We ("we" indicating Kevin, Walker and Trent - Allan is on the road with Hollywood for the next few days) are home from Nashville. All in all, the experience was great. We recorded at RCA/Victor Studio B, which has been home to Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings and Roy Orbison, who recorded "Crying" there, with Bryan from the aforementioned Hollywood. (If you haven't taken the time to check them out, you really ought to, especially live. Their take on hardcore is much more unique than a lot of bands these days, taking cues from Refused to classic rock to late 80's hardcore.) The session went well; we thought we'd only be able to get in 3 or 4 songs, but we managed to record 6. Allan's vocals still have to be tracked, which will be done once he's back in Nashville with Hollywood in a few days. Once Bryan's mixed it, we'll have our demo available at our shows.

After the session, we slept at the Hollywood house and woke up to a kitchen full of Ruiner. Lunch was eaten at Baja Burrito, which comes with a very high recommendation from us, and post-consumption entertainment was found at Grimey's Records, a pretty bitchin' record shop in Nashville. (Their selection's nice, although I must admit, I think the regrettably late Magic Platter may have bested them.) We went back to the Hollywood house, watched The Warriors and played Guitar Hero II (although not in that order), and finally went to the Muse to play the show.

The Muse is your basic rock club, although it seems to market itself more towards independent stuff, which is good. The soundman didn't seem too miffed that we wanted to play on the floor; in fact, his only concern was the crowd fucking up his gear, which is reasonable. But, with only one vocalist who doesn't require a stand, there wasn't much cause for his concern. The Ackleys played first, and played a good set at that. After them was Murdock, a local pop-punk outfit. They covered "Knowledge" by Operation Ivy and another song that I couldn't place. The crowd loved it, though. Then we played. It's kind of weird being the only band on a 6-band bill that opts to play on the floor, but that is how we tend to roll. We've jettisoned the full stacks for now, for two reasons: Trent only owns one cab, so his sound changes with each show, depending on whose cabinet he borrows, and we didn't have room in the van for both of Kevin's cabs. The crowd seemed about as into it as any crowd seems the first time they see a band - that is to say, not many people left. I'm not entirely sure EMOTHT's music is exactly what someone looks to for a mosh soundtrack anyway. Regardless, we felt pretty good about it afterwards. Hollywood, Die Young and Ruiner finished the night, and we left, bound for Birmingham.

Now we're home, and the rain hasn't stopped yet. The rest of the weekend holds Trent's other band's first show ever - Now I Have A Machine Gun, at Cave9 with Mad Mom, Moses, City of Ships and Brothers and Sisters, who feature none other than EMOTHT's Kevin Wright on bass. For those of you that haven't heard either band, B&S play predominantly instrumental music that falls into that woefully underpopulated category of "that which does not suck." It's kind of hard to play instro music these days without taking a cue from Isis, GYBE or Explosions in the Sky, but B&S have found a niche that manages to both remind the listener of these luminaries, and to distinguish themselves from them, a hard task for sure. NIHAMG wanders over to the other end of the heavier spectrum, playing faster music (with vocals by the inimitable Tripp Norris) that tends to have more in common with pageninetynine, Boris, and Minor Threat, throwing a net over the more creative aggro bands of the past 20 years, and trying to sift out the slough. It's at Cave9, starts around 7pm, and costs $5 or $6. You should come, if you can.