July 7, 2017 (Friday) - And today is the day when the world was made a better place on an annual basis. Thayer Sarrano perches atop the Georgia Theatre, offering an evening that promises to be laden with myriad shades of distortion, fuzz, delays, and reverb coated-thick with ambience. Following that, Sarrano welcomes to Athens the mononymous headliner Tristen, who hails from Chicago, but currently claims Nashville as her residential launchpad of choice. In addition to three EPs, Tristen has released four full-length albums to date, moving backwards in time: Sneaker Waves (2017), which hits stores this very day, CAVES (2013), Charlatans at the Garden Gate (2011), and Teardrops and Lollipops (2008). Tristen also has a volume of poetry -- Saturnine. It was published just last year by our pals -- we've never met them actually, but they seem like all-around groovy cats -- over at Cosmic Thug Records. Cosmic Thug is the brainchild of Justin Collins (of Justin and the Cosmics fame) and producer / musician Adam Landry of Playground Sound, which possesses a magical tape machine (yes, people still use those) that is said to work wonders on vocal tracks (we seem to recall hearing tale of this somewhere). You can read all about their thuggish plans and projects in The East Nashvillian, a physical print magazine (as in printed on actual paper -- yes, they still make those, too).

We Scribes are often slow on the uptake, ink-stained and overworked as we are by the Abbot of Guildwater, tyrant of the Tower of the Flying Buttresses. Scratching away daily, nearly blind, quills placed to illuminated parchment, the raw aroma of hide ever in our nostrils, we can perhaps be forgiven, subsequently, for not noticing, initially, that the poster art placed up above, which we also placed down below, for the Southeasterly Summer Shows of Thayer Sarrano, and which we filched from her Facebook page, (the poster, not the shows), was actually a video still from the song "Crease," from her album Shaky. In our defense, we will note that the original video was black-and-white, whereas the poster in question, atypical of Sarrano, (which is to say "un-Sarrano-esque," which is to coin phrase) was colorized, throwing us off the scent. Regardless of our oversight (or under-scent, as the case may be, we are ourselves unsure, which is different than being "unsure of ourselves," which we certainly are not, being downright haughty, at least as far as monks go), Thayer still created the video in question in tandem with Abel Klainbaum. That fact is indisputable. Verily, we say. Klainbaum has served as a cinematographer at a variety of cable networks, including: Animal Planet, HBO, A&E, truTV, and TLC. In addition to his video work, Klainbaum also operates as a photographer. We Scriveners have always been partial to his Bugs and Candy Macro Series. There is nothing quite like the sight of a snail chugging along amidst gummy bears the color of stained-glass.  

June 23, 2017 (Friday) - Speaking in previous and recent Scroll entries of Athenian Musical Showcases, almost as if we Scribes envisioned it all from the beginning -- (we didn't) -- this particular Showcase is, actually, the motherlode: The AthFest Music & Arts Festival, which aims annually to bring "the best local and regional musicians and visual artists together in Downtown Athens, GA." Embodying herself those twin peaks (music, art), Thayer Sarrano performs in the time-slot of the midnight hour of the Caledonia Lounge. Joining this Sarrano billing with a set all his own is that compatriot of yesteryear, yesterweek, and yesternext -- T. Hardy Morris, billed as himself. If you should ever care to watch Thayer performing with Mr. Morris, here is one video that figures among several of our preferred such sorties. (If we were forced to choose an actual favorite, we couldn't. Thus we won't.) It's called: "History's Hoax." It's part of Morris' "Places In Peril" Series. It was filmed at the Hancock County Courthouse in Sparta, GA. (Shhh! Don't look now, Athenians, but -- run! -- it's the dastardly Lacedaemonians come to spoil our beloved AthFest.) This video was shot by Jason Thrasher, who has a book forthcoming -- Athens Potluck -- we might have mentioned this before, in a previous post or something similar like . Also participating at the Caledonia tonight will be: Calico Vision, who has shunned the modern age with no as yet traceable web-presence (how we envy them), Grand Vapids, and Monsoon, the latter of whom, speaking of videos, have a rather snappy one, called "Ride A' Rolla, as envisioned by our pals over at Dominar Films, LTD, that estimable crew, responsible, you must surely recall, for the "Shaky" of Thayer Sarrano.

That "Shaky" bit of celluloid -- we never tire of gloating -- took home Music Video of the Year a year ago, in 2016, as judged by the esteemed editors and generous readership of Flagpole Magazine, so the vaunted and ribbed Vaults, pointed Arches, and Flying Buttresses of our thoroughly southern gothic Scriptorium cathedral reveal. Since we humans are but weak vessels, with memories made of reeds and sieves, we thought to include the video above, so as to remind you of it better. Going further still, so as to inform you of future events of import better, namely that Thayer Sarrano graces (imagine fuzz pedals with strings attached) the stages of Athens a few more times this summer of 2017, we thought it best to include the following poster. It will serve to aid you, as you coordinate your calendar in the pending weeks and months, as you gaze out nearsightedly into the future, beyond the myopia of this windshield called life, misquoth our main man Prince.

Much to the further dismay of the Lacedaemonians, and the general unmartial glory -- pax vobiscum (not pox vobiscum) -- of the Peloponnesus, AthFest continues then tomorrow -- Saturday, June 24th -- for the second of its three-day run. Thayer Sarrano plays in the time-slot of the afternoon hour, at the Little Kings Shuffle Club. Also on the docket, for this bill, listed alphabetically, will be: Angie Aparo, The Dirty Soul Revival, The Future Babes, and Mammabear. This event is sponsored by: Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), ChooseATL, Creature Comforts, SABCO, and Slush Fund Recordings. We must run now, because, Hark! The Lacedaemonians are coming! The Lacedaemonians are coming!  

June 16, 2017 (Friday) - Yesterday's Athenian rooftop musical showcase moves roadside slightly southward to Atlanta ahora -- that's Spanish for "now," as in today. Thayer Sarrano performs this evening at the 529 in the East Atlanta Village of Georgia. Joining Sarrano with sets of their own will be those fellow compatriots of yesterday: T. Hardy Morris, billed as Hardy and the Hardknocks, and Dave Marr. Hardy Morris is, of course, a foundational member of Dead Confederate, with three studio albums to its credit: Wrecking Ball (2008), Sugar (2010), and In the Marrow (2013). As a solo artist, Morris claims the Audition Tapes (2013), and Drownin' on a Mountaintop (2015), with a newer album in the works. As the frontman of The Star Room Boys, Dave Marr released two albums: Why Do Lonely Men and Women Want to Break Each Other's Hearts? (1999), and This World Just Won't Leave You Alone (2002). Two years ago, in 2015, Marr released his first solo album -- We Were All in Love -- the very same year that saw new issues from both Morris and Sarrano.

The catalog of Thayer Sarrano, of course, features at present three titles: Shaky (2015), Lift Your Eyes to the Hills (2012), and King (2009). Just last week, we were pleased, as always, to dispatch from our Athens warehouse, a sparkling CD copy of Lift Your Eyes to the Hills, direction über-Atlantic, destination Germany, where the music of Thayer Sarrano has been going global since 2009. (Visit the TS Bandcamp Page to order your copy today.) Archival manuscripts, neatly stashed away in our Guildwater Scriptorium Vaults reveal to we Scriveners that Thayer Sarrano last played Atlanta's 529 in July of 2016, at which time we featured (and now in pleasant echo) the photograph found above, taken by Emilia Paré.