A flying flip flop and Frankie Ballard

There is one thing that can be said for my town.  

We are a Music Town!

I live just a tad bit north of Athens, GA but I consider this home.  I am there more than any other place.  Now this isn't Nashville but if you are like me and aren't in or within a few hours driving time you have the alternatives.  

In the past few months we have had: Michael Ray, Chase Rice, Jacob Davis, Cale Dodds, Jana Kramer, Seth Ennis.  We have CMT Instant Jams featuring Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean plays UGA, there is Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt.  You will sometimes have members of R.E.M. and Widespread Panic hop on stage.  Heck we have had Marilyn Manson and Blackberry Smoke. 

This town is by far one of the most diverse musically that I have been in personally. 

This past week Frankie Ballard was in town.  You know you always give a great first impression when you go to shake his hand in a Meet and Greet when you trip and your flip flop goes flying.  Well this makes for a more unforgettable meeting right?

Frankie was such a sweet heart, him and his manager wanted to make sure I was okay and they tried to "catch" me.  Haha thanks guys!

I thanked for coming to Athens and told him how excited for the show I was.  Maybe a little fan girl inside but I played it cool.

(The glare on my glasses makes it look like I have white tape, nerd glasses.  It's a glare ;) )

I have never seen Frankie live before but I have heard so many great things.  

I don't care too much for the opening act (I know, what??) so I will just skip that. 




Frankie and his band got up on stage and just lit it on fire.  It was so cool to see such a different show than the typical ones that I have been seeing.  The guy can play a guitar and not only that the guy can play the drums.






He actually started with the songs that people know from the radio.

Sunshine and Whiskey
Young and Crazy
Helluva Life

He threw in some Johnny Cash "A Boy named Sue"

His guitar player even took the mic while Frankie took the drums and played The Wallflowers "One Headlight".

I loved it.  

The only down fall of the entire night was that I am 5' 2" and all the tall people decided they needed to be front row so I could see mainly from the neck up on him.

The show was incredible.  He is definitely an act that I will see again and again. 

Like I said in Athens, Thanks for coming and spending the night with us!

xo, 
Robin

'You Draw My Attention and You Frame It'

Stories. Who loves to hear well written stories? 

My favorite kinds of stories are the ones accompanied by song.

Just about 3 years ago I met a singer/songwriter from Cedartown, Ga and since then I have had the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing storytellers.  This past Tuesday was no exception.

Have you ever been to a show and before it even begins the singer makes their way around the crowd to introduce themselves? 

Yea me neither.

I was introduced to Jacob Davis by Jennifer Solorzano about 6 months ago.  While I have never met Jennifer and only know her through social media, one thing for sure we have the same taste in music.  Since learning about Jacob I have heard nothing but the nicest stories of the way Jacob, Teddy, Caleb, Brian (Babs) and Kevin are interacting and making everyone feel apart of the journey here from the start...

...wait a minute, let me put my shades on cause his future is awfully bright!

Jacob Davis is a singer/song writer from Shreveport, LA.  He went to LSU and majored in Geology and began to play around Baton Rouge.  He wanted to pursue a career in the oil and gas company and after a few months in he knew he needed to head to Nashville.  I don't know about you but after you see a few of the videos you will see why I am glad he did.

Jacob and the __________ came to The Foundry in Athens this past Tuesday.  Like I mentioned before Jacob came around and introduced himself to the crowd.  I also got to talk to Teddy briefly before they hit the stage.  They were so kind, after about a few seconds I felt that I had known them for a while.  They are really appreciative of the squad and all the work we are doing to help them live their dream.

The guys hit the stage, the crowd size on on the small side that night, but for me it meant an intimate show. 

This was the first time I have ever had the opportunity to see them, they got up there and made it seem like the room was full.  (Sorry about the small crowd size, guys)

Jacob describes his songwriting, since he is from Louisiana, as swampy bluesy. It is very clear in the song Whiskeysippi.  It's hard to describe the sound of that song but it is easily one of my favorites.  There is a video below of it.  Take a listen!! 

His songwriting tells stories, his lyrics are catchy.  

~ You draw my attention and you frame it (James Brown)

~Tonight I am going to be Maker's Mark Twain (Whiskeysippi) 

how clever are those 2 lines?  

These guys played for a good 2 hours, the first hour was full band, followed by about 45 minutes of a writer's round taking requests from the crowd and then back to full band for the last few songs.

Here are a few videos:

(Full Band)

(Crazy, Something To Remember You By and Detours)

The guys took a small break in between the different sets, Jake ( can I call you that, that cool ;) ) came over to ask how the show was going and to chit chat.  This is where I found out he was a geology major and he found out I sell and ship granite monuments. What a small world!

There is only 1 other artist that I know of who does this (Cale Dodds).  

Acoustic

(Something To Remember You By which is currently on SXM The Highway) 

There was even some Jacob less time where Teddy took the mic with Brian and covered Ryan Adams:

What is a night of a small crowd without pick throwing to no one, sorry Teddy had to.

Through out the entire show there was a lot of interaction with us, I honestly felt like I have known y'all for years by the end of the night.  

Seriously though, I hope that you are feeling the love and the passion that the guys have for music from the videos and that I am putting it across well.

These guys are some of the nicest guys that I have met out of Nashville in the last 3 years.I hope that after reading this post you will go and check him out on all of his social medias:

Twitter: @JacobdavisMusic
Instagram: @JacobDavisMusic
Facebook: Jacob Davis Music

You can buy his current single on iTunes that is currently being played on SXM The Highway:

Something To Remember You By

You can also go follow the band on twitter:

Teddy Christenberry

Brian Campbell

Caleb Allensworth

Kevin Schuck

and I am including this one because it's cute even if it's blurry

Make sure to check out some of my new favorites!  Be sure to check Jacob's website for tour dates.

xo, 
Robin