Monthly Archives: April 2014
You are Invited by the Sister Cities of Nashville and the Nashville Film Festival
and the
present
A Filmtastic Affair!
Saturday, April 19, 2014 – Walk of Fame Park Downtown
Suggested Parking at the Music City Center
Please join us to celebrate Nashville’s international city partnerships and NaFF’s 45th Anniversary as an international film festival. This will become your favorite Spring party!
Grace: NaFF World Premiere Pre-Screening Info and Q&A
Gracie knows hangovers. She’s intimately acquainted with them. But this one? Why did she wake up, half-dressed, on a Florida beach, 1100 miles from home? And this time her father – who also knows about the tragedy of addiction from his struggles with Gracie’s mom – isn’t going to clean things up. Suspicious and distrustful of everyone, including a café owner with a troubled history of her own, Gracie prefers the relief of alcohol – which had always worked for her. When she’s arrested for public drunkenness and attacking a police officer, Gracie is given a choice: six months in jail or 90 meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous in 90 days, and she has to do it in the small town she’s landed in. She’s not used to strangers caring about her, but perhaps the power of community can help her sidestep the landmines lining her path to sobriety – especially the ones she’s laid herself. Rooted in powerful performances by Annika Marks (“The Sessions”) and Sharon Lawrence (“NYPD Blue”), “GRACE.” compassionately looks at the disease of addiction through a young woman inching towards redemption.
NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Dallas Smith
Dallas Smith got into Country Music by Default. Default, of course, was the superstar band whose neo-grunge anthems shot them to the top of Canada’s indie-rock pile in the early ’00s. Their No. 2 smash in the U.S., “Wasting My Time,” exemplified their sound, particularly in Smith’s vocals: hurt, angry and ecstatic, all at the same time.
So here is Smith again, this time singing about moonshine, the Fourth of July, tan lines, Mountain Dew, Daisy Dukes and even “panties in your purse.” His angst has yielded to a more ebullient and exuberant approach. Somehow a little down-home drawl has softened his delivery, and even his song titles have started dropping their “g’s.”
Photo credit: Kristin Barlowe
And guess what? With the release of his EP Tippin’ Point, produced by Joey Moi, we may be meeting the real Dallas Smith for the first time. Raised in rural British Columbia, he grew up to the tune of his mother’s Country albums, with plenty of Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn and Alan Jackson on the playlist. To these influences, he added Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban and other Country connoisseurs of strong melodies and expressive vocals. From Default, he learned to project with deep emotion; from Country, he stirred in some humor and accessibility. And on the title track and first single, written by Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, with Jaren Johnston, he ties it together with a lip-tripping hook, like he was born to sing this way. By Bob Doerschuk
For more on Dallas Smith, visit www.CMACloseUp.com.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
XSCAPE: New Music by the King of Pop
All New Album XSCAPE
On May 13th Epic Records, in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson, will release XSCAPE, an album of new music by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. XSCAPE is executive produced by Epic Records Chairman and CEO L.A. Reid. After mining by the Estate of Jackson’s archives, Reid was granted unlimited access to the treasures spanning four decades of material on which Jackson had completed his vocals. Reid then teamed up top producers to “contemporize” the songs while retaining Jackson’s essence and integrity, creating the best music you’ve never heard. The list of producers include global hitmakers Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, Stargate and John McClain.
