“Sidewalk Chalk are performing at The Basement in Nashville on August 21. These guys mix up hiphop, jazz, soul and funk; they have a rapper, singer, horn section and even a tapdancer. Chicago Reader gave them the 2010 award for Best Chicago HipHop Act and they’ve gotten shoutouts from CBS, Lupe Fiasco and many more.” … That’s the opener James sent me. He could have just said, “Hey, man these cats f**kin’ RoKK!” But he probably knew that bit about horns would get my ears ready…

It’s been a long time since I heard hip hop like this! I’m instantly transported to 1992 and the mellow sounds of Arrested Development, yeah, Cypress Hill had us bouncing and coughing, but when it was time to chill and get introspectively hammered, it was AD that we turned to. 1995 left us a void to fill and it’s been almost 20 years since anyone stepped up with the shovel.

For several years, my partners and myself have said it would be really fun to combine our two shows to put Americana and HipHop on the stage together with real instruments. Yeah, time and logistics have not been too friendly, so I invited the gang from Sidewalk Chalk to do it for us, and boy howdy did they ever!

Ok, I didn’t give them the idea… Real instruments, guitars and drums and horns meet a male/female vocal/mc team that spits out truths and questions, puzzles, admonitions and blessings. Cruising down the soundcloud, I’m six tunes in and every song has had an upbraiding message, reminding me that success is up to me, that love is the answer to hardships, and that we can all Fly if we just do it.

Not one “nigga, bitch, dick or motherfucker (ok, there’s one m-f’er)” has hit my ears. There’s no bullshit about guns and dope and what bad cracker-jackers they are. Sidewalk chalk are “intimately connected to the movement of the mind,” and they connect it to the heart with reality. Prose and rhyme meet flat-fives and nines and jazz structures that float and bounce and deliver the goods like a boxer’s punch wrapped in a soft velvet glove.

So, yeah, that’s the 21st of August down at The Basement in Nashville – the Middle Tennessee music scene will be set on it’s ear, and the Jedi from MTM will be there in force! Write it on the walls to let everyone know!

Join us for a grand time. Let me know you’re going by leaving a comment, and I’ll be sure to look for you, there!