Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Playing in Nashville - Confirmed

I had an advance word the other day when I posted the new NCatBS audio clip. March 16, at the Mother Church - The Ryman Auditorium. When you consider Cave's long-standing fascination with the American South and religion, and the Ryman's history as a place of Southern worship, well ... if I weren't so busy being thankful we'll finally have a Bad Seeds show in Nashville, I might ask what took so long.

My program director just said to me that "every radio chick" he ever knew loves Nick Cave and he had no idea why. I think it has something - a lot, actually - to do with the Wim Wenders' generational touchstone, Wings of Desire. Cave and band's primal performance in a Berlin night club is heavily featured, in a pivotal scene that comprises a good portion of the film's emotional climax.

There are some literary characters that are so universal, anyone with the right set of gear can imagine themselves in that character's shoes. I think just about every performing woman who ever saw Wings of Desire had several moments where we could identify with Marian's jitters and fears as a trapeze artist. Performing without a net. It's one of many underlying themes in Wings of Desire, from Marian's gig, to Damiel's plunge from the Wall and transformation from heavenly angel to newly human.

The character of Marian transforms from a tragic loner to a confident, confrontational woman while Damiel, who she's never met but knows is with her, wanders around the club looking for her, finally settling to wait at the bar. Before she goes in there to meet Damiel, she loses herself in the raw power unleashed in "From Her to Eternity."

Or, it could just be that we women like dark, sexy music.

Meet Jake Bugg

He's 18, he's got melody and a knack for words, he's cute and right now, in the UK, Jake Bugg is receiving more scrutiny than Lindsey Lohan wandering around in a Harry Winston shop.

Depending on who you trust, he's either the second coming of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Billy Bragg all rolled into one, or a wanky exercise for late 40-and-early-50-somethings you'd see at a Paul Weller show. That is, if you live in a city large enough to have enough Paul Weller fans to fill a room in the first place. Either way, when the Nottingham-raised Bugg's debut album knocked Mumford and Sons out of the #1 spot on the UK charts, people sat up.

Recently Nashville got a look at Bugg when he opened for Snow Patrol and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at the Ryman, where an already impressed fan had the camera rolling.

The only US release available is his "Two Fingers" EP, but the full length is out there as an import. On Lightning 100 we're playing "Two Fingers," a minor anthem for anyone who's ever faced the choice of self-medication or flight. I'm pretty sure we were the first in the country to add it, a few weeks ago. And if you want to see why people are throwing in Johnny Cash comparisons, here you go ....