Last week, a colleague and I were looking over the lineup for this year's Nightfall concert series, and we both remarked on how few of the headliners we recognized.
Neither of us were familiar with more than a single artist. In my case, that was May 27's headliner, Nikki Hill, a North Carolina-based, soulful singer who wowed me at Riverbend in 2014. (Not to be confused, of course, with South Carolinian Nikki Lane, a country/Americana vocalist who is headlining on July 1.)
Casey PhillipsAt first, my gut reaction was to denigrate this year's Nightfall lineup as somehow less worthy than previous years, since I'm usually familiar with three or four names.
Instead, I shook the dumb off my brain and took stock of that seed of a thought - really peered into its ugly crevices - and considered what it said about me as a supposed fan of music. I quickly realized I'd fallen into the all-too-common pitfall of equating name recognition with worth.
That's especially hypocritical on my part, since I've spent the last nine years of my life imploring others to take chances on artists, if only because they could end up being the next Beatles.
Consider the lucky sods who saw Alabama Shakes, Jason Isbell or Old Crow Medicine Show at local clubs before they hit it big. I heard Zac Brown at Rhythm & Brews plenty of times before he started charging $78 for the privilege of hearing "Chicken Fried."
Sure, I don't know most of this year's Nightfall artists, but so much the better. I didn't recognize past headliners like Bronze Radio Return, Johnnyswim, Houndmouth or Spirit Family Reunion either, but they now occupy honored places on my Spotify playlist. This week's headliner, The Ballroom Thieves, have already made the cut thanks to The Head and the Heart-esque "Archers."
Occasionally, we all need to stop and remember that, with rare exception, most artists don't leap directly into the limelight. Getting to the point of national or even regional recognition is a bloody-nailed climb out of the gutter of insignificance. I think that's the best time to see them, in the days before they've had a chance to become jaded cynics with engorged egos. Catch them when they're still passionate and scrappy, I say.
Nightfall's selection committee long ago earned my trust through savvy, on-point bookings. I suspect this year is packing a lot of hidden gems, and I'm eager to discover them in the coming weeks.
What about you? Who did you see in Chattanooga before they become über-famous? Email me and make me seethe with jealousy.
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.