Allen Thompson Band plays at Clyde’s on Friday, June 16. In addition to Thompson, the band’s members are Grayson Downs, Clint Maine, Ray Dunham and Chad Stuible, who have been making music in East Nashville for about eight years.More Info
If you go› What: Allen Thompson Band› When: 9 p.m. Friday, June 16› What: Andrew Leahey & The Homestead› When: 10 p.m. Saturday, June 17› Where: Clyde’s On Main, 122 W. Main St.› Admission: $5 cover charge either night› For more information: 423-362-8335
Rolling Stone calls Andrew Leahey’s sound “heartland rock.” Billboard terms it “Southern-fried rock/soul.” The songwriter himself says it’s just rock ‘n’ roll.
Decide for yourself when Andrew Leahey & The Homestead take the stage Saturday night, June 17, at Clyde’s On Main.
Led by singer, songwriter and lead guitarist Leahey, the band makes modern music for roots-rockers and pop fans alike. It’s music that nods to the past while pushing forward, finding new life in a sound that’s been blasting out of car stereos ever since the invention of FM radio.
On “Skyline in Central Time,” the band’s album released last August that patrons of Clyde’s will hear Saturday, Leahey sings about life and love in the American South. Produced by Wilco co-founder Ken Coomer (who played drums on all 11 songs), the album was largely written in the aftermath of an emergency brain operation that left Leahey in recovery for months.
“We had just spent the entire summer touring across the country, then I got home and couldn’t hear anything in my right ear,” remembers Leahey, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after returning to his Nashville home.
“I was passing out in parking lots. I was suffering from migraines every day. The neurosurgeon gave me the diagnosis and explained that if I didn’t have brain surgery, I would lose my hearing, my balance, the ability to control my face and potentially my life.”
Leahey’s surgery took 12 hours. Unable to tour for several months, he picked up the guitar and wrote a new batch of songs about what it felt like to be alive.
As soon as he recovered, Leahey hit the road with new tunes and a renewed drive to make the most of his time here. New fans took notice – including Grammy-winning producer Coomer, who had played drums for Uncle Tupelo and Wilco before rebranding himself as a studio head.
In less than two weeks, the pair recorded “Skyline in Central Time” at Coomer’s studio in East Nashville.
“I wanted this record to be raw and real,” says Leahey, a multi-instrumentalist who, in addition to handling lead vocals, also plays guitar and piano.
“I wrote the songs myself. I recorded them with my own band. I could’ve hired a group of Nashville sidemen to come record with me, and it would’ve sounded good – but it wouldn’t have sounded like the Homestead.
“This is a real snapshot of what I went through and who I went through it with.”