Yeah well like I said, I have a plethora of projects going on this holiday weekend. To be honest, I have so many shows and pictures to share, I cannot even remember what was when! I am just pretty much moving down my list of events, and I landed here at The Five Spot in Nashville. This show happened in August (I’m pretty sure), and it was truly enlightening to see some old friends there.
I’m going to admit this right now…I do not get out to this venue enough, even during Americanafest. This venue has hosted some of the best acts in my local music community. I do believe the last time I was there it was for Hillbilly Casino, The Delta Bombers and Volk ( who I recently saw at Muddy Roots ).
I just wanted to take some time out to tell everyone about these two artists that I think are vastly overlooked by many, and I hope that even one person reads this and discovers a new band here. Ritch Henderson is performing this show right as he released his 2023 album called “Fallacies And Four Letter Words”, and one of the first songs he played tonight was called “The Fall”.
One of the most powerful lines he has in his bag of tricks is this line “All the stones I been overturning build me a bigger wall”. It’s easy for me to take a person’s first album and attempt to delve into the lyrics to find out just who they are, and what are they going to musically being to the table.
Then you got people like him, that go in so many directions, they obviously brought their own damn table! i mean that because I cover over 300 festivals, and they only ones he wouldn’t fit in at are the Rockabilly ones. Being from Alabama, he maintains that edge of singer songwriter while trying to also relying heavily on touring and not just remaining in one place writing.
“Far From Home” was also played tonight but another song that speaks to me as an addict is the song called “The Time For That Is Over”. To be honest, this song can be construed as a few different aspects of worrying about someone (in many cases a child) choosing the wrong path in life. The song contains mentions of pill consumption and when someone enters a life of addiction, the time for that is now comes more often than not.
He performed a terrific story song about a fellow in North Carolina that sol weed out of an ice cream truck, and it was a new song that I’m not entirely sure I am supposed to talk abut yet. But one that I can talk about he did was called “Hello Darli’n”. (No, it’s not a Conway Twitty cover). The song called “Dock Lights” was a part of things tonight.
It has been a few years since I have crossed paths with Mr. Ritch, I think the last time was saw one another was Tumbleweed or one of those inferno hot festivals. Here recently, we have had an influx of female solo artists enter into the realms of local music and to be honest, I enjoy 90 percent of them.
Taylor Hunnicut is no exception, and I have indeed heard a lot of things about her live performances. As I delve into her song catalog I found out that even though she only has a select few in her list, there is intense potential for future banger hits.
You know one thing about artists that do a lot of covers, if they do them extremely well, an audience will get into what you’re doing. She does an extraordinary version of the Steel Woods song “Let The Reain Come Down” from their 2019 Straw In The Wind album.
“All Or Nothin'” is one of the very first songs I found of hers when I did delve into her list of songs, however one of the ones that I did find spoke to me more than any was the song called “Sawblade Hill”. That song is one of those rowdy and gritty heavy tempo slammers comparable to Blackberry Smoke or many more of these artists.
Alabama has always produced some talented musicians, and these two are no exceptions. Miss Taylor and her band put on one hell of an energetic show this time around. I did run into her after the Reckless Kelly shows at the Ryman in Nashville, and I just didn’t have enough time afterwards to enjoy her set.
In closing, I think both of these fine artists will be releasing more music in the near future, and I think that both of these artists will continuously hone their craft of performing live. I have a long list of show articles to write about, so keep an eye out for more!
