Loud Love Blog: Nashville’s Punk Take Over and “Punk Rock Night”
by Drew Wilson on May 19th, 2011
Drew Wilson, the man behind the curtain of WRVU’S “Loud Love” Show, is a punk rock connoisseur from New York City and one of the last of a generation who can say they grew up going to CBGB's. He moved to Nashville to get into radio and found a spot at the Vanderbilt station in 2008, where he put his training to use and took over the waves of Music City with the only punk rock show on the radio at the time. Now, in 2011, he's still playing the best of new and old punk, hardcore, and garage rock, and he's a fixture at the local shows as well as booking and promoting local bands, and keeping the volume turned to loud.
Nashville is no longer solely a country town when talking about the local music scene. By now, everyone knows this. The curse of Jason & the (Nashville) Scorchers has been broken, done away with, and obliterated by the awesome power of rock. At this time, there are so many absolutely killer rock bands out there from this one city alone, that you can go to a great show just about every single night without leaving city limits. And that’s what we want you to do.
With bands like JEFF The Brotherhood and Those Darlins getting huge notice on the national stage (listen/read NPR’s All Things Considered feature on Those Darlins), and more like Cheap Time, Natural Child, Blacklist Royals, Diarrhea Planet, and a dozen others right behind them, there has literally never been a better time to be rocking in Nashville.
When we moved from New York down here, without any idea what to expect, it certainly never entered our thought process that we would have MORE great shows attend, MORE local bands worthy of whole-hearted support and MORE people working behind the scenes to put legs on an amazing and vibrant scene. When we were lucky enough to get a spot broadcasting the music we love across the state on radio, it was almost a novelty to play punk rock in Tennessee. Now, a few short years later, there are many playing punk rock. Homegrown punk bands are putting out enough high quality material that we can play entire nights worth on the local. Now, the rest of the country is starting to take notice as well. No longer a destination for hard rock and punk bands to skip between Atlanta and St. Louis, multiple clubs in Nashville are now a destination.
This Friday, May 20th, is a prime example of how far rock and punk in particular have moved into this music scene of ours. Social Distortion is playing a high profile show at that church of country music itself, The Ryman Auditorium, along with Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music, and Sharks. Social D at the Ryman! It’s a big takeover. What’s punk about playing an expensive show at an all-seating venue, you may ask? Well, it’s a symbol of how far the music has come, and don’t doubt how hard it can be rocked. Nashville made a statement that even the bigger venues can get filled up by an excited, sweat-soaked crowd recently when the high-class War Memorial Auditorium housed a sold-out Flogging Molly show. But if you really feel that way, the same night, we will prove we can do down and dirty punk shows with the best of them as well. Greg Ginn, founder of Black Flag, owner of SST Records, member of a half dozen other bands, and certified punk legend, will also be playing a small show at Nashville’s traditional dive bar, Springwater, along with locals Heavy Cream, another band that is seeing it ‘s profile deservedly rise all over the place.
So let’s go ahead and call Friday “Punk Rock Night,” and let’s make sure to get the punks and skins that show up in force when a show grabs their attention to get out there, pack out both shows, and prove yet again that we have the rock, and can sustain as many punks who want to come through here, be they established stars, or locals that do it right. This is the place to be, right here, right now. Keep tuning in, and we’ll keep getting the word out. Just make sure you turn your speakers up.
-D.Rew
Loud Love
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