From K. Flay and Grandson tonight at Skydeck on Broadway, The Backseat Lovers at the Ryman on Thursday night, and sticking with the Ryman Emily King and former WNXP Nashville Artist of the Month Devon Gilfillan co-headlining a show on Friday night, there is a lot to do on this Memorial Day weekend. Check out more events down below.
For What Where Whens-Day this week we are talking about two events that are paying tribute to two legends. Starting tonight at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center At Last: A Tribute to Etta James. Vocalist Crystal Monee Hall joins the Nashville Symphony for a concert celebrating James’ groundbreaking debut album At Last!. Hall joined us to discuss the importance of her music and the preparation for this show.
“It’s a big separation between playing Etta James and delivering the music of Etta James in a way that I think is complementary and in a way that pays homage, honors her legacy and her sound,” Hall says. “I’m certainly not remixing, redoing her songs. It’s the album, the songs as she sings them. But, I’m a different vocalist. I like to take those things that I hear she does and apply them to the sound because you want to hear At Last! you don’t want to hear the remix. It’s about being able to encapsulate that and being able to pay homage to those iconic performances, while being able to make them your own.”
To wrap up our week of tribute shows, this Friday night at the Blue Room will celebrate the music of Christine McVie. A long list of artists from Molly Martin, Lola Kirke, and former WNXP Nashville Artist of the Month Caitlin Rose will hit the stage and reimagine some of Christine McVie classics. Abby Johnson will also be one of the performers and she spoke to us about the importance of her music and how this show came together.
“I basically asked a ton of people and they were all like, ‘Wait, this is sick, absolutely, I want to cover a song.'” Johnson said. “I feel like a lot of artists don’t get to do cover sets like this that much. I was part of She’s A Rebel years ago. I wanted to take the use that format and have different singers like a revolving door.”
From At Last: A Tribute to Etta James with the Nashville Symphony to the Christine McVie Tribute Show at The Blue Room, check out both conversation above the article and for more events happening this week check out the listings down below.