Red Light Café, Atlanta, GA
Tickets are $12 Adv – $15 Door
Tommy Womack, David Olney and Adam Klein perform “in the round” for this very special Valentine’s Day show. David Jacobs-Strain opens the show at 8pm.
As both an artist and a person, Tommy Womack has been called everything from "Tom Lehrer with a Telecaster" to “Nashville’s best loved musical eccentric,” and he might blushingly, but proudly, accept both titles. That's because separating Womack the man and Womack the artist is impossible, as they're both the same guy. An award-winning recording artist and a published author, Womack writes songs as honest as anything Hank Williams or Steve Earle ever recorded, and has attracted the attention of the national press while accumulating a loyal following.
Womack came to Nashville from Kentucky, where he led the legendary post-punk band Government Cheese. Then came the short-lived bis-quits (who made one great record for John Prine’s Oh Boy! Label and brought Tommy and Will Kimbrough together for the first time of what has become a long, fruitful partnership). After the demise of the bis-quits, Womack immortalized Government Cheese’s story in the cult classic rock bio "Cheese Chronicles: The True Story of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band You’ve Never Heard Of". (With the release of a 2 CD anthology of Government Cheese’s, a sell-out reunion tour, and the success of the book, the Cheese is arguably a bigger band now than they ever were when they were together!)
On his fourth solo album – the career-defining There, I Said It! – Womack, sang about how his better days appeared to be behind him. “Nice Day”, a heart-tugging tale of a father enjoying a day swimming with his son while financial worries swirl in his head, won the “Best Song” award in the 2007 Nashville Scene Critics poll (an award he’s won twice). That record also features his epic tour de force “Alpha Male & The Canine Mystery Blood” is 8 minutes of cathartic musings on life, love and aging that often moves audiences to standing ovations.
With the release of 2012’s Now What!, Womack picks up where he left off. “This record is totally a sequel. Hence the title. The last record was all about being washed up.” he says, “This one is about what happened when There, I Said It! gave me my career back. Songs about home and family (“Play That Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick Play”; “It Doesn’t Have to Be That Good”) collide into songs about the perils of road life (“On and Off the Wagon” and the hilarious - if blood-chilling - “90 Miles an Hour Down a Dead-End Street”.) In between, we meet old flames in the grocery (“Bye & Bye”), grow old ungracefully (“Over the Hill”) and ponder simple love (“I Love You to Pieces”; “Wishes Do Come True”; and the album closer “Let’s Have Another Cigarette”.)
Womack is omnipresent in Music City, both live and on record, whether working with Will Kimbrough in their band DADDY, who have released two records, to leading the Alphabetical Kinks with Bill Lloyd (playing a night full of Kinks tunes done in alphabetical order, starting with “All Day & All of the Night” and ending with “You Really Got Me”), or leading his Clash tribute band Tommy Gun, or being in his harmony vocalist’s band backing Lisa Oliver-Gray (who’s record he co-produced) on simply playing his own show being backed by his own fine band, the Rush to Judgment. “I like being busy.” Womack says, “Keeps me out of trouble. I’ve been in enough trouble as it is. I feel lucky getting to do all this. After growing up such a square peg and spending so much time miserable, I like getting near 50 and actually thinking, ‘hey, it’s fun being me.’”
The prolific David Olney infuses his live performances with an intensity that converts many new listeners into die-hard fans. Mr. Olney’s intelligent compositions radiate that same intensity and have earned a place as one of the most respected singer / songwriters in the world today. His songs have been recorded by Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Del McCoury, Lonnie Brooks, James King, Slaid Cleaves, Dale Ann Bradley, Tom Rozum, Ann Rabson, Keiran Kane/Kevin Welch/Fats Kaplin, Tim O’Brien and others. He has released more than 20 albums over four decades, including six live recordings, and performs worldwide.
David Olney recently released a Box Set of three thematic mini-albums called "BODY OF EVIDENCE"(Deadbeet Records). The first installment of his EP series - "David Olney Presents: FILM NOIR" - earned a spot on the Philadelphia City Paper Top 10 Roots Albums of 2011, citing, 'these dark stories and their perfect small jewels of cool jazz must be honored for offering fascinating listening, both lyrically and musically.' His second mini-album - "THE STONE" - was released in early 2012 and focuses on a fresh telling of the Easter story from varying points of view. A third thematic CD entitled "ROBBERY & MURDER" was released in late 2012 and presents a pair of complicated love stories . Each collection includes a mix of reinterpretations of some of David's classic catalog tunes and several new ones.
Adam Klein is a singer/songwriter, troubadour, and world traveler playing Americana and rustic country folk music out of Athens, Georgia. With five albums under his belt, Klein now performs either solo, duo, or with his band, Adam Klein & The Wild Fires. Formed in summer 2011 with local ace musicians Steve Abercrombie (bass), Chris Cason (electric guitar) and Bronson Tew (drums), the band’s first album together, Sky Blue DeVille, was recently released in April 2013.
Klein’s music has garnered praise from Paste, No Depression, Georgia Music, Sing Out!, Flagpole, Stomp & Stammer, Maverick, and Connect Savannah Magazines, as well as on numerous Americana blogs worldwide (Americana UK, Roots Highway, CtrlAltCountry, etc.). His second and third releases, Wounded Electric Youth and Western Tales & Trails, debuted on the Euro Americana charts at #5 and #4, respectively. Klein has performed throughout the U.S. and toured in the UK, Ireland, and The Netherlands. He was an official performing artist at the 2008 Folk Alliance conference, and has shared the stage with a diverse range of acts including Josh Ritter, Kevn Kinney, Okkervil River, Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck, Shawn Mullins, Robert Ellis, Joe Pug, Steep Canyon Rangers, Eilen Jewell, Shovels & Rope, Jonathan Byrd, Caroline Herring, Jim White, Jill Andrews, Fred Eaglesmith, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Andrew Combs, American Aquarium, Bill Mallonee, Eef Barzelay, Larkin Poe, and more.
In 2012 Klein released his first ‘world music’ record, the original Malian Mande collection Dugu Wolo. An associated making-of-the-record documentary film is in the works. Klein is the founder of upstart independent label Cowboy Angel Music and co-founder of the annual Twilight Americana Music Festival in Athens, Georgia.
David Jacobs-Strain is a fierce slide guitar player, and a song poet from Oregon. He’s known for both his virtuosity and spirit of emotional abandon; his live show moves from humorous, subversive blues, to delicate balladry, and then swings back to swampy rock and roll. It’s a range that ties Jacobs-Strain to his own generation and to guitar-slinger troubadours like Robert Johnson and Jackson Browne. “I try to make art that you can dance to, but I love that darker place, where in my mind, Skip James, Nick Drake, and maybe Elliot Smith blur together.” His new album, Geneseo, speaks of open roads, longing hearts and flashbacks of Oregon – a record of emotions big and small, and lyrics that turn quickly from literal to figurative. “I’m fascinated by the way that rural blues inscribes movement and transience. The music that frees a singer keeps them on the run; there’s a crossroads where a thing can be enchanting but dangerous; damaging but beautiful.”
David Jacobs-Strain Official Site
David Jacobs-Strain on iTunes