FINAL UPDATE:
After dropouts (Phish's bass player) and negotiations, the bonus show will be a jam of bluegrass all-stars.
The band will feature members of the Gibson Brothers, The McCoury's and some local pickers.
So check out the TVA Showcase stage after the B52s.
UPDATE: The latest from Riverbend this afternoon is that the Mystery Guest may not show at all. There never was a contract, and Riverbend officials aren't sure at this point what's going to happen. We'll have an update tonight on WDEF News 12 at 6:00.
What would Riverbend be like without a good rumored act.
While this one won't stand up to the U2 rumors of old, at least it is based in fact.
That's because it was Friends of the Festival that started this one.
Here's what we know:
--- An unnamed band is going to do a warm up set for their show in Bonnaroo.
--- They'll perform on the TVA showcase stage at the Chestnut entrance just after the B-52s.
So people have checked out the Friday schedule at Bonnaroo and found groups like Phish, The Beastie Boys, David Byrne and a host of younger bands.
[0]I figure why would any of the regular bands need a warmup? (So forget about Phish). That leaves me with either the Beastie Boys or David Byrne. The forming Talking Heads leader has an elaborate stage show. And he's playing songs this summer he recorded with Brian Eno.. a good match for a B52s audience. So I'm guessing David Byrne.
Even if we're all wrong tonight, we can just bask in the glow of a free, bonus show!
THE RECOMMENDATIONS
I'll take the Lee Boys/McCoury's jam. I love when two musical styles crash into each other.
[0]
[0]Zydeco will always put some spice into a festival. Arrive early to catch the flavor of Chubby Carrier.
THE PREVIEWS
Chubby Carrier [1]
7:45-9:00
Bud Light (Olgiatti Bridge)
[1]Chubby is 3rd generation Louisiana musician.
And his family fills out the rest of the band.
That's a measure of their commitment to Zydeco.
So what kind of music is this?
Here's how his website describes it.
"Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band is the musical part in the stewpot where the gumbo meets the rice and you want to sop it up with some French bread. Prepare to be funkified, zydecofied and the pleasant victim of a Chubby party."
No Riverbend should pass without a first class Zydeco performance.
And this year, we're going to get it.
The Lee Boys [2]
&
Travlin' McCourys [3]
7:45-9:00
Bud Lite (Olgiatti)
This is a musical event that you might expect at a "hipper" venue.
But it's really Riverbend.
We get two acts, from totally different backgrounds, jamming together on one stage.
[3]The Lee Boys are a Sacred Steel band.
For the uninitiated, the Sacred Steel tradition comes from the House of God churches.
The centerpiece is the steel guitar used in church services.
But they don't play them like they do in Hawaii or Nashville.
This is a rockin', gospel sound.
The Lee Boys (3 brothers & band) are one of the leading groups to emerge in the secular, jam band world (including Robert Randolph's Family Band).
[3]They're paired tonight with the Travelin McCoury's... the family band that backs Bluegrass legend Del McCoury.
The McCoury's (even with the old man) are a lot more adventurous than you'd expect.
So in one corner, we've got rockin and pumpin gospel.
In the other, we've got Bluegrass jammers.
Here's a sample of Midnight Rider, like you've never heard it before.
Diana Jones Duo [4]
6:30-7:45
Unum (Hunter Museum)
Diana Jones took the long way to music from our own backyard.
She was adopted as an infant and raise in New York.
But she grew up loving Chet Atkins, Johnny Cash and Patsy Kline.
It only made sense to her when she finally traced her family roots to East Tennessee.
Now she sings southern music through a northeastern Folk tradition.
Dave Barnes [5]
8:00-9:15
Unum (Hunter Museum)
Just another everyday singer-songwriter trying to make it.
Born in South Carolina, raised in Mississippi, working in Nashville.
Okay, the story gets a little odd when his songs travel from Steely Dan to Motown to Phil Collins.
Or the fans he's collecting like John Mayer, Vince Gill and Amy Grant.
See what they're seeing tonight outside of Hunter.
The Persuasions [6]
9:30-11:00
Unum (Hunter Museum)
[6]You couldn't dream up a musical story like that of The Persuasions.
This a cappella group has been in the singing business for 45 years.
Like their contemporaries, they specialized in Doo Wop and Gospel music.
But then came along closet Doo Wop aficionado Frank Zappa.
He recorded their first album and the group has taken a strange walk on the wildside that included stints with Zappa, the Grateful Dead and Joni Mitchell over the years.
They've seen a lot, and they put it all in this song... Looking For An Echo.
So if you think this a cappella thing is too dated, how many acts do you know that have recorded Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed), Buffalo Soldier (Bob Marley), Rocky Raccoon (Beatles), One More Saturday Night (The Dead) and My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mother (Zappa).
They get around, musically.
The Gibson Brothers [7]
6:15
TN Valley Credit Union Stage (Under Walnut)
[7]This is a substitute show. Terri Hendrix is out and the Gibsons are in.
They'll bring us driving bluegrass from Upstate New York, with traditional brother harmonies.
They have an IBMA Emerging Artist award under their belts.
Here's a new song they've just started playing the last few weeks.
Angie Aparo Band [8]
9:15-10:30
TN Valley Credit Union (Walnut)
This Atlanta rocker is a fan favorite in the Chattanooga area.
He made some noise on the radio with "The American" album in 1999.
Faith Hill plucked the hit "Cry" from it.
Here's his greatest hit so far.
[8]
[9]