Back in January, I was doing some club hopping around Nashville, and I kept running into people who said they were playing for the Music Fog cameras the next week. I had booked a slew of bands for our upcoming video shoot at 3rd & Lindsley, but I wasn’t sure who they were playing with so I was a bit puzzled. I ran into Michael Webb first, and he said he was coming to see us. Then Joe McMahan said the same thing, and then I ran into Lisa Oliver-Gray, and finally I asked who she was coming to play with and she told me Sarah Potenza. AHA! Super cool. Sarah brought a big aggregation of folks, but it immediately felt like home with so many familiar faces.
It was our first time filming Ms. Potenza, whom you might know from her appearance on The Voice Season 8 last year. She has a new album, Monster, coming out in August, and is busy on the road with upcoming festival and club dates. See her in the Northeast this week, and then this weekend, Sarah swings down to play the venerable MerleFest in Wilksboro, NC, where I am sure she will blow the proverbial roof off. She brought a smoking hot band to us: Ian Crossman on guitar, Ron Eoff on bass, Josh Hunt on drums, Laura Mayo along with Lisa Gray on backing vocals, with Michael Webb on keys and Joe McMahan slinging guitar. “Granddad” is a haunting melody, performed here for the Music Fog cameras in a slower and more deliberate tempo than earlier versions you might see on the web. It reminds me of the simmering Bobby Gentry tune “Ode To Billie Joe.” Promise me this, you will go see Sarah Potenza when she comes your way. This here is powerful stuff!
- Jessie Scott