July 14, 2018 (Saturday) - A last minute show in downtown Athens. A show before a departure. All things shall be revealed in time. Thayer Sarrano -- She, the Electric -- and her full-tilt boogie band play tonight at Hendershot's Coffee. It's more than a coffee shop, should you not know. It's a cultural oasis. It's an early show -- 8 pm. Have your $7 ready at the door. Up next, in the days and weeks ahead, yet another Nashville jaunt westward for Sarrano, this time at The High Watt, on Friday the 27th of July. From there it's a longer trek. "Goin' Out West." Pages in the greater desert hymnal of Sarrano songs. You've had your chance, East Coast. The medicine show and your miracle cure are now in transit.  

June 28, 2018 (Thursday) - The Basement East. No Country for New Nashville. Of Thayer Sarrano, quoth Philip Obenschain: "…A product of Athens' legendary, flourishing art scene," (wise man, he saith), "…the southern Georgia native is a bit more unconventional than the singers she’s opening for, and that’s all the more reason to arrive early and see Thayer in person, especially since she seems primed for new music in the near future." (Where did Obenschain get the scoop? Ears to the ground. No doubt.) Sarrano opens for the majestic headliner Lilly Hiatt, progeny of the legendary (not like Facebook ersatz "legendary," more like *real* substantiated legend) John Hiatt. (If you don't or didn't know, don't tell a soul.) As of last year, Lilly's got a new record -- Trinity Lane, which combines equal parts garage rock, alt-country, and folk. It is her third release, snipped at, on the heels, by Royal Blue (2015), and Let Down (2012). "Hang on, a little bit longer," and peep the video for the Hiatt title track "Trinity Lane." "Put your faith in something you can't see." Also performing this evening is the most august Brandy Zdan, Nashville by way of Canada. (If you're catching a hockey match of the Ottawa Senators prior to the concert in the Basement this evening, drive south. It's more or less a straight shot. Kind of.) Boasting a tripartite catalog, Zdan's Secretear, freshly released as of this year, follows her self-titled album of 2015, and her EP Lone Hunter of 2013.

As we Scribes wrote previously, which is to say we've probably done this before, No Country for New Nashville is comprised of a refreshing "team of passionate music lovers," amongst whom Mr. Obenshain figures. This snazzy 'zine offers as its byline, which bears repeating: "While Nashville is known as Music City USA, this is a pretty small market if you aren’t in the country music scene. Our mission with this blog is to raise awareness about the independent music scene in Nashville by spotlighting the great bands that are budding around the Music City, and to attract more of the national acts to swing through Nashville." In other words, kindly open the "Gates" a little wider, please, goodly Ernest Tubb. We aren't "Walkin' the Floor Over You." Much less are we "Drivin' Nails in Your Coffin." It is important to be earnest: you were, Mr. Tubb, after all, a Texas Troubadour by birth, anyway. But, the "Gates," Mr. Tubb, mind the "Gates." Thanks, No Country for New Nashville. Stellar 'zine, dude. Pass the skateboards and the salt.