Concert Review: Chris Nathan, Rick Huckaby, Clay Evans – Blue Bar, Nashville – January 13, 2012

12 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on Concert Review: Chris Nathan, Rick Huckaby, Clay Evans – Blue Bar, Nashville – January 13, 2012

By all indications, 2012 is going to bring some really great new music to us all. On Friday night, January 13, 2012, at Blue Bar in Nashville, three extremely talented singer-songwriters, all at various stages of completing new projects, lined up to entertain a very friendly and very captive audience. Chris Nathan, who hosted the night, has built up a loyal fan-base around the country and it is so easy to see why. But more on him later.

Clay Evans opened the night and needed only about half the length of his first song, ‘Lonely Like Me,’ to get people’s attention. All he needs is for you to hear a few phrases of his lyrics and you will be drawn in. Sharp, honest, often-cynical, borderline-sarcastic but always authentic, this material presents as a mixture of modern artists like Jason Mraz, Gavin DeGraw and Matt Nathanson poured over a foundation of Bill Withers, Tom Petty, Paul Simon and Al Green. With song introductions like “this is about my inability to talk to the opposite sex” (‘Words’), or, even better, “only one thing in this song is not true” (‘Just Like That’), Evans cleverly made sure the crowd had a reason to listen after which new fans were easily created. He was joined by Chris Nathan for closer ‘Reach Out’ during which the new fans enthusiastically helped out. Choosing this uncertain career is not always easy and on ‘Playing Songs for You,’ Evans explained why he does what he does and that it could have turned out very different it seems: If my parents had their way I’d be a married CPA/who follows every single rule/but I’d have missed the chance to sit here on this stool/just playing songs for you. And we’d have missed the chance to listen and be charmed by them!

The job of keeping the momentum and energy in the room fell to Rick Huckaby who took the stage next. UCN readers have heard of him before and I don’t think I can get away with any higher praise for him without setting off some sort of alarm in the internet-monitoring room at the NSA. He has been labeled, after hearing the more recent material, as my favorite songwriter in Nashville (is that a siren I hear?) and he had no problem with the task. He opened with funky ‘Out from Under You’ before toasting to it being Friday the 13th. (shout out to Candy and Brad, two of the friendliest bartenders in town!) The set included ‘She Gets Me High’ and ‘Digging at My Scars’ (shout out to Skip for the fantastic harmonica!) by which time he was also joined by Chris on drums. The big draw of this material is that Huckaby’s songs make you feel (kind of the raison d’être for any artist, musical or otherwise). My personal favorite, which I shower with shameless flattery, is the beautiful blues song ‘Last One to Leave.’ It is a tune about which I previously remarked to Clay Evans “anyone who doesn’t love this song is dead to me.” Shameless. If you know the song, you understand. Huckaby thought he was finishing the set with the über-funky ‘Can’t Miss Kid’ but Chris wasn’t letting him leave just yet and joined in on the moving ‘Saving Savannah.’

Which brings us to Chris Nathan’s own set. If I have to pick my favorite all-genre entertainer, I wouldn’t even need the time it takes to blink before saying his name. The best way to explain? In the summer of 2011, on the same night Keith Urban was rocking at the Bridgestone Arena, I was in this very bar watching Chris Nathan. If that doesn’t endorse this show, I don’t know what would. If you take the list of artists used in the Clay Evans write-up above and add John Legend, Maroon 5 and Marvin Gaye, you get Chris. He opened with the neo-soul of ‘Sunshine & Alcohol’ and continued with the steamy ‘Don’t Give a Damn.’ For ‘Sugarcane,’ he requested Huckaby’s assistance – they wrote this one together – and they transformed into a comedy duo with hilarious references to the songwriting session which produced the sexy song. Brand new tune ‘Love Like That’ got only its second outing and the tale of heartbreak was howled with such anguish it stunned the room. The tempo went quickly back up with fantasy-song ‘Buy the Good Life.’ These shows always contain surprises and Chris showed off his improv skills by transitioning from Warren G‘s ‘Regulate’ to Blackstreet‘s ‘No Diggity’ via the theme tune of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. You need to come watch him do this to appreciate just how talented he is. A mix of older and newer songs (‘Tell Me,’ ‘Natural,’ ‘Bonnie & Clyde’) lead to the Alecia Keys cover ‘Fallin’,’ which was to close the night. This time it was the audience who protested (and, believe it or not, encores are actually rare in Nashville) so older fan-favorite ‘Spin’ became the finale.

With a new album just around the corner, and some very exciting things happening in his career, this is the perfect time to join the rapidly growing Chris Nathan army. To be kept informed of upcoming shows, head over to his facebook page. Attending at least one of these shows should be added to everyone’s ‘Things to do in 2012’ list. Because, with the world apparently ending several times this year, you’d be so sorry if you missed this!

 

Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

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