Time Jumpers at The Station Inn: Nashville swings, Western style!

Muse of the Weird: An Americana fan in Dixieland (first post, Christmas Day 2009)
by Joe Crawford Mrazek

Nashville spoils a Yankee newcomer with pleasant surprises. Among them is The Station Inn, an unpretentious bluegrass/trad-country club on a hip block of Twelfth Avenue South near downtown. It's a roomy plywood-floored family-friendly honky tonk rich in promo posters, including one for a local Minnie Pearl show in 1944 & another for the Canton (Ohio) concert that Hank Williams died trying to reach on New Year's Eve 1952. It's the kind of establishment where the door to the toilet bears signs saying "Men" as well as "Gentlemen," just so everybody feels at home.

A perfect venue for Americana artists of all stripes, the Station Inn's large folding tables frequently seat appreciative celebrity patrons. I attended The Time Jumpers' show there on Monday (Dec. 21st), the shortest day of the year, but one that turned out to be surprisingly long on entertainment for a 2-set gig. This Grammy-nominated Western-swing group started circa 1998 at the Grand Ole Opry as a backstage jam "therapy session" for veteran studio musicians & elite backup singers. The Time Jumpers' lineup may be constantly evolving, but the band's performance skills are highly developed.

Fiddlers Kenny Sears & Joe Spivey set the dance rhythms on most numbers, aided by slap bassist Dennis Crouch & brush drummer Rick Vanaugh. Andy Reiss's electric guitar & Paul Franklin's pedal-steel enhanced the sound with moving melodic fills & sly improvisational quotes. Jeff Taylor's accordion added just the right Tex-Mex Southwestern flavor. Filling in for "Ranger Doug" Green (a founding member of cowboy-comedy stars Riders in the Sky) on hollow-body rhythm guitar Monday was "part-Time Jumper" Vince Gill, a big country star with a gentle tenor who fits in well with this troupe of spotlight sharers. Vince split lead male vocal duties with Kenny, who kidded Vince that "you gotta earn your Christmas money."

Balancing all that impressive male energy, Dawn Sears & Carolyn Martin delivered sweet, smoot & sassy vocals, taking turns on lead or harmony -- whatever the song required. The Time Jumpers' repertoire ranges from familiar ballads (e.g. "It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues") to lively original instrumentals. For a rousing finale, the band saluted Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys with the swing-era classic "My Window Faces the South." Mixing gospel, jazz & country styles in a satisfying stew, The Time Jumpers keep Western swing sounding fresh & delicious as ever since it's invention during the Great Depression.

The audience's enthusiastic response to every solo & song complemented the relaxed professionalism of the players. My evening at The Station Inn was made even more memorable by meeting Emily, a brunette bartender who also works for bluegrass legend Del McCoury. She graciously handed me a copy of the Del McCoury Band's latest CD, Family Circle (2009), which was released on the day I arrived in Nashville (Oct. 27). On the following day, I met Del McCoury after his in-store appearance at a suburban Best Buy. There are no such things as coincidences, Wolf in Wisconsin tells me. 'Bye!