Friday, First Show at the Commodore
"Given" a Hand to NSAI featuring Naima
Adedapo, Cassidy Lynn Alexander, Clay Mills, and Anthony Smith
Report from MCAU Contributing Writer Wil Comstock
After having a tasteless Commodore chili bread bowl, I was
ready to hear some good music. I was not familiar with any of the writers of
this show, so I was a little skeptical. I need not have been. This group of Given
Music writers is solid.
Clay Mills is a
writer's writer. We heard "Don't Think I Don't Think About That", his
Darius Rucker hit. His first recorded song, "Take It And Fly" by
Trisha Yearwood, was a good vehicle for Clay's soaring vocals and his
more-than-adequate guitar skills. When Clay's son was in seventh grade, his teacher
asked if Clay could come and sing a certain song at his school. None of his
son's friends listened to country music, so he told his father not to come. A
few months later, his son's favorite show, "American Idol", was on.
Clay did not tell him that his song would be featured. After one of the
contestants sang the song, there was silence. Simon loved it. Clay's son turned
to him and said, "You're still not playing at my school!" Clay then
played his Clay Walker hit, "Fall". When Mills first moved to town,
his friends back home kept calling and asking when he was going to return. This
went on for seven years until he had his first number one. Then those same
friends called to say, "I knew you would make it." He closed with his
Diamond Rio classic, "Beautiful Mess".
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| Clay Mills (left) performs at the Commodore (Photo by Chuck Whiting) |
American Idol 10th season finalist Naima Adedapo told us we wouldn't recognize any of her songs. I'll
bet one day soon we will with songs like the soulful "Whatever It
Takes", "Don't Drink and Lie"(which she wrote and performed with
Lance Carpenter), "That's What a Front Porch is For" (written with
Dave Berg and Danny Myers), and the beautiful future hit "Pain Got Her In,
and Love Will Get Her Out". Naima is going places. There is no stopping
this talented girl with the powerful voice and great songs.
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| Naima Adedapo performs at Tin Pan South (Photo by Chuck Whiting) |
Another strong vocalist with killer songs is Cassidy Lynn Alexander. I fell in love
with her "Light of the Moon" and the saucy "Water into
Wine". The song "Tough as Leather", written with Paula White and
Dan Wilson, just might be a future hit for George Strait. Will someone please
let him know? She's from upstate New York dairy country. Cassidy said it's a
little different "country" than Nashville. Naima teasingly said,
"I can't understand what she's saying sometimes with that accent."
Cassidy grew up on classic country, and it showed on the beautiful
"Wallpaper Flowers".
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| Cassidy Lynn Alexander (right) shares the stage with Naima Adepapo (Photo by Chuck Whiting) |
How did I not know about Anthony Smith? I guess I'll have to go out more! This NSAI board
member has a huge catalog of hits, including the ones he served up during this
round. They included the Lonestar hit "What About Now"; "I Want
My Life Back" (by Bucky Covington); and the soothing "Hold On To What
You Can and Let Go Of What You Can't". Anthony said one night he and Frank Myers were
hanging out at the Losers bar on Division. Someone remarked that there was a
song called "Yesterday" and one called "Today". Someone
should write "Tomorrow". Later, they got together with Chris Young
and did just that. "Tomorrow" was Chris's fourth number-one hit.
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| Anthony Smith wows the audience with his cleverly written hits (Photo by Chuck Whiting) |
I'd like to thank the artists for a great evening and for
helping me digest a rather dry and tasteless chili bowl.
From now through April
10, Music City Arts Network will be posting coverage and tweeting out messages
about this year's Tin Pan South songwriting festival. Follow us
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Please share your TPS experiences with us.
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