NSN with Meaghan Smith & Eric Hutchinson 11-23-08

It was a packed, sold-out house at 3rd & Lindsley for Eric Hutchinson. The crowd was treated to Meaghan Smith as the 8pm opener and they seemed to enjoy her unique spin on 1920's, 30's and 40's style music. She played songs from her forthcoming (early 2009) release "The Cricket's Orchestra," including all four songs on the preview EP "The Cricket's Quartet." The setlist:

I Know
If You Asked Me
Drifted Apart
A Little Love
You Got Out
We Ain't Poor
A Piece
Take Me Dancing
Five More Minutes

Eric Hutchinson proved himself a great new entertainer, with a whole bunch of good songs besides his first hit "Rock & Roll." His trio includes Tom Craskey on bass and Jimmy Coleman on drums. I bet we're going to be seeing and hearing a lot more from Eric in the future. His setlist:

Back To Where I Was
You've Got You
Outside Villanova
Food Chain
Lisa
All Over Now
You Don't Have To Believe Me
OK, It's Alright With Me
Gonna Get Some Dudes Together
Sad Songs
It Hasn't Been Long Enough
It Hasn't Been Long Enough (Cher version)
Rock & Roll
Oh

Spotted in the audience: Nashville's own Matt Wertz, who told me he's finally off the road for a while and home for the holidays.

NSN with Edwin McCain 11-16-07

We wound up with a double-dose of Edwin McCain on this NSN, after scheduled opener Brian Vander Ark came down with a bug that took away his voice. Edwin graciously agreed to perform both the 8pm and 9pm sets. He certainly has more than enough songs to sing and stories to tell to fill the time. I was expecting Edwin to fill the set with songs from his new album of all-soul covers (Nobody's Fault But Mine), but he did not. "I Got Dreams To Remember" is the only song I recognized as being from that album. Mostly Edwin stuck to his own compositions from down through the years. He didn't work from a set list, so I don't have a definitive list for you this week, but he did do long-time favorites "Solitude" (2nd song in the 9pm set), and "I'll Be" and "Grammercy Park Hotel" (the last two songs of the night). A few other titles I remember from the first set were "White Crosses" and "I Could Not Ask For More." The second set included "Shooting Stars" and "I Got Dreams To Remember." Edwin's done our show several times and it's always a treat.

NSN with The Bridges & Matthew Sweet 11-9-08

This night's opener, The Bridges, are a young group of siblings (Natalie, Stacey, Jeremy and Isaaca Byrd) and a cousin (Brittany Painter) whose debut album "Limits Of The Sky" was produced by headliner Matthew Sweet. When I talked to Matthew on the phone last Friday he said he was just a big fan of their music. As you might expect from a family group, the harmonies are spectacular. Their set was all songs from the debut album:

All The Words
One I Love
Echo
Runaway
Unconditional
One Way
To Say The Least
Pieces (which they identified as the first single)
Blue

Matthew Sweet and his veteran band rocked through a set that had a whole bunch of songs from his new album "Sunshine Lies," his 10th studio album of his two-decade-plus career. It wasn't until about half-way through that he got to some "hits." "I've Been Waiting" and "Girlfriend" were performed with The Bridges onstage to lend a hand. The set ended with "Sick Of Myself." Surprisingly, "What Matters," "Where You Get Love," "Evangeline," and "Thought I Knew You" were not performed on this night, but I guess you can't do 'em all. The set:

Time Machine
Room To Rock
Byrdgirl
Dandelion
We're The Same
You Don't Know Me
I've Been Waiting*
Girlfriend*
Sunshine Lies
Pull The Trigger
Ugly Truth
Flying
Sick Of Myself

NSN with Newton Faulkner & Sonya Kitchell 11-2-08

Both these artists were paying return visits to NSN this week. Newton was here back in April. For Sonya, it had been much longer. She was with us in May 2006. Newton Faulkner played his set totally solo, but he's able to coax a whole lot of sounds out of his guitar and his foot-pedal keyboard. He's a great entertainer and was funny and warm with his between-song patter with the audience. Newton told me he thought 3rd and Lindsley might be the first American venue he's now played a second time. His setlist:

To The Light
I Need Somebody
Teardrop
She's Got The Time
Pure Imagination
UFO
Dream Catch Me*
Gone In The Morning*
Bohemian Rhapsody

Sonya Kitchell's first visit in 2006 was when her debut CD, "Words Came Back To Me," came out. We just barely got her on this tour for the new album "The Storm." Sonya told us it was the last night of the tour with her backing band The Slip. The setlist:

Here I Am
This Storm
Every Drop*
Who Knows
No Matter What
Walk Away
Running
Robin
Effortless
Fire