In 1966 the Lovin’ Spoonful released a song titled “Nashville Cats”, a lament about how hard it is to make it in Music City USA when there are so many other talented musicians. My favorite lyric in the song goes “Well, there’s thirteen hundred and fifty-two guitar pickers in Nashville, and any one that unpacks his guitar could play, twice as better than I will.”
Twice as better than I will, indeed! It’s been my experience that the song is based in fact. If you are visiting Nashville you can bet just about every bartender, server, retail clerk and coffee shop barista plays an instrument or sings or both. And plays it well! So it shouldn’t be a surprise, living in Indiana’s Music City as we do, that there are a whole lot of musicians among us working day jobs to make ends meet.
Chances are good the landscaper tending your bushes, the guy working next to you at the factory, the woman serving your wine, or the city councilman passing our ordinances plays a mean guitar, kills it on drums, or belts out a mean vocal with the local rock band. Or, in the case of this week’s profile, serves up your lattes and espressos at your favorite coffee shop.
I visit Analog Coffee Shop several times a week (I can see it from my house!) and quite often my barista is a young blond man with a sunny disposition. I learned his name was Elijah, and that he’d recently moved here to be with his girlfriend. But it wasn’t until I ran across his Facebook profile that I realized he is a bass player in a heavy metal band. Well, of course, musicians are everywhere in this town!
If you want to hear him in action with his band Left for Last, just go to YouTube and search “Left for Last Heartstrings.” The band is his brother James on guitar, Elijah on bass, Reese Osborn on vocals and Jordan Johnson on drums.
“We’re all from the Henryville, Indiana area where I grew up and went to school,” explains Elijah. “Most of our live gigs have been in Louisville, like at Zanzibar, Portal, and Magnolia Bar. We got to play the Louder Than Life festival last year which was a total blast and an amazing experience.
“We are an original band, we perform our own songs not covers. All of us in the band have a hand in the writing, contributing and collaborating. Our focus right now is to grow our platform, attract more attention to what we are doing, and get people to connect with our music. We want to grow our fan base, and hopefully we’ll get picked up on a tour, get out and travel the country and build an even wider base. The ultimate goal, of course, is to put out stuff people really enjoy. That’s all any artist can hope for.
“As far as living in Madison goes, my girlfriend and I are very happy here. We have a place right in the heart of downtown and the energy is amazing. We meet the coolest people, and everyone just seems so happy. Working behind the counter at a coffee shop is probably part of it … people are just naturally in a good mood when they are buying food and coffee.
“I’m looking forward to experiencing more of the music scene here. I’m not quite 21 years old yet, so I can’t go into a lot of the venues. But my birthday is coming up soon and I’ll be able to get out and see what it’s all about. I would love to get some gigs for our band here in Madison too, if anybody needs a high-energy metal band, just let me know!”
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