In the little commercial area of Tierra Verde, I came upon Billy’s Stone Crab Restaurant, which I had heard of. It was too soon after breakfast to eat anything, but I went up to the rooftop bar for a coke and to check out the view. The little island behind the restaurant is being subdivided by developers, but the housing crisis has resulted in few buyers.
Tierra Verde is a little island in the bay between Pass-A-Grille and the mainland of St. Petersburg. It is primarily residential, but there are some spectacular secluded coves and inlets.
Country music is often perceived as music of the rural South, but Corey Smith’s new album “Broken Record” is a creation of the new urbanized south of coffee houses and bistros. Of course the nostalgia for small-town Southern America, youth and summertime is there, in songs like “If I Could Do It Again”, “Carolina” and “21.” But the nostalgia is tempered by a progressive outlook on “I Love Everybody”, or deep, existential songs like “No Way” and “Heart Attack.” Smith’s country is clearly infused with the singer-songwriter sensibilities of a Leonard Cohen or a Van Morrison, and through his songs, Smith addresses love, youth, God, War, racism, death and the unexpected lack of satisfaction in stardom (“Broken Record”). Fans of traditional country might not find Corey Smith’s music to be country at all, but his is a powerful new voice with the potential to carry country music far beyond its traditional boundaries.
The Don CeSar Beach Resort at St. Pete Beach is both an historical landmark and an architectural wonder. It is still open for business and very popular with those who can afford it.
St. Pete Beach is loaded with little bars and grills like this one. They all look interesting, but there are just too many to try them all on one visit.
The Seahorse Restaurant in Pass-A-Grille is only open for breakfast and lunch, but what a fabulous place! The food is outstanding, but so is the view, as the restaurant sits directly across from the bay, and while you won’t see any seahorses, you will see plenty of pelicans.
The Entertainment Networking Summit will be held June 18, 2011 at the Brinkley Convention Center in Brinkley, Arkansas. The event begins at 3 PM. This is a great opportunity for artists from the entire Mid-South region to get some needed knowledge and advice about the current state of the music business.Be there!
Nahshon Benford from Snowglobe and @luceroband at the @hitonecafe #oldschool (Taken with Instagram at Hi-Tone)
The North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic is an annual two-day outdoor concert at which most if not all of the living hill country blues performers appear, as well as many younger artists from the hill country of Mississippi, many of whom play styles of music influenced heavily by the hill country tradition. But unfortunately, not everyone has the time or money to travel to Marshall County, Mississippi in June for the picnic, so it is fortunate that Devil Down Records has issued a North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic Volume 2 sampler, which amounts to an aural record of the 2010 picnic. There is gospel here by artists like Rev. John Wilkins and Duff Dorough. There is music on the thin line between alternative rock and country, such as “Little Hand, Big Gun” by Jimbo Mathus, or “Midnight in Mississippi” by Blue Mountain. There are aggressive, rock-influenced readings of hill country blues by artists such as Eric Deaton, Duwayne Burnside, Hill Country Revue and North Mississippi All Stars, and there are traditional blues performances by Alvin “Youngblood” Hart, T-Model Ford and Robert Belfour. Of course, no recording can perfectly capture the thrill of being present at such a history-making concert, but this sampler satisfies with consistently-good music throughout. A hidden final track is R. L. Burnside telling a joke from many years ago, like a reminder of his spiritual presence giving approval to the picnic, and this recording.
Pass-A-Grille, Florida June 10, 2011
