On Wednesday, Sept. 21, the Ten Out of Tenn (TOT) Concert Tour made its stop here in Baltimore at Rams Head Live! TOT was a collaborative concert showcasing 10 very talented musicians from Tenn. Musician Trent Dabbs dreamed up this concert, inspired by the film The Last Waltz.
The goal of the concert was to show the country that there are "other things going on in Nashville besides country and gospel," according to Dabbs.
This is the second time that the tour has run, the first time being a few years ago. The concert supports The Mocha Club, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to help developing countries in Africa by providing clean water, malaria vaccinations, AIDS medications and other much needed supplies to citizens by having donors give $7 (or approximately the cost of two "mochas"). According to artist Katie Herzig, "this tour will help raise money for an orphanage in Ghana."
The concert opened with a quaint song called "Running on Fumes" by Gabe Dixon. The song had a laid back feel with smooth vocals. All of the other musicians provided the background music and vocals to each other's songs, showcasing all of their talents.
Dixon also performed "Day Just Like Today" featuring a strong message, powerful vocals and proof that Dixon could easily be a "Top 40" hit. Dixon loves playing music because "It's just who I am," he shared. The second musician featured, Jeremy Lister, showed that he has a wonderful, refined voice that is unwaveringly pure. Lister also puts a lot of emotion into his songs and is truly quite talented.
Matthew Perryman Jones played "Rain or Shine," a feel-good song about loving someone all of the time. This song really utilized the other musicians and everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves.
Jones also played "Poisoning the Well," which was influenced by R.E.M. and had a smooth rock feel. Another musician featured on the tour was Tyler James, who is quite the crowd-pleaser.
James first played "Mama Hold," a feel good song with a positive message and clean vocals. "Old Brass Billy" was the other song James played, an upbeat rock and roll song with a grand finish.
James was also featured in various other songs showcasing his talent on the trumpet. "Static Waves," a crowd favorite, was performed by Andrew Belle featuring Herzig. The song had a relaxed feel, soft vocals from Herzig and raw vocals from Belle. Belle also performed "Sky Still Blue," a song that simply puts a smile on one's face.
Herzig, who remarked, "It's really fun to be a part of this tour," has a sweet, melodic voice, tons of emotion and songs with powerful messages. Herzig has always loved playing music because "it's very natural, inspiring and a good outlet" for her.
A native Australian that has lived in Nashville for twelve years, Butterfly Boucher first showed us her edgy side with "5678."
The song had spunk, vocals similar to Hayley Williams and lots of percussion. Boucher also performed "Warning Bells," a crowd-pleaser about not wanting to hurt someone that showed the softer and sleeker side of her. Boucher described her style as "pop rock, but a little edgier."
The newest member of TOT is Amy Stroup, a 28-year-old with the star-power of Taylor Swift and a girl-next-door personality. Stroup sings of love with a young and fresh sound. Stroup loves how music "brings people together."
One of the most talented musicians of the tour was k.s. Rhoads. Rhoads truly created a song for the audience. He recorded beats, background music and vocals in front of us and then proceeded to sing with them.
Boucher described Rhoads as "the man who brings the magic," which is definitely true. Rhoads's performances are enchanting and enthusiastic, and Rhoads has excellent stage presence. His influences include "the four B's: Beastie Boys, Bjork, Bob Marley and Beethoven."
The founder of the tour, Dabbs, also has great talent. Dabbs loves playing music because he "like[s] the challenge of creating something that can connect with people," he shared. When Dabbs plays, he really involves all members of the band and crowd, creating a warm atmosphere. Dabbs is a musical genius who really loves what he is doing.
The show closed with a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" where the musicians came into the audience and had the crowd sing along. This song really showed how well all of the artists blend together and that none of the artists were trying to outshine each other.
All of the artists just wanted to work together for a common good, to make music. The last song was very intimate and entertaining; the band traveled all throughout the venue to the different levels, playing music as they paraded around. Baltimore singer and songwriter Meg Bowen said, "I feel like we're in New Orleans or something," when describing the final song.
Throughout the entire concert, the artists worked well together, had great chemistry and a range of talents.
This concert was invigorating because it showed that there are still many extremely talented musicians throughout the country. Baltimore residents Bob Jenkins, Kaitlin Mason and Peter Grange, described the concert respectively; "We really liked it," "Raw talent" and "True collaboration."
TOT showcased the talents of 10 talented artists who showed that there is hope for the musical world. The Top 40 world is dominated by synthetic sounds and Auto-Tune, so it's refreshing to see some musicians that really have natural talent.
This was some of the best music that has been played in awhile.
