Nashville-based husband and wife Americana duo Smooth Hound Smith (Zack and Caitlin Doyle-Smith) are standing up for independent music venues in the new song and video for "Little Rock n Roll Clubs," an ode to clubs, from neon-lit dives to historic live music joints, that are the heart of so many cities and towns.
The video, filmed at Music City's Dee's Country Cocktail Lounge and Exit/In, features cameos from Aaron Lee Tasjan, Guthrie Brown, Alanna Royale, The Cerny Brothers, Devon Gilfillian, Kyshona Armstrong, Andrew Leahey, Wells Adams and more.
The duo says, while they love playing large venues, there's just something extra special about the smaller capacity clubs.
"The idea behind 'Little Rock n Roll Clubs' isn't complex; we've spent the better part of a decade crisscrossing the US and Europe playing predominantly 300-500-capacity independent venues," the duo tells Wide Open Country. "They each have their own mythology, history, idiosyncrasies, and challenges; each one is like an interesting puzzle with a great story just waiting to happen. We tried to capture the uniqueness and character of places like those in the video. We've played some huge, corporate-owned venues (amphitheatres and arenas and the like), and honestly, there's nothing wrong with them, and we'd certainly jump at the chance to open shows at places like that again, depending on the bill, of course, but they all blend together. I can't tell you the difference between the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Ga. and the Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas, Texas because they both essentially look exactly the same, but I can remember the weirdest hole-in-the wall dives from our first tour ever in 2013, with the surly bartender and the busted 20-year-old stage monitor, and the sweaty, packed in crowd singing the lyrics back to us. When it comes to live music, those are the memories and experiences that are worth preserving."
Watch the video for "Little Rock & Roll Clubs" below.
"Little Rock n Roll Clubs" was written in support of Save Our Stages and the National Independent Venue Association, a group of over 2,000 independent venues in 50 states that are banding together to ask Washington for targeted legislation to help independent music venues survive. To support the Save Our Stages Act, visit here.
For more information on Smooth Hound Smith, visit their official website.
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