Page 4 - Finally Friday News Today

Finally Friday is WMOT's Americana artist showcase held Fridays from Noon to 2 p.m. Central at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville. Finally Friday features three artists each week, live on WMOT 89.5 FM. Hear the radio version of each week's show in the WMOT.org On Demand section .

When Jobi Riccio staged a show at The Basement a couple of weeks ago to mark the release of her single “For Me It’s You,” a packed house of friends and well-wishers came out in support. The set made a fine tease for the album Whiplash, which is coming soon from Yep Roc Records. Let’s hope we can pack the house as well on Friday when Jobi plays for our live WMOT lunch series at 3rd & Lindsley, where she’ll share the bill with duo Slowforce and young songwriter Stella Prince.

From bluegrass to blues, from smooth to sandpaper, this week’s Finally Friday shows more range than Mariah Carey’s five-octave voice. We’ve served up a lunch buffet with acoustic songbird Irene Kelley, Nashville’s Mississippi son Afton Wolfe and musical healer Levi Ware.

Every January I brace myself for learning about really good albums released the previous year that eluded my attention, because it’s inevitable. In my defense, there are a lot of releases. In my prosecution, Power Up! by David Newbould is absolutely fantastic and I wish I’d covered it. I’ve known his name for years, but I should have been more zoned in on this formidable Nashville veteran. But you can get the crash course you’ve been needing or the fix you’ve been craving of the David ...

Economists, bummers that they are, will tell you there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there is free music during lunch once again this week at 3rd & Lindsley, as Finally Friday returns with an interesting triple play: progressive bluegrass from California, tasty guitar skills and powerful singing from a Nashville songwriting fellow, and the edgy music of a fiery-haired, second-generation folk rocker.

Ready or not, here it comes. There’s just the one day left to shop, if you’re that guy.

We know Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson as flinty, deeply intelligent, somewhat reclusive songwriters from rural Kentucky. But in that sense, they are heirs to Chris Knight who had that role nailed down back in the early days of the Americana format. We’re honored and excited to have this humble master of country music on our Finally Friday bill this week. Also up, California garage rock by Leroy From The North and trippy surf rock by Galvezton.

Performances will include Cafe Rooster owners Sally Jaye, Jon Latham, and Brian Wright, but you never know who may join them!

I’ve started compiling my essential albums list for 2022, and it’s clear already what a fine year it’s been for traditional country and bluegrass music. From Molly Tuttle and Del McCoury to Charley Crockett and Kelsey Waldon, the timeless strains of our art form endure and live in subtle, personal iterations. Two very new albums from that lane arrived in recent weeks, and we’ll be hearing from their authors on the Finally Friday stage. Jason Carter is the Del McCoury Band’s fiddler. Em...

I’ve had East Nashville’s legendary indie music scene on my mind lately because of my conversation here with Derek Hoke, architect of the late great Two Dollar Tuesdays at the 5 Spot, the coolest place to hear or be heard throughout the 2010s. This week’s Finally Friday could easily have been a TDT lineup back in the day, a sublime sampling of women who’ve made roots music livelier, smarter, and farther reaching.