BARRY COURTER: Lisa, I'm looking at our calendar for the week and for a minute I thought I was in another time and place.
Right away I see Cracker, who is playing Revelry Room tonight, then I see Shinedown at Track 29 on Wednesday. Classic old-school stuff. Shinedown's "Save Me" was everywhere in 2005, and "Low" was a huge hit for Cracker in the '90s.
Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
But then I saw Sturgill Simpson is at the Tivoli on Wednesday as well. He's as hot as anybody in the country right now, which explains why the show is sold out. Shinedown is sold out, too. When was the last time you remember us having two sold-out shows the same night? I don't count your kazoo recitals at church.
LISA DENTON: Barry, the only other time I've seen the words "kazoo recital" in print is on my concert posters. Thanks for the shout-out.
BARRY: Concerto seemed a little overreaching, though your "Flight of the Bumblebee" is as dramatic as any show I've ever seen. You look like you might explode at any second. I can't look away.
LISA: Well, a buzzing kazoo is the perfect instrument for the Rimsky-Korsakov classic. I usually play it right before the hymn "Softly and Tenderly" because you can't play a kazoo softly and tenderly until you're out of air. I do like the sound it makes on "Amazzzzzing Grace" and "What a Friend We Have in Jesssssssssusssssss." It's really quite something to hear.
BARRY: Moves me to tears.
LISA: But I should save praise like that for Sturgill Simpson. I'm kind of fascinated by him these days. He has said he wanted his latest record, "A Sailor's Guide to Earth," to be an exploration of all the kinds of music he loves, so it goes everywhere from Motown to R&B to punk to countrypolitan.
BARRY: He's great.
LISA: I love the quote in his bio: "Some people will say I'm trying to run from country, but I'm never going to make anything other than a country record. As soon as I open my mouth, it's going to be a country song."
I know how that feels.
And, of course, there's just the name: Sturgill. Wow.
BARRY: Yeah, it'd be hard to hide from his raisin' with that handle, wouldn't it? But those aren't the only musical shows this week, by any means. JFest is Saturday at Camp Jordan. This is the show for you if you like contemporary Christian music. It's a full day of music with acts like Tedashii, Crowder, Jamie Grace, 7th Time Down and Jason Gray.
LISA: Don't forget that Hixson High School grad and top Nashville songwriter Kelley Lovelace will be back in town Thursday for the Bethel Country Connection concert at the Chattanooga Convention Center. This time, he'll have Josh Turner, Neil Thrasher and Craig Campbell with him. Tickets are $125, but you get dinner with the show, and the proceeds go to Bethel Bible Village.
But there's another act we have to mention if you're about to bestow that Another Time and Place Award. I'll see your Cracker and Shinedown and raise you Rick Springfield.
I know I'm not the only woman who remembers him from his early days as Dr. Noah Drake on "General Hospital," circa 1981, the year he released "Jessie's Girl." He'll be at the Tivoli on Sunday.
BARRY: Springfield is one of those "He's a lot better than some people think" acts. He's good.
And my longtime friend Janet "The Tennessee Tramp" Williams returns to The Comedy Catch this weekend. Her humor will peel your ears back, but it's funny.
LISA: My kinda gal.
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Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.