Knoxville Marathon 2013

Posted on April 12, 2013 Written by 2 Comments
Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

It’s hard to know at the end of this week whether I should continue recounting last weekend or move the focus to the upcoming weekend. I’ll go with last weekend, but I must mention that this weekend is likely the biggest of the Dogwood Arts Festival, with the Arts and Crafts Festival on Market Square and throughout Krutch Park. The artisan works are phenomenal and the food tent, in which chefs prepare dishes with wine pairings, is one of my favorite single events of the year.

Mayor Rogero, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Mayor Rogero, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

American Flag on Clinch Avenue, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

American Flag on Clinch Avenue, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Still, I must give a nod to last weekend’s Knoxville Marathon which drew several thousand people. The race has grown to include a 5K, Half-Marathon, Marathon and Marathon Relay. Urban Son-in-Law backed off to the half-marathon this year and many Urban Friends ran various other races. I think one reason for the massive crowds last weekend was the marathon, as a number of people came in from out of town or simply stayed downtown to enjoy the other events going on.

Health and Fitness Expo, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Health and Fitness Expo, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Health and Fitness Expo, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Health and Fitness Expo, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists2, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists3, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

I love the fact that a fitness-based event has become so big in the city. It also works beautifully to have so many great activities downtown to greet any out-of-town visitors. There is no way someone visited the city last weekend, encountered the beautiful weather, pianos on the square, Chalk Walk, First Friday, Rhythm and Blooms and came away with anything other than a very positive impression of what is happening here. They also spent time and money in the Health and Fitness Expo on Saturday.

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Runner, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Runner, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

The starting line and staging area always attract me. Nerves jangle about at every turn, runners giddy with excitement warm up maybe a bit too much. Proud families wish their loved ones well. The mayor spoke at this year’s opening and the national anthem makes any sporting fan’s blood reach a quick boil of anticipation. Some are there to win, others to have fun and others simply to finish. Music pounds from a PA system as it will throughout the race as live bands play for the runners.

Entertainment on Market Square, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Entertainment on Market Square, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

John D. Cable and the Empty Bottle Band, Clinch and Locust, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

John D. Cable and the Empty Bottle Band, Clinch and Locust, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

I photographed eventual winner Wojciech Kopec (2:22:15) as he left the start line (red jersey above, number 2), but missed him at the twenty-five mile mark. I did catch Edward Tabut passing the UT Conference Center, heading into the final stretch. He was about three minutes behind first place. He also nearly left the course by not turning onto Locust, but a policeman yelled, pointed and Edward corrected his course.

Second Place Runner (No. 4), Mile Tweny-five, Knoxville Marathon 2013

Second Place Runner (No. 4), Edward Tabut, Mile Tweny-five, Knoxville Marathon 2013

Third Place Runner, Mile Twenty-four, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Third Place Runner, Bryan Morseman, Mile Twenty-four, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Fourth Place Runner, Mile Twenty-Three, Knoxville Marathon 2013

Fourth Place Runner, Stewart Ellington, Mile Twenty-Three, Knoxville Marathon 2013

Fifth Place Runner, Mile Twenty-four, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Fifth Place Runner, Abraham Kogo, Mile Twenty-four, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

About four minutes behind him was Bryan Moresman in third and I really felt for the next two guys as I photographed them leaving Market Square. They ran within steps of each other around the twenty-four mile mark and clearly, they would battle to the finish line. In the end, while Stewart Ellington (No. 6) lead by a few yards at that point, Abraham Kogo (No. 3) would pass him in the end to win fourth place. Two seconds separated them at the finish line. You can find complete results here.

Half-Marathon Medal, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Half-Marathon Medal, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Others would pass through downtown on into the afternoon. In fact, Urban Son-in-Law spotted a couple going through around 4:00, well after the official times have stopped. It reminds me of Cake’s awesome song, “The Distance.” All that matters at that point is finishing. And whether anyone else knows or acknowledges the fact, you know. It has to feel good. I never made it to the complete marathon and I admire those who do.

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The Civil Wars, Milo Greene and a Knoxville Jewel

Posted on December 13, 2011 Written by 2 Comments
The Civil Wars, Bijou, Knoxville, December 2011

Special thanks goes out from Urban Guy to Buddy Ray who has now taken me to see the Civil Wars twice. The first time was at the Disk Exchange which I blogged about at the time. Then they played the Pilot Light later that evening, this time they sold out the Bijou.

Milo Greene opening for the Civil Wars, Bijou, Knoxville, December 2011

The opening act was Milo Greene, a five piece band which includes four guys and one young lady. They were an absolute delight and a great opener. The music was good, somewhere in the Americana family, but the vocals specifically were fantastic. I am so delighted to be running into more artists emphasizing harmony and doing it in new and creative ways.

The only precedent I could conjure while they played was Poco in their early days. Milo Greene’s music is not country music like early Poco, but the harmonic structure sometimes inhabited the same space. Milo has no steel guitar like Poco had in spades with the immortal Rusty Young, and Poco didn’t have a female vocalist, but they did have Timothy Schmidt and that is a near vocal equivalent.

The Civil Wars, Bijou, Knoxville, December 2011

The Civil Wars consist of Joy Williams and John Paul White and nothing more. They don’t really need a band. Their intricate, intimate vocals take center stage and John Paul’s sometimes delicate and sometimes aggressive guitar playing, occasionally augmented by Joy’s keyboard fills the hall completely. Both have charisma to burn making the presence of a lone duo facing the audience more than adequate.

The songs feature complex, sometimes quirky harmonies and vocal interplay. Sometimes the call and response vocals combined with Joy’s idiosyncratic dancing as she moves from her microphone to sing slightly off-mic, often coming within inches of John Paul without ever quite touching, become incredibly erotic. It doesn’t hurt a bit that she is a very beautiful woman and he could play Johnny Depp in a movie.

The Civil Wars, Bijou, Knoxville, December 2011



The Civil Wars, Bijou, Knoxville, December 2011

They played most of the songs off their debut CD “Barton Hollow,” including their signature “Poison and Wine.” That song took off after it was used, in its entirety on Grey’s Anatomy. Later Taylor Swift noted it as one of her favorite vocal performances which both gave them a boost and underscored that she at least knows what good vocals sound like.

They ended the show with a couple of covers. Their version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” is a complete make-over in the image of their own music. I never cared for the song, but I really enjoyed their take. The final song was Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Love,” which was simply an inspired choice for the duo.

Here are a couple of videos for any of you who would like to check them out. They get the Urban Thumbs Up.

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Filed Under: Bijou Theater, Civil Wars, Downtown Knoxville, Downtown Knoxville Blogs, Knoxville Tennessee, knoxville tennessee blogs, Milo Greene, Rusty Young

Civil Wars Erupts in Knoxville

Posted on February 23, 2011 Written by 3 Comments

Not the Civil War – the Civil Wars. Never heard of them? You must be really old. Like maybe twenty-six or seven. Judging from the audience assembled for their performance, the demographic definitely skews young. If that’s the case how does an over-thirty bloggaman find out about them? From his friend’s twenty-something, much-cooler-than-we-are daughter, that’s how. She encouraged her father to catch the 9:00 show at the Pilot Light, but he found that there was a 6:00 show at Disc Exchange, which is much better for aging working men.

The duo, comprised of Joy Williams and John Paul White have enjoyed a couple of very big breaks. First, their song “Poison and Wine,” was featured in its full version on Gray’s Anatomy which resulted in a surge of itunes sales. Next, Taylor Swift called them her “favorite duo” and they were on their way. Their first full length CD, Barton Hollow, just came out and debuted at number twelve on the Billboard Charts and sat at number one on itunes for a week.

I listened to them on itunes and I wasn’t that taken. I could hear the good harmonies, but I didn’t hear enough of the edginess that I like in my music. Their sound definitely tilts in the direction of Americana, with a sort of alternative twist on folk music. At first it hit me as the Peter, Paul and Mary end of the folk spectrum as opposed to the Dylan extreme.

There were probably a hundred or more people gathered at the Disc Exchange for the live WFIV broadcast, which is a pretty big crowd for a space not built for crowds. The couple arrived at showtime and after a brief sound check and an extended guitar tuning adventure (it looked like a very old Martin – maybe a classical model similar to Willie Nelson’s famous guitar), they moved into the music.

Both their mannerisms and their vocal styling is more than a little quirky. In turns belting out harmonies and then, quickly shifting to delicate falsetto harmonies their music virtually demands intense concentration. And they got it. Throughout their set, hardly a stir was heard until the final, often very soft note. They seemed like a warmly genuine young couple (as in a couple in a group, not in a romantic couple – they are each married to someone else), staying in the store to smile for pictures and sign copies of their CD.

I’ll leave you with the video for “Poison and Wine” so you can form your own opinion. Sometimes for reasons I cannot control, blogger does not display video properly. If that happens when you are viewing the video, you can see it properly here.

Filed Under: Civil Wars, Disc Exchange, Downtown Knoxville, Knoxville Tennessee, Music, Pilot Light