends and Alan and I were along for the ride.
After the sound check, we ventured out to Kingston Pike to check out the Cat’s Records location. Kevin Light is related to someone that runs that store and Reagan was performing a set there at 6.00.
When I was a kid, this Cat’s Records was the hippest place in Knoxville. I never stopped because I was usually just passing through, but I remember how big that placed used to be prior to the CD and DVD era and it always seemed like the coolest place in town.
It’s still cool, but the store is quite a bit smaller now and not a lot of traffic, but it was really cool to see Reagan’s name on the marquee there alongside one of the busiest streets in Knoxville.
We had some time to kill before we had to be back at WBIR, so we took the few moments to grab a bite to eat. Reagan was craving some salsa, so we stopped at this theme restaurant called ‘Cozumels’. Nice facade and a fair beer listing, but their mexican food was completely underwhelming. From the nachos to the salsa, we never tasted anything original and had to beg for something with a kick. Alan had the most interesting burrito with some cooky sauce with chocolate, but other than that, most us left half empty plates still covered with food that we all seemed to be quite bored with.
Arriving back at WBIR, we entered the studio and I was surprised by the pace in this studio. I’ve been in several TV stations before and they all seem so uptight and restricted, but this ‘Live Stage’ was abuzz with people moving in and out, personalities clapping and changing clothes in a quick pace to their own unique sets. There was a boy scout troop with about 30 10-year-olds all peach-eyed with wonder as the weatherman was moving from his green screen to the outdoors to forecast a coming snow advisory.
Reagan, Greg and Tony were on standby now and the Knoxville TV personalities were announcing the upcoming performance, plus there was also an olympic gold medalist on the interview agenda today too and all of this activity made this stage an busy, exciting hub.
About 5.20, the announcers introduced Reagan and the guys clipped off 3.30 seconds and performed the new song. Immediately after they finished the tune, their was a round of applause and the cast of characters focused their attention on the next activity on the agenda. It went by quickly and we were off again.
A lot was going on that afternoon and it felt good to be back on the street again. The clouds had moved in and the forecast seemed to indicate more by the minute that we were up against a possible snowstorm, but we crossed back onto Kingston Pike and were set up at Cat’s just about the time the snow began to fall.
We rolled into Cat’s and there was only a handful of people there, but that didn’t stop Greg, Jason, Reagan and Kevin. They set up their instruments next to the soft drink machine and Reagan couldn’t’ have been happier. Her favorite Mountain Dew was only inches away and she grabbed a bottle before she started into one of the songs from her new CD.
There were several people that came in and out of the record store while they played their songs and Reagan and the guys did a good job having fun in a strange environment, but we were all anxious to get to the Preservation Pub. That was the real performance and everything we had been acting on through the day was a warmup to the show tonight.
Did you ever notice the more you visit a place, the smaller it becomes? I’m not from Knoxville and when I was young, this was ‘the big city.’ Although it still is in many ways, I’ve had the fortune of playing from one corner of the city to the other, visiting the World’s Fair, watching a lot of concerts and even attended an Amway convention many many chapters ago, but as I drove around the city, it just seems to become more familiar and perhaps that’s why it seemed smaller.
Nevertheless, after the third time around the same block trying to find the Preservation Pub, it was a great feeling to finally park. Greg and Jason were ahead of me, the streets were shimmering from the snow/rain mix and I was convinced they didn’t know where they were, but thank God for cell phones, we pulled into a no-parking zone in Market Square and right down the street in the middle of an open square was – The Preservation Pub.
The Preservation Pub is a downtown venue with lots of character featuring live music every night. It’s one of those early 20th century pubs that has a bar that extends down the main hall and features posters of everyone from Tom Waits to Winston Churchhill on the walls – each with their own epiphany about drinking.
We were performing tonight with a band named ‘The Bridges.’ They were from Alabama I believe and what was unusual was the road crew made of a bunch of adoring guys and the band (all girls) seemed to rely on those guys to set up their gear.
When they started up their sound check, I loved the lead guitarist. She had one of those mischievous grins that seemed to compliment her leather jacket and Fender guitar. Along with her bandmates (someone said they were sisters), these girls had a smart alt-rock sound with rich vocals that reminded me of the 80s chic band Wilson Picket.
The girls performed a great set and I liked them alot, but in many ways, we were way different. The Americana music we play blends country, bluegrass and rock into a unique sound. In contrast, The Bridges seemed a little different, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind.
I was surprised to see our friend Lenny from Kingsport drive to Knoxville for the show. We also had some other folks who knew Reagan in the audience and by the time we finally got to the stage, the room was pretty busy and that was surprising, especially since the snow was really starting to fall outside.
The stage was a little cramped (as usual for our big band), but we got all our gear on the stage and played at least three sets until sometime after 1.00 am. I was impressed to see the previous band hang out for the first two sets, despite our differences in the style and vibe of the music, but they were very kind.
In between sets, I took the video camera outside and recorded a wall of graffiti outside Market Square and I was mesmerized by the quotes and quality of street art that I saw out in the snow.
Back inside, Jeff Malone didn’t take long to talk me into a cigar and we took a perch in front of the club to watch the snow. There seemed to be a lot of homeless people in Knoxville too.
Rodney walked past me for a minute to get inside the door. His hands were clutching several purple and white pansies and he walked into the bar to sell his flowers. A few minutes later, the door crashed open and Rodney was in the floor. I don’t know what happened to him, but I think he got tangled up with some young bouncer. He came outside and started talking to me and told me some story about his wife who left him for another man back in Alabama and he was living on the streets. He told me about all the folks that keep him up at the different businesses in Knoxville and was proud of a new coat someone gave him.
I enjoyed the set at The Preservation Pub. The sound was alright and I won’t complain too much about it, but I really couldn’t hear much from the stage, but this room was cool. We all especially liked that fact they had Guinness on draft and that was free for the band.
Not too many people are thrill-seekers enough to play four gigs in one day and the rain and snow were heavy by the time we left downtown Knoxville sometime close to 2am. The drive home was long and tiring and beautiful. It was one of those wet snows that covered everything in sight and the dark night seemed aglow with a eerie white shadow that illuminated the fields along the highway. By the time, I got to Interstate 81, most of the snow had turned to rain though and it was 4am before I lay my head down – reeking of stale cigarette smoke from another night in the bar, but a great start of a musical tour that should be good for several more stories.
Here is a complete website with all of the pictures we took this day. Video to come soon!