FolklahomaAppalachiGroovetrain Plays the Tomato Arts-Fest

The Groovetrain played this year's Tomato Arts-Fest held in the Five Corners district of East Nashville. Last year the festival attracted some 12,000 attendees over the weekend and this year appeared poised to do the same. The vibe was a great New Orleans style street fest, with a brass band parade, funk bands, jambalaya stands, pottery and anything tomato!

We played an early set at 10:30am. (for us, early is anything before 2pm.) It turned out to be a great slot, a lot of folks were out, trying to beat the heat that was due to hit later in the day. We've been doing a lot of club dates, so an outdoor fest was a fun change of pace for us. The crowd was great! They were up dancing, very receptive - which amazed me for 10:30 in the am! The Groovetrain got a little Kayaking in later in the day - all in all a good days work - living in a folk band!

FolklahomaAppalachi-Groovetrain Recording Session 1

The FolklahomaAppalachi-Groovetrain has been in the studio most of June and July. Here is a rough cut video-slideshow of the tune - Dulcimer Jelly!
http://www.myspace.com/folklahomaappalachigroovetrain

June 2009 FolklahomaAppalachiGroovetrain in the studio

The Groovetrain has been in my studio, Cub Creek Sound for most of June working on initial recordings for a new press kit and the beginnings of a CD project. Our first tracking day had the whole band in starting about noon, getting Will McJ's drum parts down and basic rhythm instruments down to 4 songs, including two Dulcimer instrumentals, Kim's song North Carolina and Mark's new song "Tell You Goodbye" (done accapela with an upright bass)! We also worked on our version of "Bye Bye Baby Jane" and a co-write of mine and Kim's song, "Foothills."

. We had a blast together in the studio and we celebrated by getting a fire going in the pit in the backyard.


We cooked fajitas in a giant iron pot and finished up with smores on into the late night hours.


We're recording our projects old school, where vibe is everything and feel is more important than perfection. It feels like real music when we run the playbacks - that's a good sign! More to come!

The FolklahomaAppalachi-Groovetrain
Mark Elliott -Vocals & Guitars

Kim McLean - Vocals, Guitars & Dulcimer

Devon O'Day - Vocals & Percussion

Will McJ - Drums & Percussion

Chris Herin - Electric & Upright Bass


Peace,

Mark

Saturday Night May 30th. - The Fiddle & Pick - Pegram, TN

What a fun night playing with the FolklahomaAppalachi-Groovetrain at a very hip venue called the Fiddle & Pick. The Fiddle & Pick is a school, a performance hall and musical heritage institute - all rolled up into one. With it's spacious main room, with wood floors - it's great place to play and listen to music. Think of it as a big living room concert. To make it even more fun - it was my birthday tonight. It's been awhile since I've had a gig on my actual Birthday - pretty cool!
We met at the farm for a pre-show rehearsal around 4pm. We had several new songs and new arrangements worked up, so it was nice to solidify these just before the show. We arrived at the venue around 6pm. for load-in and sound-check. The show was produced by our friends Marilee and Chip Chipoletti of Chipstar Music. Chip ran sound tonight and made it easy for us.

We had a nice crowd, a great combination of my family, old friends and folks who had never seen us before. Everyone was enthusiastic and gave us the extra energy we needed to really crank up the show.

Half way through the show everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me. My folks brought in a bunch of cupcakes and Will McJ (our drummer)gave me my birthday present, "an electronic whoopee cushion" - that will come in quite handy on the road with this band!


We did a 90 minute show that seemed like it only lasted about 5 minutes. We ended with the big sing-along, "Stars in Their Eyes" and had the crowd sing it acapella back to us for the finale chorus - a perfect ending to the show.

We all met back at Kim & Devon's farm after the show for a few hours. Some of us made it back to the farm before others of us did - as others of us got pulled over by the Kingston Springs cops in their favorite little speed trap! No, as hard as it is to believe - it wasn't me this time!

All in all a great birthday, a great time with friends and family and always a ball playing music with the groovetrain.

Read Wendy V's Blg about the night

Saturday 5/23 - Hickman County Humane Soc. Benefit Concert

The FoklahomaAppalachi-Groovetrain headed back down to Centerville, TN last Saturday to headline a benefit concert for the Hickman County Humane Society. The gig was held at a great local venue on the square called The Farmhouse Cellar Dinner Theater. Will and Mark headed down a little early to set up the drums and the stage. Our new friend Damon Wherry(a Centerville Musician) was slated to run sound and helped us pull things together.

The band sound checked about 6pm. and then headed upstairs to the restaurant for a nice pre-show dinner. The dining room was long and narrow, with high, wood ceilings, old wood floors and a great, old country store vibe to it.

The show kicked off just after 7pm. downstairs in the Cellar Dinner Theater. We had a strong turn-out. Everyone was enthusiastic about the music and the cause. The event was spearheaded by a wonderfully passionate supporter named Charlotte Staggs,but had a lot of volunteers were there to make it all happen. It was inspiring to be around folks who not only love and value animals, but put their money and their labor where their mouths are. Animal care and animal rights have been a principal charity for the band as well as all of us individually. It was quite meaningful for us to support a community's growing efforts at protect and care for the animals in their county. We were thrilled to raise nearly $3,000 that night!

Thanks to Charlotte Staggs, Damon Wherry and the Farmhouse Cellar Dinner Theater for making it all possible.

Thur. 5/20/09 - KIX-96 Radio - Centerville, TN

The FolklahomaAppalachi-Groovetrain headed down to Centerville, TN to KIX-96 Radio to promote their upcoming Saturday night show benefitting the Humane Society of Hickman County.

Kix-96 is located just a few blocks off the city square, in a small 4 room building. They are known for their focus on traditional country music, as well as local sports and news. They are a great, independently run station with their own playlists and programming control. Those kinds of stations are very important to us indie artists, and so far have been very welcoming.

Mickey & Sheila Bunn were great hosts. Mickey interviewed us for about 20 minutes and played Kim’s new single. We finished off the show by playing “Bye Bye Baby Jane” and “Cracks in the Concrete” live.

One other important aspect of this station is the Saturday morning, live concert series they produce called the Grinder's Switch Hour. It is an Opry-type music show held in the Grinder’s Switch Center (hometown of Minnie Pearl), just down the road. The FolklahomaAppalachi-Groovetrain is slated to be the featured guests on that show on October 10th.

Thanks again to Mickey & Sheila for all their support!