Jewly Hight: You wrote a critic’s pick for the new issue of the Scene about a show that is saying goodbye to kind of a venue, or more accurately, a beloved dive bar that I and many other folks I know have spent some wild nights at, Fran’s East Side, saying farewell to that original location. What is happening at that farewell shindig?
Stephen Trageser: Well, there are a bunch of musicians and artists who enjoyed [Fran’s] as a social hub who are trying to help the bar owner and the karaoke maestro relocate. You’ve got basically rock acts and artists of different kinds playing all through the afternoon. You’ve got folks like Justin and the Cosmics, Heaven Honey, The Smoking Flowers. That’s going to be going on from noon to eight p.m. and then you’ve got karaoke from 8:00 until everybody goes home.
JH: Well, that might be pretty late.
ST: I can’t imagine what time it will end. Just trying to swell those coffers and [help Fran’s] be able to find a new place, which is not easy right now.
JH: You also wrote about a seasonally appropriate folk-rock lineup. Who are the two imaginative music-makers that are playing Folk Horror in the forest? And where is that happening?
ST: Well, Folk Horror in the Forest is happening at a place called Jaan’s House, which is sort of a short-term rental, artist-centered scenario that has a recording studio built into it. It is a private residence, so it’s a thing where you’re not going to find out the address until you buy a ticket. But there’s good reasons to do that, one of which [is that] you’ve got Skyway Man playing, that wildly inventive folk-rocker James Wallace and his band. Their bag is kind of telling these big sci-fi stories over many songs. You’ve also got Spencer Cullum, who is maybe best known as a touring pedal steel player and from his band Steelism. He’s got this solo project called Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection. That’s kind of folk prog. They’re going to be playing individual sets, then they’ll also be playing some krautrock covers together, some very sort of hypnotic, heavy psych. And it’s a benefit for Moving Nashville Forward, which is a nonprofit that folks might know about, that is working on developing a basic income pilot program for North Nashville.
JH: Oz Arts is also going to be hosting a spooky musical experience. What will that involve?
ST: This is the newest installment of Fable Cry’s Festival of Ghouls. Fable Cry is one of the most theatrical rock bands in town. They bring burlesque and puppetry and circus elements, all kind of performance elements into their sound, and they’ve got this big Halloween revue that’s going to have other bands as well, aerial artists and lots more. That’s on Saturday.
JH: Some other Scene contributors also spotlighted three very different rappers who are going to be performing around town over the next week. Who’s playing and where are they playing?
ST: Well, first up tonight you’ve got Mannie Fresh, who kind of helped define southern hip-hop. He’s playing at Pizza Park, which is an outdoor space adjacent to Slim & Huskies on Buchanan Street. Then on Saturday, you’ve got Kent Osborne, who’s kind of making a hybrid of hardcore punk and hip-hop is headlining a festival at The End over on Elliston Place, on the Rock Block there. And then you on Wednesday, you’ve got Larry June, who is a West Coast-based rapper but has some strong ties to the South. He’s got a he’s got a show at Mercy Lounge on Wednesday night, which is already sold out.