blue plate redux

Another good Friday concert at WDVX's Blue Plate Special: The Shake'em Ups sound like a fun upbeat show, Adrienne Young sounds plaintive and a bit Irishy (?), but it was Jay Clark on the billing that caught my attention. I've had the pleasure of meeting Jay a few times and he is a really unpretentious guy. His songs are simple, but his lyrics are layered and evocative- in other words, he's a good storyteller. Which, as an aside, is one of Bluegrass's strengths as a genre. People are getting tired of "i want to have a good time/get with you/verse/chorus/verse/chorus." They want a story, something that engages them, something they haven't heard before. Aside over.
Jay was the leading force in The Stringbeans, Cruz and Robinella's original band, that I first saw when I came to Knoxville in the late 90s. He moved away for a while and they formed another band that you may have heard of. He still keeps close ties with Knoxville and his old bandmates, and I try to go see him perform whenever he's in town. For good songwriting, go check Jay Clark out on Friday, 12:00 noon at WDVX's studio on Gay Street. [map]