Dirty Guv’nahs Stirring Things Up Again: Five Years on the Road

Posted on April 24, 2011 Written by Leave a Comment
Dirty Guv’nahs Two Night Run at the Bijou, Knoxville, April 2011

The Dirty Guv’nahs have been together five years. I’m not sure how long I’ve been a fan, but I’ve seen them approaching a dozen times and, though I don’t go back to the Preservation Pub days, I do go back to the Barley’s days. Since that time they’ve grown so much as a band, it’s hard to think of them as the same group. Their popularity can be measured by the fact that they booked the Bijou this weekend for both Friday and Saturday night to celebrate their fifth anniversary. I bought tickets for the first show and, in no surprise to anyone who knows how I love music in general and them specifically, after the first show I had to buy tickets for the second.

Moon Taxi opening for the Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Knoxville, April 2011

A group named Moon Taxi opened the show. Their phenomenal keyboard player is from Knoxville and I believe I understood that the band is from Nashville. Their music reminded me of Arcade Fire, though someone more familiar with the music of either or both bands might tell me I’m way off base. They are actually hyped as a jam band, but I didn’t get that at all last night. It’s modern rock and I tried to think what its ancestors would be and I came up a bit empty. The light show reminded me of theatrical rock of the seventies but, thankfully, without the makeup. Sometimes their melodies reminded me of Duran Duran, but with more of the edge of the Clash. Mayor Burchett introduced them and quoted Rolling Stone as saying they will do for modern rock what Lynyrd Skynyrd did for southern rock. They were good, but that’s saying something pretty big. And what’s up with Mayor Burchett starting to show up wherever I’m hanging out? That can’t be a good thing.

Abby Hamm and Russel Bivens introduce the Dirty Guv’nahs
The Guv’nahs were spot on as they always are these days. James’ exuberance alone could carry them, but no one has to carry this band at this point in their history. The musicianship is solid throughout the band. Chris was over-the-top on keyboards last night, Cozmo was his Cozmo self, Michael just gets sweeter on his end of the guitar playing and James’ vocals were great all night. Something happened about two thirds through the two-plus hour set. When the band covered Instant Karma, which was, I think followed by their own Afternoon Eyes, the energy level went to a new level. That song was the highlight of the night for me, though of course Blue Rose Stroll is always a crowd favorite and their version of the Stones Dead Flowers was great fun.
Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Knoxville, April 2011

Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou Night One, Knoxville,
Surprises of the night included the appearance of Robyn James on violin in an acoustic set that included James and Chris. Scott Miller also joined the band on stage for several songs including the finale: The Weight. Also joining them on that song was Davis Mitchell from Dishwater Blonde and Mitch Stewart who was the original bass player for the band.
Scott Miller joins the Dirty Guv’nahs onstage, Bijou, Knoxville, April 2011

The band was introduced by local celebrities Abby Hamm and Russell Bivens who appear in the video I’ve included below. Much of the show was filmed and a running gag included a “reporter” who was trying to get interviews with the band while they were playing. I assumed this must be for a coming video, but it was a bit distracting. The band has been recording new music and debuted four songs Friday night. My favorite was “Song Number Two,” which presumably will have a different title when it makes it onto a disk. I’ll end this post with the video of a track from their current album Youth is in Our Blood: Baby We Were Young.

Filed Under: Abby Hamm, Bijou, Dirty Guv'nahs, Downtown Knoxville, Knoxville Tennessee, Moon Taxi, Scott Miller

Dirty Guv’nahs Rock New Year’s Eve

Posted on January 3, 2011 Written by 2 Comments

As I mentioned, my choice to bring in the New Year was to attend the Dirty Guv’nah’s concert at the Bijou. I’m sure there were other great places to be in Knoxville, but this one proved to be an excellent choice.

Dishwater Blonde, Bijou, Knoxville, New Year’s Eve 2010

Dishwater Blonde, Bijou, Knoxville, New Year’s Eve 2010

The show started at 9:00 PM with openers Dishwater Blonde. The two groups share a history: James Trimble (of the Guv’nahs mentioned the encouragement they had received from the members of Dishwater Blonde) and Cosmo, the Dirty Guv’nahs’ gritty guitar player originally played was a Blonde before becoming a full-time Guv’nah. Dishwater’s high energy funk sound was a fit opener for an upbeat night. Their originals and their covers got the sold-out crowd moving about and ably warmed them up for what was to come.

Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Knoxville, New Year’s Eve 2010

Breaking down a Guv’nahs’ concert has gotten to be difficult for me. I’ve seen them so many times that the different performances are beginning to merge a bit in my head. Some things stand out in my memory: James hitting the floor at Barley’s when he dove into the crowd and no one caught him, Dirty Guv’nahs holding their own with Blues Traveler, The Square Room shows – one featuring a sick James – and one featuring a much tighter, road-tested band and the Bijou Shows, especially the CD release concert for Youth Is In Our Blood.

James wails the songs, Justin thumps the beat, Bijou, New Year’s Eve 2010

Cosmo and James, Bijou, Knoxville, New Year’s Eve 2010

The New Year’s show was very tight and professional from the beginning. Feedback issues initially inhibited James’ use of his vocal mike and they reappeared moderately throughout the night. The show felt like it started off a bit slowly, almost as if the band was tired or a bit uncertain. The exuberance that has marked their previous performances didn’t seen to be as apparent early on. The sound was there – no one seemed to miss a lick – but something seemed amiss. Fortunately this cleared up after the first couple of songs and the band hit their joyous stride.

Chris on the Keyboard, Bijou, Knoxville, New Year’s Eve 2010

Chris and Cosmo, Bijou, Knoxville, New Year’s Eve 2010 

I’m never sure if I notice things I’ve missed before or if they are genuine changes from the previous outing. What stood out to me this time was that Michael’s guitar playing seemed to be higher in the mix. He took most of the early leads and then traded leads for the rest of the night. As one of the band’s two primary song writers, they are, after all, his songs, so this makes sense. Sonically it makes complete sense. I’ve loved his light, airy solos since the early days and, while I love Cosmo’s muscular style of playing, I’ve felt it overshadowed Michael’s excellent playing. The band seems to finally have it right – or they’ve had it right all along and I’m finally catching up. Both guitarists played stunningly and their disparate styles complimented the total sound of the band adding an intricate texture not previously exploited as fully as it deserves.

Guv’nahs and Friends, Bijou, Knoxville, New Year’s Eve 2010

There was also much fun along the way. The friends of the band were invited onto the stage for the sendoff for the old year. One friend proposed to another on stage (she said, “yes.”). Wayne Chisholm and Dede took center stage during Baby We Were Young (see the video a couple of posts back). Wayne likes the stage. Maybe he could be an honorary Guv’nah.

Cosmo: Rock God, Bijou, Knoxville, New Year’s Eve 2010

Covers are always fun with the Guv’nahs. This time they picked several for the encore. The most unlikely was Werewolves Of London by Warren Zevon. It was a fun sing-along. The lead singer from Dishwater Blonde joined the band along with Cosmo’s dad on bass, for Stevie Wonder’s I Wish. Two other choices were excellent: The last song for the full band was I Shall Be Released, the Bob Dylan song. In their last Bijou performance the band played Like A Rolling Stone (another Bob Dylan song) and while I was delighted, it didn’t really seem worked out. This song is perfect for different singers and a large ensemble and gave a note of gravitas to the passing of time as we celebrated the changing of the year.

The show ended with James and Chris singing A House Of Gold by Hank Williams from the front of the stage without amplification. So we got covers by Stevie Wonder, Warren Zevon, Bob Dylan and Hank Williams. That’s a pretty good desert island list, right there. It was a great ending to a very good show. Happy New Year, Guv’nahs. Happy New Year Knoxville.

Filed Under: Bijou Theater, Dirty Guv'nahs, Dishwater Blonde, Downtown Knoxville, Knoville Tennessee, New Year's Eve

Christmas Day in Downtown Knoxville

Posted on December 27, 2010 Written by Leave a Comment

So Christmas has come and gone, once again. What is it like to experience Christmas in the city? Of course, like anywhere, that depends on the person you ask. For everyone downtown, it’s pretty quiet. The streets are empty for most of the day. A soft snow-mist fell for much of the morning before turning to more proper flakes by noon. Few cars passed in the street. In my home the day meant sleeping late, opening gifts with family and enjoying brunch around noon. It was exhausting and, of course, called for a nap. Not much different than the suburbs, right?

I was the lonely recycler.

Mid-afternoon I took a walk to check the pulse of the city. First, I walked to the recycle center to drop off our boxes and used wrapping paper. I was happy to see I wasn’t the first to deliver the balls of festive, useless paper to a new life. I took a shot of a little additional urban blight as I left. These buildings could be great. I wonder how they play into the vision of Marble Alley.

State Street blight or Marble City makeover?

Homeless friends panhandling on Christmas day.

Walking down Gay Street, I found these guys. One said he was from Morristown looking for what to do next. The woman kept laughing uncontrollable and the guys told me she needs to take her Haldol. I cautioned them about panhandling in the same spot where Bill and Jake were previously accosted. One of them had a harmonica which he played sporadically, so I guess they could take the busker defense.

Christmas movie goer, Regal Cinemas, Downtown Knoxville, Christmas day

Regal Cinemas had three workers to one customer when I looked, but they claimed to have had a pretty busy day. They were one of the few businesses open. The ice skating rink was open and had about twenty skaters when I looked. I hope it has done well this year, but I’ve looked several times when it wasn’t very busy.

Twenty ice skaters skating, Knoxville, Christmas Day 2010

James Park Home, Christmas Day 2010

I walked down Walnut Street and took a pretty good picture of the James Park house. James Park was Knoxville’s second mayor. The foundation dates to 1797 with the actual structure going back to 1812.  It’s pretty remarkable that it has survived. It’s one of the oldest houses in Knoxville.

Umoja Abdul-Ahad, Knoxville, Christmas, 2010

I kind of hit full-cycle by the end of my walk when I met Umoja Abdul-Ahad. He was kind enough to stand for this picture as he prepared to walk the city, himself. Omoja, I learned, is the executive director of Global Recycle Summit, an organization that promotes recycling. I was relieved I recycled my Christmas wrapping paper rather than trashing it. I would have felt a bit guilty.

Dirty Guv’nahs’ New Year’s Eve Show

So, the action was slow, but I made a new friend. Not a bad outcome of a little walk in the city. As I turned back onto Gay Street, ice pellets fell heavily and the chill had deepened. I walked past the Bijou marque announcing the upcoming Dirty Guv’nahs’ New Year’s Eve show. I realized it was a farewell walk to a year that is ending. It’s been a good year for our city and here’s hoping the next is even better. Starting it with the Dirty Guv’nahs at the Bijou would be a promising beginning, indeed. I certainly plan to be there.

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Filed Under: Christmas, Dirty Guv'nahs, downtown recycling, Knoxville, Knoxville Tennessee, New Year, Regal Cinemas, Umoja, Walnut Street

Dirty Guv’nahs Rock the House

Posted on September 26, 2010 Written by 1 Comment
The Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 24, 2010

 I’ll admit upfront that I’m a groupie. If I was a newspaper writer I would have to confess my conflict of interest and disclose that this was the ninth time I’ve seen the group (for pictures of their most recent Sundown show go here). I’ve seen them more times than I’ve ever seen a musical act with the exception of Bob Dylan, who I’ve seen around 30 times, so his record isn’t likely in jeopardy. I was in good company at the sold out Bijou Theater as most of the audience seemed to know every lyric.



Black Cadillacs, Bijou, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 24, 2010

 The show opened with the Black Cadillacs, a local group who I also happen to have seen twice before, though both times they only played abbreviated sets of Bob Dylan music. Tonight they played what I assumed was original material and they proved to be a good opener for the Guv’nahs. I feel they’ve grown as a band since the first time I’ve heard them. If my memory is correct, this is the first time they’ve had a keyboard player and the organ was a good addition to their sound. They suffered a bit from vocals that could have been more out front in the mix. With some work on the tightness of their sound and some honing of their song-writing skills, this could be a band with a bright future.



Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Knoxville, Tennessee, Septemer 24, 2010



Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 24, 2010

 The Dirty Guv’nahs took the stage by storm from the beginning, opening with “Brown Little Bird,” and showing the results of months of hard touring with a muscular, yet crisp performance throughout the night. Some of the songs appear to have evolved on the road, including a slightly different intro to “Lovely Bones,” which was a highlight. As they did at their last Bijou performance, friends stepped onto the stage to add their talents to the mix, including a female vocalist, who could have been higher in the mix. Also joining them onstage for several songs – particularly songs off their most recent effort Youth Is In Our Blood - a saxophone player formerly with Gran Torino who added a Stax Records, Memphis soul sound to the songs. Finally, a violin was added by another friend, to very nice effect.



Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Guest Vocalist



Dirty Guv’nahs with extra vocals and saxaphone, Bijou, Knoxville, Tennessee

To say that this band has gotten better doesn’t begin to cover their transformation. From a fun band with a good rock-and-roll sound, they have evolved into extremely competent musicians with a solid stage presence. The writing of James Trimble (lead vocals) and Michael Jenkins (guitar) has always been exceptional, but now pushes beyond anything they had achieved in their early work. While songs like “Blue Rose Stroll” remain crowd favorites, and justifiably so, the newer songs such as Baby We Were Young, We’ll Be The Light and New Salvation are quickly becoming the mainstay of their repertoire.



Cozmo with the Dirty Guv’nahs – He played his sunglasses off – literally!



James Trimble and the Hoskin boys: Aaron and Justin
Also, Cozmo seems to have finally been completely integrated into the band. It may be that he fit seamlessly from the beginning and my own connection to the earlier incarnation of the band took this long to give way to the current lineup. He has given the band far more musical muscle than they had previously, and while I’ll always love the old sound with Michael playing all the lead, they play nicely over each other, with Cozmo supplying the muscle on his Fender and Michael supplying the nuance and texture on his hollow-body Gibson guitar. There also seemed to me to be another shift: I thought Chris played more organ than electric piano than he had in the past, but maybe I’ve just not focused on it before. In any case, I really liked the work he did on the organ and his harmonica playing wasn’t half bad, but the song, which he wrote was an excellent addition.
There were also semi-comedic points: James’ mother going crazy when he waved to her, Cozmo playing his sunglasses off and stepping on Jame’s mic cord, James knocking his microphone stand over and dramatically counting eight to the next part of the song – which had just ended.
Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 24, 2010



Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 24, 2010



As with most Guv’nah’s shows, there were juicy covers. When they pulled out “Like a Rolling Stone,” I was completely caught off-guard. It could use more polish, but it was great sing-along fun for the crowd. “Give Me Some Lovin’,” the nugget by the Spencer Davis Group was less surprising and a perfect fit for the band. They also included “Instant Karma,” (John Lennon) and ended with “The End,” by the Beatles, with the jamming portion perfect for the band, but the final portion needing a bit more polish if it is to be used in the future.



Dirty Guv’nahs, Bijou, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 24, 2010



It was a fantastic night to listen to music in Knoxville. The Dirty Guv’nahs seem destined to become something much bigger than a local band. James declared this was his favorite concert they’ve ever done. I think I’ve heard him say that during at least five of the shows I’ve seen. I hope he keeps feeling that way and I hope each phase of their career surpasses what went before it. I believe that to be true, so far, and I greatly anticipate what comes next for this excellent band from our city.

I’ll end with their video for “We’ll be the Light.” After you hear it, you’ll want to follow this link to buy their latest CD Youth Is In Our Blood. Happy listening.

Filed Under: Bijou Theater, Black Cadillacs, Dirty Guv'nahs, Downtown Knoxville, Knoxville Tennessee

Sun is Setting in a Western Sky (Sundown in the City: The Music)

Posted on June 7, 2010 Written by 1 Comment

The much anticipated Dirty Guvnah’s/Blues Traveler concert finally arrived last Thursday night. For those of you who may not be so familiar with Knoxville, Sundown in the City is an amazing series of free concerts presented each spring on Market Square in downtown Knoxville. The event features a mixture of local, regional and national artists and attracts anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 concert goers. It is promoted by AC Entertainment and the city of Knoxville, along with various other sponsors. AC Entertainment is local to Knoxville, but has gone nationwide. Ashley Capps started with Ella Guru’s and now promotes many large venues and artists as well as Bonnaroo.

The Dirty Guv’nahs are a Knoxville band – but not just any Knoxville band.

They’ve been voted “Best Local Band” three consecutive years in the Metropulse. Metropulse voters have nailed this one. The Dirty Guv’nahs are amazing. This was the seventh time I’ve seen them, and they just get better and better. Through steady touring and, I’ll say it though I loved them before, the addition of Cosmo on guitar, they have become a stunningly tight band. Their music falls in the same sonic orbit as the Rolling Stones and the Black Crowes, but with a little southern soul increasingly thrown in for good measure. They’ve released two CDs, but their next may be the break out. It was recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY and will be released officially this summer. They had copies for sale that night and it is great! This summer they will also tour with the Zack Brown Band, so big things are happening. They wowed and amazed the crowd of at least ten thousand people with their southern blend of raunchy rock n’ roll and bourbon smooth ballads.

Go see them. Buy their music. Say you knew them when!

Blues Traveler was clearly the main attraction for many people and they were very good. The veterans took the stage by storm, launching into one of their patented jams. John Popper, of course, is the complete focal point of the group with his singing, harmonica and powerful stage presence. They worked hard for an hour and a half and delivered the goods. That said, I was not as enraptured as I had expected. I saw them in Nashville several years ago and Popper had just lost his weight and seemed extremely inspired and glad to be alive in the wake of the death of a band member and his renewed commitment to better living. That commitment seems to have waned, as he has obviously added a good bit of the weight back, was smoking with his back to the crowd much of the night and his consumption of approximately fiftyleven glasses of something that, I suppose, could have been water, but I don’t think so. I also remembered that my itunes holds a good bit of Blues Traveler, but that on their releases I generally love about half of the songs and don’t need to hear the other half. The show leaned on the later half, which may have been great for everyone else, but for me wasn’t so much. So, for me, I’d suggest you stick with a greatest hits package, though I feel like a half-way fan for saying so.

I love them when they are at their most melodic. The staccato bursts and the non-stop jamming leaves my interest lagging after a bit. Still, they were good.

For free, how can you complain? Of course, people have found a way and that will be the subject of my next post.

Filed Under: Blues Traveler, Dirty Guv'nahs, Sundown in the City
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