East Tennessee Dirt: Your guide to what's happening in the local music scene

By Steve Wildsmith
of The Daily Times Staff

“East Tennessee Dirt” is a regular column in The Daily Times Weekend edition that chronicles happenings in the local music scene.

We’ve scoured the local music scene, and will continue to do so, asking local musicians to send us news of their events, lineup changes and other news that might be of interest to those who consider themselves fans. This isn’t a column for everyone, but we hope those of you who enjoy the grassroots feel of watching talented local musicians play their hearts out — not for money, but because they love what they do — find something of interest here.

Local music review: Acme Shows Presents ‘Dark Secret’

Courtesy of Jeff Caudill

“Acme Shows Presents Dark Secret” may play like a rock opera, but it’s really a “B-movie,” according to Blount County resident and musician Acme James. The album is available locally at Southland Books.

He calls himself “Acme James,” and he’s been hanging out on the periphery of the local music scene for a few years now — getting up at the open-mic nights at Brackins Blues Bar, rubbing elbows with local musicians and looking down on life from his home in the higher elevations of Blount County.

Now, Acme James has put himself out there front and center with a new album — a concept record, or rock opera, if you will, titled “Dark Secret.” It’s been a labor of love that’s taken the better part of the last eight years and involved a lot of people who have heard James play and believe in his talents as a musician and songwriter.

“It’s about facing the hardest truth in your own life,” James told The Daily Times this week. There’s something that everyone has that, above all things, they don’t want to admit about themselves or face. This is about facing the hardest of those truths and how, when you do that, it can set you free to some degree.”

The albums story revolves around a small-town newspaper editor (unfortunately, yours truly can’t claim credit for the inspiration) who’s new to a small town and harbors a deeply buried secret — as a 9-year-old girl, she killed the father of her friend. The father was attempting to abuse her, but she got away with it and vowed to put it out of her mind. As it turns out, however, the dead man’s son takes the blame and, many years later, ends up working as the sole cab driver in the small town where his old friend has become editor of the paper.

“He confronts her and she blows him off, because she doesn’t want to face that she’s done this, even though she carries around the guilt anyway,” James said. “One day, he kidnaps her and forces her to go to the place where it happened. He forces her to see that she does have to admit it.”

We won’t ruin the ending; suffice it to say that, like a lot of Southern gothic writing, it’s not a happy one. If it sounds like the plot of a book, well — that’s because it originally started out as one.

“It was an idea for a novel I wanted to write, one with many more characters and a lot more action,” James said. “But I’m really a musician. Even though I’m a geezer, I’m really just starting out, and I just found that it’s easier to write this in music.”

With the story broken down into roughly an hour of music spread out over 18 songs, James approached two of East Tennessee’s finest to help him turn it into an album — Tim Lee, guitarist and bandleader of the Tim Lee 3 (and formerly of indie-pop cult icons The Windbreakers), and Don Coffey Jr., drummer for Superdrag and the recording maestro with Independent Recorders in Knoxville.

“The two of them together are a great team,” James said. “They helped me cut it down to more digestible, two- or three-minute songs, and Don had these moments of genius, and he applied those.”

The end result is a gritty rock album — big guitars, drum cracks and an ominous feel that sets the mood perfectly. James himself weaves a enthralling story and, with the help of Lee and his own daughter, Grace Kennedy of Jacksonville, Fla., on vocals, he holds his own. The production work doesn’t overpower the lyrics, and the guitars serve to anchor a tale that builds in tension and tragedy toward an explosive finale.

The recording wasn’t the end of the project, however — Lee’s wife, graphic designer (and bass player) Susan Bauer Lee designed the CD packaging, and Westside Daredevils guitarist Jeff Caudill did the cover illustration. Such assistance is something James still marvels over.

“All those people, it’s like they go the second or third mile just for the sake of art,” he said. “It’s really inspiring to see musicians like that. They’re just good people — they know that it’s all labor-intensive and that it costs a lot of money, and they help you out as much as they can. It’s inspiring.”

Now, James said, the project has been birthed, and it’s up to fate as far as what happens next. The album can be found at Disc Exchange in South Knoxville, Southland Books in Maryville and online at CD Baby. Eventually, James would like to collaborate with local actors or theatrical performers and perhaps stage “Dark Secret” as a rock opera — although he’s hesitant to call it that.

“I hate to use that word, but that’s what it is,” he said. “It’s certainly not high-brow — I like to think of it more like a B-movie, but I think it’s a full package, an audio-visual thing that has to do with the actual script and the art and listening to the entire CD. It’s like a little entertainment package — and it’s best listened to on earphones, because of the phenomenal mixing job Don Coffey did.”

For more information, contact James — who’s been a resident of Blount County since 2000 — through his Web site, www.acmeshows.com.

More live music in Blount County

With the rising cost of gasoline, it’s getting harder and harder to justify driving to Knoxville to see live music, if that’s your kind of thing.

Fortunately, the local music scene here in Blount County continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Remember those fabulous concerts scheduled for “The Shed” at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson this spring and summer? Don’t forget that the ticketed events (Todd Snider, Billy Joe Shaver, Ray Wylie Hubbard, John Hiatt, the Kentucky Headhunters and more) go on sale today, so call 977-1669 or log onto www.smh-d.com for info on how to buy them.

If that’s a little pricey, or maybe you just want something different, then make plans to, starting in June, head up to Townsend. That’s when the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center’s Summer Concert Series will kick off with a June 20 performance by Sparky and Rhonda Rucker. All shows take place at 7 p.m., and admission is only $4.

Other performers include: Ghost Mountain Rhythm and Blues on June 27; Blue Mother Tupelo on July 18; Labron Lazenby and LA3 on July 25; Jeff Barbra and Sarah Pirkle on Aug. 1; Wild Blue Yonder on Oct. 4; and Jenna and the Joneses on Oct. 11. In addition, an “Appalachian Celebration” will take place on July 11 in conjunction with the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont.

The heritage center is located at 123 Cromwell Drive in Townsend. Concerts take place in the center’s amphitheater, which is getting an overhaul (including a bigger stage and a covered pavilion) in time for the summer shows.

And if that’s not enough, Swank’s Jazz Restaurant and Bar, located at 100 Court St. in downtown Maryville, is inching ever closer to its grand opening. Co-owner Allen Swank told us this week that the venue is awaiting final approval from the city, along with the wrap-up of a few last-minute odds and ends, but right now, the plan is to throw open the doors on March 31. We’ll keep you posted, or you can check the venue out for yourself on Myspace: www.myspace.com/swanksjazz. There’s a sample of a few menu items up on the site, as well as contact information for you aspiring performers who might want to grace the Swank’s stage.

Attention, local bands and musicians! We want YOUR information. Send it to us via e-mail to: steve.wildsmith@thedailytimes.com, or call us at 981-1144.