Steve Wildsmith

In checking out the latest from John Paul Keith, a helluva good dude and one kick-ass musician, I found the following tidbit from a just-over-the-Internets e-mail quite exciting:

Tuesday, January 26, I’ll be playing solo at the Hi-Tone in Memphis with my old partner in crime, Scott Miller. Some of you folks may recall that Scott and I formed The Viceroys (aka V-Roys) together in Knoxville, way back in the early 90’s. This is the first time he and I have been on the same bill since I left the band 15 years ago! (Facebook here, MySpace here).

Back in April, we profiled “Spills and Thrills,” the most recent studio album by Keith and his band the One Four Fives. It’s a sweet-sounding throwback to the rockabilly-sounding days of Sun Records and that soulful Memphis sound, and Mr. Keith gratefully agreed to allow us to give away a free mp3 of one of the songs off that record. We’ve spoken at length about his time in The Viceroys, which later became The V-Roys, which earlier this year claimed the title of “Best Knoxville Band Ever” in a Metro Pulse survey.

The 26th should be a blast, especially for those who were around when Keith and Miller first started playing together. If you can make it, we suggest doing so.

If you’re unable to make the trip west but still want to support great musicians, however, then don’t forget: the new live CD by JPK and the One Four Fives, “Live At The Hi-Tone,” is now available! You can order it here.

I was already planning on hitting up the Wilco show at The Tennessee Theatre on Saturday night. Got kind of nervous at first because of the sell-out, but PR girl Deb Bernardini came through with a couple of tickets.

For those of you without the luxury of such hook-ups, there’s good news — Wilco won’t be performing there, but according to Pitchfork, the guys will put in an appearance at The Disc Exchange, Knoxville’s most excellent music store, located on Chapman Highway. It’s part of National Record Store Day (which you can read about here), which will feature live music and appearances by all sorts of local and regional acts, all day long. Here’s the lineup:

Van Eaton and Friends at noon (read a recent interview here)

Greg Koons at 1 p.m

The Rockwells at 3:30 p.m.

Wild Sweet Orange at 4:30 p.m.

Tenderhooks at 5:30 p.m. (read last fall’s story on the band here)

John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives at 6:30 p.m. (read today’s interview with JPK here)

Cutthroat Shamrock at 7:30 p.m. (read a recent story here)

For more information about Wilco — including a new album due in late June and featuring guest vocals by Feist — click here.

Read the new Weekend interview with A Hawk and a Hacksaw, opening for Wilco on Saturday night at The Tennessee Theatre, by clicking here.