by Erika Thornsberry | Sep 1, 2014 | News Slider
The city of Nashville is home to many musicians and recording studios, including one on Belmont Blvd. that used to be the home of famous musician and producer Cowboy Jack Clement. Clement passed away last year leaving behind his home, which was also his recording studio. He made his home into a recording studio because he felt as if he was more creative when he was home, and it was was a place where many music greats would come to produce their music. “Cowboy Jack has made some serious history here recording various people such as U2 to Johnny Cash,” the Co-Owner/ President of Zavitson Music Group Russ Zavitson said, “We want to continue with Jack’s history, but we also want to make our own history here with our singers and song writers.” The location of the house is in a residential zone, which means it can be lived in, but businesses or organizations cannot be run from the house. A proposal was made to allow the Zavitson Music Group to start running their operations from Clement’s former home. The Zavitson Music Group has now moved into the home, and has plans to make music history of their own. Russ Zavitson owns one of the biggest copyrights in Nashville with “Achy Breaky Heart”. “Our plan is to run our publishing company, production company and recording studio out of the house just like it has been for the past 40 years,” Zavitson said. The group is already in the process of recording several singer/song writers for their company, and the plan is for their first major release to be next year. Cowboy...
by Cory Woodroof | May 8, 2014 | Opinion
What would happen if you put music greats Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis in the same room for a jam session? Well, let your imagination turn into reality, because this famous gathering actually happened on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 1956. It’s known as the day of the “Million Dollar Quartet.” The musical Million Dollar Quartet dramatizes the historic time that all four gathered under the roof of Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tenn., with legendary label owner Sam Phillips and a company of others. The show itself is a crowd-pleaser, a nostalgia-dense wonderwork that features some of the best recreated music that stage can produce. Think of one of those gimmicky ‘Good Times Live’ shows with impersonators, but reorganized into the confines of a fascinatingly told story and with some of the best musicians to be found. The music is largely made up of some of the quartet’s finest work (Presley’s “Hound Dog,” Cash’s “I Walk the Line,” Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire,” and Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes” all make appearances), but a few lesser-known songs also make their way into the show. But, all are played with the same level of vivacious energy. Not only can this cast act – the ensemble can play. Vince Nappo stands out among the group as the energetic Sam Phillips. Nappo shows both sides of Phillips – the mogul looking to continue his pioneering ways into the industry and the kind-hearted genius who pulls some of music’s greatest faces out of the woodworks and helps them find the soul of their music. Cody Ray Slaughter does a mean...
