Chi McClean

Well, I finally made it down to Nashville, TN. Plenty of folks have insisted that I check it out and after avoiding it for a few months, I finally figured out a way to get here via a gig at The Bitter End in New York City. When I showed up at my buddy Keith’s pad here in Nashville yesterday, he was abuzz getting ready for a performance at his home or, what he calls from time to time, “The Hayman Loft”. Actually, he not only has a logo and a website, but a really killer sound system, a nice baby grand, a full light set up (including a smoke machine, disco ball, and strobe light), and a great stage in his loft-style apartment. He hosts a few shows each month and last night was awesome. About six different harp guitarists showed up to do their thing and I was instantly blown away.

A harp guitar duo at The Hayman Loft. These things are crazy!

In case you have never heard of a harp guitar (I hadn’t until last night), it’s a crazy beast of an instrument that, in some cases, has three instruments built into one. There’s a set of bass strings up top (as many as ten or twelve or more), a somewhat normal guitar in the middle, and what looks like an autoharp of some sort with open tuned strings at the bottom. It’s crazy!

Anyway, this group of musicians completely blew me away. Tons of fun and just ridiculous talent (and coordination) from everyone who took the stage last night.

Billups Art Space: a cool, mixed-use space with a cool stage, a great sound system, and a nice vibe.

This afternoon, my buddy Keith set me up at a place called Billups Art Space. They were hosting an art and music event throughout the afternoon and had an opening spot on their stage, so I took it gladly. It was hot and humid, but the sound was good and Keith’s friend Adam Browder (local, ripping guitar player here in Nashville) joined me and sat in for a few songs. We had an amazing time and ended up meshing pretty well… man, that guy can play. I met a few other local musicians there as well, and it was nice to get the networking thing going a little bit. Everyone seems to be pretty open and friendly in this town and it’s really great to see.

Really looking forward to playing this place tonight... looks sick!

Tonight, I’m headed over to 2nd Avenue Live to play a set from 11:30pm until 12:00am. From the looks of it and the sound of it, the venue seems pretty sick. There will be a few acts playing throughout the night and I’ll be doing a 45 minute set later in the evening. It’s going to be a hoot, so if you’re in the area, come on out and say “hey” for one of my first official sets in Nashville.