The Cobra is Home
Performances by Loose Bolts, Sweet Mylo and Arily Michele
I’ve been looking for that quintessential dive bar and music venue combo since I got here to Nashville via Seattle. On Saturday night, I finally found it at The Cobra. The Cobra reminds me of a place where I used to go for cheap drinks and great music in the Pacific Northwest called Tim’s Tavern. Tim’s was my haven and my safe place. Tim’s was somewhere I could always go and feel accepted and surrounded by likeminded people. The owners, Mason Reed and Matt O’Toole had created such intimacy, yet such a kick ass club feeling.
Since arriving in Nashville, I have felt a little alone and I have been searching for that same sense of beauty and music. The Cobra made me feel that way again. The Cobra offers a great selection of beers and cocktails and everything that you need to enjoy a show. The bartenders were super friendly and made the experience even better than I had hoped.
There are three different spots in here to enjoy some tunes. One inside at the bar, one in another offshoot with its own libation station, simply called The Venue. Then, there is a third stage outside which seems like they open for those events in the spring and summertime. It was banging tonight with a punk show.
People can keep their modern stainless steel, and fancy amenities. Give me eclectically decorated and dim light rooms. Give me a place where you feel the beer in the bar as you lean on your forearms and order a drink. I want sticky floors and torn barstools. The Cobra is all of this and it’s glorious.
When you enter the front door from the sidewalk there is a singular light hanging above a pool table and the walls are laced with well framed pictures of musicians of every variety. Local art hangs nearby those classic neon beer signs.
As I looked around and smile with sheer happiness, I realized that Nirvana’s “Love Buzz” slices through the air. This made me certain I had found that taste of Seattle in Nashville.
I was there to see Loose Bolts, Sweet Mylo, and Arily Michelle with some people I used to call workmates. They are now my friends, and we are looking to unwind and bond. Local music gives us that.
Loose Bolts is a songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Ian Brice. As he steps to the stage, strapped with only his guitar, there’s a vulnerability about this man. It’s not a weakness. It’s unadulterated. There’s a hum of electricity from the plug-in that always excites me. It holds true on this night. I am overjoyed. It’s raw.
He begins with a veracity on his acoustic. Then he starts to sing and there’s so much more passion that collides with his playing. Loose Bolts strikes us with deliberate strumming and soul shaking lyrics. His voice is honest and reflective. The crowd is small but engaged and so appreciative. He trills tunes about relationships and loss, but dangles hope in every chord.
It’s so great when someone stands before us, stripped down and sharing their feelings through music and imagery. The lighting in the space is shallow, but the mood is bright. Loose Bolts gets ready to sing a song called “Kiss Me Back”. He tells the crowd that, “It’s a hopeful song about risk taking. Risk taking is good sometimes.” I agree, and I tend to feel like if you don’t take risks, are you even living. One of the lines from the song is “If I held your hand would you hold it back.” It’s somewhere we have all been before. That place when we are trapped between excitement and pure fear. Loose Bolts then closes his set with something I never expected which was an unplugged number. He moves in and out of the crowd and now one can really hear the purity of his voice. No mic. No amp. Just Ian, and we applaud just Ian.
Sweet Mylo is our next experience. Their drum kit has sat silently in the backdrop, but it’s now ready to join in the fun. They are a three-piece band with a lead guitar, bass and drums. There’s also I keyboard that is stationed off to the side that will show up fashionably late, and then become the life of the party.
As they kick in, we get a heavy dose of electric sound. If I had to come up with some sort of comparison, I would say they were like Weezer meets The Carpenters. I told them that after the show. I think they liked that, or they were just being polite.
I love the driving sound of the drums, the rhythm of the bass, and Mylo on lead vocals. Mylo’s hair flows over his face as he plays and there’s a thrilling sensation in their music. Mylo, who I later find out is Kevin, and the drummer, Grace Jones (what a great name) harmonize exceptionally well. It’s like their voices were destined to meet.
These three mesh so well together and it seems like they’ve been playing forever, yet Mylo is only 23, Grace is 22, and the bass player just turned 18. I’ll remember his name at some point and edit this article.
Grace sits perfectly poised behind the kit, upright and tall. The bass follows with confident knowledge that he is good. Real good. Flawless tempo creates a lining form melody. Mylo perches over the keys at this point, like a father over a resting child or a surgeon leaning above a patient. It is a rhythmic dynamic that takes keen skill. They say that the song is something that they recorded six years ago, and they refer to it as an “oldie.” I literally laugh out loud. Their future is bright.
Here comes our finale. Arily Michelle steps to the stage with a grace and an elegance. She takes her place behind a keyboard that is laced with decorous flowers. With her onstage is a singular guitar player. They begin to play, and it sounds like a synth theme song from a dream. They start off with a song called “Dollars and Sense”. Arily tells us that she worked in finance for about 10 months, and it didn’t go so well. The music is like a painting that has something new every time you look at it. I was trying to pin it down and compare it to something, but I couldn’t. I shouldn’t. The music is transcendental and soothing, and her voice is large and captivating.
They close that and slip into another poetic deluge entitled, “Highway Hypnosis”. This highlights Arily’s range. She sounds like a sultry lounge act with electronica beats boucing behind her. Tonight, we are here to celebrate the release of her newest single, “Go Steady”. I peel my eyes across the room as the drumbeat starts and watch the smiles leak through the lips of the onlookers. The melody is beautiful. Her voice unwavering. The prose punching lyrics of “I think the trust is overrated/ I don’t like it when you make things complicated/ But honey I’m faded/ So, let’s give this a try” are sense stirring.
The show was great, and I found some people who made my journey worth it. Thank you to my bartender Elyssa (hope I got that spelling right) who pointed me towards some future shows and towards some PBR’s. Also, to Sam who sat at the bar to my left at the end of the night. I felt like I was back at Tim’s. I hope to head back to Seattle and visit someday, but this is my new place now and I think I’ll be okay. The music guides me.
