Guthrie Trapp is a regular on stage at Nashville's 12 South Taproom. The well-respected Nashville session guitarist plays gigs there so often that when I visited in November and inquired as to Trapp's whereabouts, the host simply pointed to the left.
There, the 35-year-old was working on a chicken salad and eager to talk about his new Feed & Seed event, Trapped Above Ground. The weekly Wednesday night bill at one of America's hottest venues has already featured names such as John Oates, Alan Jackson and "Big Al" Anderson.
It's the venue's biggest draw, and Trapp described himself as "executive producer/host/curator/house band leader/guitar player" at the lower Broadway gem, which features four floors of food, cocktails and music.
Music Times: So how did you get involved with the Acme project?
Guthrie Trapp: It goes back a long way. A guy that I knew on the Gulf Coast since I was kid went to college in Auburn with [Acme co-owner] Tom Morales. So as soon as I moved to town he said, 'You've gotta meet Tom, my good buddy.' When I moved here, I finally eventually met Tom and played out at [Morales' venue] Loveless Bar a million times.
When this whole Acme thing started, when they started remodeling the building and taking that over, I went down and toured it a couple times. Then he goes, "Hey man, I want you to have a night down here. Whatever night you want. I want you to do your thing." I said, "Well, cool. If we're gonna do that, let's build it into something, rather than just a weekly gig." Because we've all had weekly gigs. They come and go.
I was like, "If we're going to do this, let's do a show and build it, you know?" So that's what we're doing. We've been doing it about two and half months, I guess, now. We've had everybody from Big Al Anderson, Alan Jackson, tomorrow we've got John Oates, Ron White. Margo Rey is going to get up and do some tunes. We've got Chance McCoy from Old Crow Medicine Show. A 25-piece Cuban salsa band.
MT: Sounds like you're placing a big emphasis on diversity.
GT: We've had everything down there. The thing about it is, we have a house band of some of Nashville's best players, and heavy studio guys. Then we have guests who come up. We figure out who the guests are going to be, and then they send us their songs, we listen to 'em, chart 'em out, listen to 'em, and play 'em. And it works great.
MT: How far out are you booked for this thing?
GT: We've got the Wednesdays locked down. We book some in advance, and then some are kind of last minute. It depends on who I can get and what the fit is, you know? So I try to do things... that one night we had two Nashville Music Row hit songwriters, and then after that we had the Cuban band.
I want to keep it interesting and loose. By loose I mean not a rigid show. I want to keep the music fun, and keep it eclectic to where people who come down there aren't sure what they're going to see. But they know if they show up on a Wednesday, it's going to be great.
In two months, we've had unbelievable artists down there as guests. To keep that going, we need some funding and stuff like that. Behind the scenes, that's all happening right now in a big way.
MT: How do you fit into Acme's mission?
GT: They set out to bring locals downtown, and it's working. There's nothing else like that going on in town because of the players in the band and the guests that we're getting down there in that venue. The thing is, it's not just a honky tonk.
When tourists go to Broadway, they stay there. They don't know where we go. So it's really killing two birds with one stone. We're providing the tourists with some real stuff that they're not going to see anywhere up and down that street, and we're bringing the locals into Acme and creating a little revival down there.
MT: You've booked some pretty impressive acts, but is there an emphasis on trying to "discover" bands and work them through Acme's multi-floor system?
GT: We need to go out and find who the young bands are that people like and that are good.
MT: How do you do that?
GT: That's the hard part. That's hard. Carl [Gatti, Acme's music director] is great for that. The thing I don't want to get is the reputation of being "He's just got the old legends on there." That's not true, because we've had a lot of young people on there. Rayland Baxter is awesome. Charles Worsham. Ashley Monroe. These are all people that are in their mid-'20s.
I don't want to just hire a bunch of young pop bands to come in there. They've got to be something special. That's why the older people have been in there — because they're good. They've been doing it for so long.
This isn't gonna be like a showcase thing. The acts on this show are already going to be established or on their way to being established.
It could be a springboard. I don't know. That's something we're going to be talking about, too, because I want to get the cool kids in there. Otherwise you're in the wrong demographic. It needs to be balanced out. We need the legends. We need the up and comers.
MT: Sounds like you've already got them.
GT: This show is something special. With that level of house band, the guys that I have aren't just your everyday players. They're super high level. It's a special thing.
RELATED: Acme Feed & Seed: How One of America's Hottest New Venues Is Turning Nashville On Its Head
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