If you go
› What: The Weeks featuring The Lonely Biscuits› Where: Revelry Room, 41 Station St.› When: 9 p.m. Friday, April 21, doors open at 8.› Admission: $12 in advance, $15 day of show; must be 18 or older with valid photo ID› For more information: 423-521-2929
The Weeks play Revelry Room on Friday, April 21.Local Artist Showcase
Hip-Hop CHA is hosting the final round of its Local Artist Showcase competition at the Revelry Room on Saturday, April 22, at 9 p.m.The top seven artists from the first-round competition held April 17 at Hush Lounge will perform live to compete for the grand prize at the Revelry Room event. Hip-Hop CHA will have DJ Shoey of TheHouse as DJ of the night.The seven competitors will perform one song each. At the end of their performances, each audience member will be able to cast a vote for their favorite artist. The winner will be announced that night.The winner gets the chance to headline one of the Hip-Hop Lounge events at the Revelry Room, a free spot in the SoundCorps Craft Masters Course, as well as opening for one of the Levitt Amp Concert Series events at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center this summer.Tickets are $5 in advance, $8 day of show; must be 18 or older with valid photo ID to enter.For more information: 423-521-2929.
High-energy and back-to-basics rock 'n' roll.
That's the sound of "Easy," The Weeks' long-awaited follow-up to their breakthrough album, "Dear Bo Jackson."
Recorded in Ardent Studios in Memphis - a place filled with the ghosts (and gear) of the Replacements, ZZ Top and Big Star, all of whom created albums there - "Easy" finds The Weeks doubling down on a mix of groove, grit and guitars.
It's swaggering and sharply-focused, shining new light on a band who, although still in their mid-20s, have already logged a decade's worth of sweaty gigs together.
Fans can hear it Friday, April 21, when The Weeks bring its live show to Revelry Room. The Lonely Biscuits will open.
"We moved to Nashville in 2010," says frontman Cyle Barnes, in a news release. He formed the band in Jackson, Miss., with his three longtime bandmates: drummer (and twin brother) Cain Barnes, guitarist Sam Williams and bass player Damien Bone.
"We spent 2011 to 2015 touring. November 2015 was the first time we ever spent an entire month in Nashville," he recalls.
Those years on the road were eye-opening for The Weeks, all of whom were just teenagers when they began playing together in 2006. By their early 20s, the guys were touring Europe with Kings of Leon, promoting their newly released "Dear Bo Jackson" in front of 20,000 people each night.
While the songs on "Dear Bo Jackson" were thick with horn arrangements, strings and guest appearances, "Easy" is leaner. The Weeks began working on its 11 tracks after returning home from a long tour and taking some time to rest, reflect and regroup. They wrote songs at Williams' and Bone's homes in Nashville.
"Everyone would come to the house, make food, hang out and play music 'til 4 in the morning," Williams remembers. "We wrote 25 songs, then picked our favorites for the final tracklist."
Inspired by real-life characters, places and stories that The Weeks encountered on tour, "Easy" is a record about where the band has been, as well as a sign of where it's going.
"We called it Easy because every time I make music with these guys, it's easy," says Cain Barnes, who has spent more than a third of his life as a member of The Weeks.
"It feels good. But the other side of it is, there's nothing easy about being in a band. There's nothing easy about staying together for 10 years and still wanting to make music. We have the hardest and easiest job on the planet."