To me live music is the ultimate expression of art, you bare your soul with songs you have written and invested time and emotion in, in front of people you have never met.
I have been to many gigs and festivals over the years and spent a lot of money in the process, so a free gig with a band or artist I enjoy rarely comes around.
This weekend, Musicians Corner kicked off and will continue every Saturday for the next few months.
The free event is held in Centennial Park, a little ways beyond the Parthenon and hosts a music stage as well as food trucks, a beer garden area and market type stalls.
The reason I headed to this event was to watch Karen Elson's set. Karen is a model and recently featured in the closing ceremonies of the London Olympics, she also sings songs and she does so very well. A recurring and founding member of The Citizens Band, which features a large cast of revolving members, she released her debut solo album "The Ghost Who Walks" on her then husband's record label Third Man Records in 2010.
The Album is a host of folk songs which are story driven and often quite dark tales, produced by her former husband Jack White, who also plays various instruments on the album.
Karen took the stage around 4.15pm and played for about 50 minutes, playing various songs from her debut album including, "The Birds They Circle", "Cruel Summer" and the title track "The Ghost Who Walks".
Karen also played a few surprises, such as the recent Fleetwood Mac cover she and Beck recorded together for a tribute album. Throughout the set, Elson thanked the group of small children, who had gathered in front of the stage to dance and also the organizers of the event.
This was the first time I have seen Karen Elson live and I was impressed with how good her voice sounded live, it left me hoping to hear a second LP soon.
Throughout the gig I noticed a few of my musical icons wandering around. Jack Lawrence (The Greenhornes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather) was back stage with friends, also wandering around with her faded pink hair was Alison Mosshart (The Kills, The Dead Weather).
After the set had finished i headed towards the merchandise stall, I spotted the Third Man Records employee who had set up at the corner of the main stall, as I approached I noticed him handling a pink record. This was the Peach Scented limited edition of Karen Elson's LP and was for sale at a price of $20, I already have the album but this was a chance to add to my rare vinyl collection. I looked in my wallet, sat inside was one $20 bill! I bought the album and immediately opened it to smell it, it did indeed have a faint scent of peaches.
Another example of a great day in Nashville and another reason to confirm I was correct in coming out here: Good free gig, rare vinyl from Third Man Records and I saw more of my music icons casually wandering around.
Coming up in the tomorrow is The Black Keys official video for "Little Black Submarines", if you remember, I queued up for 5 hours to get into the filming/secret gig and will hopefully see myself in the video, awkwardly dancing.
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