Last weekend, I witnessed one of the coolest concert experiences ever. Hidden in the hills of McMinnville, Tennessee lies the Cumberland Caverns a national natural landmark. Inside the cavern lies the Volcano Room, which happens to be one of the best natural acoustic spaces on earth. A few months ago Bluegrass Underground – not to be confused with now defunct band Blueground Undergrass – launched.

Bluegrass Underground is a monthly concert held inside the cavern that is broadcast on the world famous WSM AM. This past Saturday, Those Darlins – along with Grand Old Opry legend Charlie Louvin – literally rocked the cave. Luckily, I had my camera in tow to capture the experience of a lifetime.

During my stay at the Southern Girls Rock’n'Roll Camp I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with the ladies of Tennessee’s own Those Darlins. The band’s roots run deep with the camp – Kelly Darlin founded it in 2003, Jessi was an original SGRRC participant that year and Nikki came along soon after and the rest as they say is herstory.

[Photo by Jennifer Kirk]

The band who’s self-titled album debut came earlier this summer is filled with raucous, rambunctious, rowdy and raw songs about love, life and drinking to consuming a whole damn chicken. To define them as one sound is troublesome, much like when the CMT announcer introduced Wilco at Farm Aid ‘98 as “ya’llternative.” Nothing exactly fits like a glove, but they’re proud of that fact.

Jennifer Kirk: What was your favorite gig of the last tour?

Those Darlins: Minneapolis and Chicago. It was our third time playing in Chicago and that’s a great city to play. We also just played the SGGRC on Monday and it was really fun to see all the girls dancing on stage. The New York City gigs we’re good too. We played with John Spencer’s new project Heavy Trash one night and that was a great experience.

READ ON for more of Jen’s chat with Those Darlins…

Two weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure of being a guest at the annual Southern Girls Rock’n'Roll Camp located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Southern Girls Rock’n'Roll Camp (otherwise known as the SGRRC) is a week-long day camp for girls age 10-17 held at Middle Tennessee State University. The camp was founded by Kelley Anderson of Those Darlins.

http://www.vimeo.com/4110596

Anderson founded the camp as a student at MTSU after attending a rock camp in Portland, Oregon. The camp teaches instrument instruction including drums, guitar, keyboards, bass and vocals in addition to songwriting and recording techniques. Each year the camp features workshops and panels from women who work in all facets of the music industry. However, the most important lesson that is taught at the camp is not an instrument but rather how each girl can empower themselves and help create and strengthen their self esteem.

I had the opportunity to attend many of the sessions throughout the day as if I was a camper. The morning started as most summer camps do with an assembly with all the girls and volunteers gathered together to stretch, get loud and finally disperse for their instrumentation instruction for most of the morning. READ ON for more from Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp…

It’s been a while since we’ve had a post on the Felice Brothers, so when Jennifer Kirk told us she shot the band (bang, bang, bang went Jennifer’s Camera) at the Masters Musicians Festival in Somerset, KY; we asked if we could share them with our readers. Let’s take a look…

The Felice Brothers are part of The Big Surprise Tour which kicks off in Hampton Beach, NH on August 4. They’ll be joined by Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine and Justin Townes Earle. The tour runs for two weeks. READ ON to check out the rest of Jennifer’s photos…

It’s been a crazy few weeks since pop megastar Michael Jackson passed away and we’ve seen everything from people randomly starting dance parties in the middle of the street to U2 paying homage to the Man in the Mirror to people leaving gifts in front of Neverland Ranch. These are all just small examples on just how much Michael’s music touched the world.

We’ve also witnessed a complete 180° on the way the press has treated Michael after his death. Let’s face it – it’s been easy to laugh or make assumptions about someone that’s different than us, particularly Michael Jackson. We’ve seen him go from a healthy, young superstar to the pale, shattered ghost he became in his last years on earth. Regardless of what you think of his life, his choices or his actions – I would like to tell you a story of how Michael Jackson once saved my life.

It occurred in the late 1980’s, my parents had just divorced and I lived with my mother most of the time. Every day after school I would go to my across-the-street neighbor’s house where both my best friend and baby sitter lived. I would stay there all afternoon and into the early evening until my mom got off work. At first, it was great. I had access to a go-cart, Atari, mechanically inclined Legos and a club house that my best friend and I would use to play in all the time. I mean, what more could a kid ask for? It was a great place to play after school.

READ ON to find out how Michael Jackson saved Jen’s life…

Over the past few hours I’ve been contemplating the best way to do a review of Bonnaroo. It’s almost impossible to convey all of the sights and sounds I took in over the past 4 days. Music echoed in my ears for 10-15 hours each day starting last Thursday evening and continued on through Sunday night. Bonnaroo is the mammoth feast that even the most starving music fan cannot take in completely. There is simply not enough time to do everything you’d like to do. It’s impossible. Yet every year I set myself up to go see a hectic music schedule and try to stick to it.

[Phish on Sunday]

Sometimes, that’s not the best laid plan for the ‘Roo. Everyone’s experience is different. It depends on everything: where you’re camped, who you’re with, what time you came in, the weather forecast and who you’re actually excited to see. Never the less, here is my attempt to summarize my musical feast.

THURSDAY – Car Carrier Blues

After a rain storm in the morning, gas-filling and car-packing I made my annual trip down to Manchester for Bonnaroo 2009. It took me a while to get setup but after meeting up with some friends I finally made my trek down to Centeroo in time for People Under the Stairs. They were a great way to start out the festival right – their hip-hop performance got everyone up, moving, and most importantly celebrating the kick-off of a kick-ass music weekend.

READ ON for more of Jennifer Kirk’s Bonnaroo 2009 review…

As you read this I should hopefully be in the process of purchasing dry ice and other last minute essentials preparing for my annual 45 minute trek south to one of the largest, best run music festivals in the country.

I must admit that’s been both a neat and weird experience seeing Bonnaroo grow and develop as it has over the past seven years. My first ‘Roo experience was with my two college roommates, neither of which were fans of the ‘jamband’ scene. Nevertheless, I convinced them to go because they might not get to experience anything like it ever again. In preparation of exposing them to the festival scene, I made them a 3-volume mix CD set aptly titled: “Don’t Pigeonhole Us – We’re More Than Just Jambands!” And yes, I take my CD mixes seriously. I couldn’t tell you what exactly those tracks were now, but the point was I made them because I wanted to share what I knew would be a wonderful experience with others.

I could sit here and tell you about these different experiences: how the Flaming Lips 2003 late night changed my life for the better, when Levon Helm brought me to tears or how I finally learned to like Widespread Panic. But this would all be pointless if I didn’t mention the one thing that’s most important about going to Bonnaroo – being with your friends. That is what it’s supposed to be about. The epic peaks and valleys of the music that you experience serve as the soundtrack to your weekend. Having the time of your life, getting away from everything that’s wrong with the world and sharing that experience is what is important and I think sometimes we can lose sight of that. READ ON for more on Bonnaroo 2009…

When the Bonnaroo 2009 lineup was announced a few months ago, my roommate asked me to email him a list of festival ‘essentials.’ As a festival veteran of sorts – I’ve been to every Bonnaroo but one and attended Langerado, Summercamp, Rothbury, Coventry, Oswego, Big Cypress, and the NOLA Jazz Fest – he picked the right person to ask for such a list.

In addition to my festival resume, I’m also a stickler for being organized and more importantly, prepared. As it has turned out in the past, I usually end up ‘running’ the camp site for my friends and well, I kind of like it. Going to a festival and being prepared is a trial and error experience, so I wanted to share some of my ideas with the HT audience and in turn was hoping that you would also chime in with any advice so we can all, collectively, have a better festival going experience.

So, here is a list of some of the essentials you’ll need in order to succeed and of course, survive your long weekend of fun and music!

1. Get an RV. It will make life easier. Now, I’ve actually never attended a festival in an RV, and have done just fine. But, boy would I love to travel to one in style. Perhaps one day. But, if you can’t rent or borrow one then pay extra close attention to the 19 items left on this list.

2. Water. You can’t bring enough of it. Some festivals are starting to provide water refill stations (Rothbury did this last year and you were allowed to bring empty or sealed containers onto the concert grounds). Make sure to check the ‘official’ festival rules first. I would recommend purchasing several gallons worth. After all, you will need it to refill water containers, brush your teeth, wash your dishes, etc. Potable water is generally available on site at washing stations but I tend to shy away from the sweet, sweet stench of sulfur. READ ON for more of Jennifer’s Festival Survival tips and tricks…

[Originally Published: April 19, 2008]

“Teachers teach that knowledge waits”

April 19, 1995 – 7:55am Edmond, OK – Every morning before my 9th grade Biology class I would listen to music on my Discman while waiting for the professor to arrive. On this particular day, my musical selection had been Bob Dylan and the Band’s Before the Flood. The last track I listened to that morning was a favorite of mine It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) – little did I know the impact that song would have on me that day…not to mention the rest of my life.

“My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards”

9:04am – We had originally thought that the construction project taking place at our high school was responsible for the shaking that had occurred a couple of minutes earlier. Moments later, another professor brought in a TV and turned it on to News Channel 9. Through clouds of smoke and people running this is what we witnessed:

READ ON for more about Jennifer’s Oklahoma City experience…

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the Umphrey’s McGee Variety Show(s)! Buckle up, take a seat and enjoy the show!

It would have been nice to have a ring master introduce the guys at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta last Thursday and Friday, but alas it was not to be. Even without a ring master, Umphrey’s McGee didn’t hesitate to give their all at each night’s performance.

It’s taken me a while to finally realize that I should never go to a show with any sort of preconceived notions or expectations, because when you do that you’re ultimately setting up both yourself and your favorite band for failure. One of the major factors as to why I enjoy myself at an Umphrey’s McGee concert is because the band enjoys themselves on stage. And when they are there to have a good time – you’re almost guaranteed the same privilege. Their interplay and enjoyment on stage is what keeps me going back as often as humanly possible.

READ ON for more from Jen on Umphrey’s Variety Playhouse shows…