House O' Lucy (Feat. Mary Mancini)
Lucy's Record Shop
In episode 1, host Mary Mancini interviewed Don and April Kendall of House O’ Pain to get their personal stories and talk about the origin of the Lucy’s/House O’ Pain collaboration. Then Don and April wanted to turn the tables and interview Mary, who resisted at first but is glad she finally agreed because, she said, “After 30 years of friendship we’re still learning new things about one another.” Don Kendall adds: “Mary Mancini has done a wonderful job of sharing the stories of the kids and caretakers of Lucy’s, but what about Mary? We’ve known her forever, but have never...
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The Vinylist Feat. Doyle Davis
Lucy's Record Shop
Doyle Davis' business cards read “Vinylist,” which is so perfect since he’s been a champion of vinyl as a music delivery system his whole life - as a kid picking through his parents’ collection, as a used record buyer at The Great Escape, as a Lucy’s Record Shop customer buying every Guided By Voices record he could get his hands on, and as the co-owner of Grimey’s New and Preloved Music, a Nashville institution he helped build from the ground up. In this episode Doyle talks about what it’s like to run a record store, seeing Rodan play a house show, Yo La Tengo soundcheck, and...
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Fun Girls From Mt. Pilot - Feat. Cat, Chris, Donnie, & Troy
Lucy's Record Shop
There is no other band more legendary or more inextricably linked to Lucy’s than the Fun Girls From Mt. Pilot. Chris Fox, Troy Pigue, Charles “Cat” Tidball, and Donnie Kendall dressed in women’s clothes when they played, which caught people’s attention, but it was their songs - short bursts of frenetic pop-punk energy and clever lyrics - and their stage antics that earned them a devoted following. To really understand how incredible they were you have to talk to the people who were at their shows. They say things like “mind-blowing,” “transformative,” “the...
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12V Negative Earth Part II, Feat. Travis Howell
Lucy's Record Shop
Travis Howell started playing the drums because his dad told him he couldn’t. His first band, No Remorse, was the first metal band to grace the Lucy’s stage and the first and only to be mistaken for neo-nazis. Sloppy, a punk-metal hybrid kind of thing, came next and then Adrenaline Hammer, which went on to become 12V. When 12V sold out Lucy’s, Travis realized a long-held dream. Travis’ time at Lucy’s included seeing bands like Javachrist, Impetuous Doom, Teen Idols, and the Wesley Willis Experience (“Rock over London! Rock over Chicago!”), judging Green Day’s choices, and...
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12V Negative Earth Part I, Feat. Joshua Toomey
Lucy's Record Shop
Joshua Toomey has loved metal since he was a kid. He went to metal shows, played bass in metal bands ( including Primer 55 with his friend Bobby Burns), and is now host of Talk Toomey, a podcast dedicated to metal music and news. Josh remembers his time in Nashville in the 90s well, selling out Lucy’s as a member of 12V Negative Earth, applying the DIY-punk ethos to playing and touring, and the miracle of living in a place where you could easily connect with people like Fred Coury of Cinderella, who would then record your band for free in a gigantic fancy-pants studio. When Josh was a kid he...
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Steel Wheels of Life
Lucy's Record Shop
Dallas Thomas picked up a guitar and became a prolific Lucy’s regular when he was just 14-years-old and barely able to lift his amp, playing with his friends in Fingerhutt, High Strung, Brown Cow, Little Monkey on a Stick, and Boobyhatch (to name just a few). And he was just getting started. After Lucy’s, Dallas, Erik Holcombe, John Roberson and Chris Fox formed the “satanic thrash rock juggernaut” that was Asschapel. For seven years Asschapel toured the Western world. They even made it to Bosnia using only a German map, where they met that country’s version of House O’ Pain’s...
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Kids Today Feat. Dru the Drifter
Lucy's Record Shop
Do you ever wonder what has and hasn’t changed in the punk DIY community in the last 30 years? To find some answers host Mary Mancini spoke with 17-year-old Dru the Drifter who does it all - he writes and performs, books shows, and records and releases his own music. They talk about his musical influences, his struggle to find places to play, his songwriting process, how living in the bible belt fuels the punk rock scene, and his goal to release 100 albums by the time he’s 27. Dru the Drifter has released three albums (41 songs) in 2021 and almost an album a month so far in 2022 (92...
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Chance Encounters (Feat. John Rogers)
Lucy's Record Shop
John Rogers, who first stepped into Lucy’s Record Shop when he was just 14-years-old, is an accomplished writer and photographer who uses his camera to document both the jazz scene and the streets of New York City. In this episode you’ll hear how growing up in Nashville - from seeing live music at Lucy’s and playing in his own bands to drinking coffee at Bongo Java and collecting records from The Great Escape - influenced his life and art. You’ll also hear about the numerous inexplicable and mysterious coincidences that manifest in his life and bring him closer to the people,...
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My God Shaves (Feat. Corey Kittrell)
Lucy's Record Shop
Corey Kittrell’s story is similar to many of the kids who came to Lucy’s. But if we look through the lens of race, it is very, very different. Not many kids who looked like Corey came through the doors of Lucy’s or had the negative experiences that inspired him to write his ‘zine, My God Shaves. Corey was born and raised in Franklin, TN., a quaint, historic town about 20 miles south of Nashville. In this episode we talk about what drew him to punk rock, Lucy’s, and the do-it-yourself culture, how writing his ‘zine helped him deal with the anger he felt as a black high school...
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Buckley's Record Shop (feat. Randy Fox)
Lucy's Record Shop
In 2019, music writer Randy Fox discovered a long-forgotten nugget of info - sixteen years before Lucy’s opened its doors at 1707 Church Street in Nashville it was home to another record store called Buckley’s. Randy has an insatiable curiosity and an unbridled enthusiasm for music and history, so this story has lots of twists and turns. It starts in Kentucky and his discovery of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones in college, zigs into the history of mid-20th century radio and record shops, and zags to the use of urban planning as a tool for white supremacy. Chock full. Enjoy! Randy Fox grew...
info_outlineJoin Smilin’ Jay McDowell, guitar-player-turned-upright bassist from the small town of West Lafayette, Indiana, as he takes you on his journey from watching and playing in bands in the back room at Lucy’s to traveling the world with BR5-49.
If you lived in Nashville in the 90s and loved live music you may have known about the punk scene at Lucy’s, but you definitely knew about the resurgence of hillbilly and western swing played in the seedy honky tonks on Lower Broad. Jay felt equally at home in both places. Some nights he’d hang out and watch bands at Lucy’s or play a gig there with the band Hellbilly. Other nights he’d go downtown to drink cheap beer and watch Greg Garing, Paul Burch, Tim Carroll, or BR5-49 play at Tootsie’s or Robert's Western Wear. When he was asked to join BR5-49 he jumped at the chance (it may have been the liquor talking), switching his primary instrument from guitar to stand-up bass and adding some additional style and substance to a band already bursting with it.
Jay’s tales include his favorite shows at Lucy’s, what the scene was like on Lower Broad both pre- and post-BR5-49, chatting with Keith Richards and John Fogerty, touring with Bob Dylan, and what it was like when ALL the record companies came a-callin’.
Smilin’ Jay McDowell heads the video department at The Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN, which opened to bring attention to studio and road musicians who play a vital role in the creation of music but rarely get the attention they deserve. He even has his own well-deserved exhibit in the museum celebrating his work as a session bass player with artists such as Marty Stuart, Dierks Bentley, The Black Crowes, Alan Jackson, Levon Helm, The Crickets and BR5-49. Go see it.
This episode is dedicated to John Van Etten (1966-1995), Timothy White (1952-2002), and Jim Bessman (1952-2021).
Episode Music
Hellbilly - Make a Mess
Lambchop - Cowboy on the Moon
BR5-49 - Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts)
BR5-49 - Ole Slewfoot (Live from Robert’s)
Additional Mentions/Links: John Van Etten, The Shindigs, John Delworth, Laura Matter (The genius behind kickball), Hellbilly, The ‘Boro, Fun Girls From Mt. Pilot, Deanna Varagona, Los Straitjackets, Danny Amis, Eddie Angel, Scott Esbeck, Jimmy Lester, Lambchop, BR5-49, Chuck Mead, Gary Bennett, Shaw Wilson, Don Herron, Tootsie’s, Robert's Western Wear, Zach Taylor, Garry Tallent , Timothy White (Billboard), Jim Bessman (Billboard), Greg Garing , Paul Burch, Tim Carroll, Keith Richards, John Fogarty, Bob Dylan
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This show is part of We Own This Town, a podcast network of original entertainment and documentary content. You can find more info at the official site at WeOwnThisTown.Net and on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.