Searching for Blue Mountain

Through the wonders of the Internet, this morning I confirmed that December 4, 1995, was one of the seminal nights of my life as a music fan.  That's according to a copy of a music industry newsletter - Pollstar - that I happened across online while I was trying to see if I could pinpoint when I saw Blue Mountain play, for the first an only time.  Among other things, back issues of Pollstar has complete listings of artist's shows on tour.  Who knew?

In December 1995, I was 29 years old.  I was two years out of law school and working in downtown Nashville at Manier, Herod, Hollabaugh & Smith.  My first job out of law school.  I was a serious runner, training all of the time and racing every weekend.  I'm still a runner, although not as serious.  I was more that a decade away from having JP and Joe.  

In law school, I started listening to the Jayhawks, then found my way to Uncle Tupelo and, later, the Bottle Rockets.  Out of Festus, Missouri, lead by singer/guitarist, Brian Henneman, I was and am a big fan.  This was before Americana was a recognized musical genre, I think, but it was the type of music that I found myself gravitating to over time.  

December 4, 1995 was a Monday, and I got tickets to see the Bottle Rockets play at 12th & Porter.  The Playroom was a relatively small, intimate music venue adjacent to the restaurant on the edge of downtown, located appropriately enough on the corner of 12th Avenue North and Porter Road.  The only surviving music venue today that is similar is 3rd and Lindsley.  I arrived early, as I often do for shows, and got a table right in front of the stage.  

The opening act was Blue Mountain, a band from Oxford, Mississippi, that I had never heard of until that night.  Three members, Cary Hudson (guitar/vocals), Laurie Stirratt (bass/background vocals), and Frank Couch (drums).  

To my surprise and delight, Blue Mountain was incredible.  Cary Hudson's kinetic energy, thrashing the guitar while he sang in a deep, Mississippi southern accent, almost burned down the Playroom.  It was a performance I will never forget.  So much of that night is a blur, lost to time and age and 30 years of memories filling my head.  Still, I remember being so excited, so delighted, to bear witness to a band on a perfect night, on the cusp of grasping something ethereal and usually unattainable.  The perfect show.

I immediately bought Dog Days, released earlier that year, probably from Tower Records on West End Avenue.  I wore that CD out in the ensuing days, weeks, months, and years.  It's probably one of my most played CD's.  Even now, if it I play it, I can anticipate the next song as the current song is ending.  That doesn't happen anymore, of course, because everyone listens to songs and no one listens to albums.

The Bottle Rockets were good, as I knew they would be.  What sticks out about their show is that at one point, during a song, Brian Henneman sat down in a chair at my table, right in front of the stage, while he was playing a guitar solo.  Perfect.    

I never saw Blue Mountain live again.  I regret that, particularly since the band broke up a few years later.  Cary Hudson and Laurie Stirratt divorced.  Still, having seen them the one time and the one time only somehow makes the how all the more special to me.  It lives on in my memory.  A top 5 show for me, all time.

I've often wanted to go to Oxford, Mississippi, and see one of Cary Hudson's solo shows.  Maybe say hello.  Maybe tell him about a magical, memorable night at 12th & Porter, in the Playroom, on December 4, 1994.