Eastside Bowl at “The 58” 

with Luella, Wasp Eater, and Lydia Maes

I walked into Eastside Bowl not knowing exactly what I would find.  Nashville sure does like its bowling alleys to feature live music and it is wonderfully nostalgic.  I’ve been to Brooklyn Bowl a few times now in Music City and it has always been a trip.  I saw The Black Keys there, as well as The Interrupters and the witnessing the legendary Bob Dylan was certainly special. This show was going to be a little lower key than those and I really enjoy these types of venues.  Eastside Bowl has three different stage setups throughout their vast playground.  “The Low Volume Lounge” stage is set up on the floor and is adjacent to a long bar behind the rollers at the lanes and this was where I first entered.  Not knowing that I had walked past the spot that I was intended for.  I was way early.  A drum kit, monitors and multiple mic stands littered the area.  There would be a band here too tonight. 

I took up a seat at the bar and gazed around. This place has all the vibes.  When you peel open the doors you feel like you have been thrust back into the 1950’s.  The signage, the lights, and the checkerboard flooring transport you back to the time of sock hops, malt shops and of course bowling.  The bowling has always maintained its placement in Americana. The tables to my rear, between myself and the physical bowling happening, had a psychedelic look.  It was as if every dark-lit neon poster from college dorms in a certain era had been modeled into tables.  Equipped with funky flashing lights to enhance these images, every table sported a different band and artist.  From Jimi and Janis to The Who and Led Zepplin they were all represented in linear musical history. 

Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Day’s” caught my ear as I perused the beer menu.  It was like they queued this tune up just for my arrival. Or just for the locals.  There were plenty of heartwarming regulars that wanted to strike up a conversation with the new guy. I happily obliged and chatted them up right back. A young lady approached with a smile and asked, “What’ll it be?”  I said, “I’ll take a PBR”, and she replied, “Of course you will.”  I thought that to be an odd response until I caught my reflection in the mirror glass of the backbar and noticed I was wearing my Pabst Blue Ribbon hat. Ha, I am an idiot.  

She brought me back a tall boy can and right when I was about to take my first step another bartender yelled out, “Fuck squirrels!” The consistent patrons laughed and somewhat cheered and I thought, “I’m definitely in the right place.”  Physically I was not.  I was supposed to be in “The 58” for the show. I grabbed my beer and moseyed over to the correct location.  

The 58 took me back to the 50’s (I am guessing that might be the namesake) and this singular attached club boasted a higher stage with so many instruments onboard. A drumkit, mics, at least 8 guitars, a noticed a fiddle case, and a stand-up bass resting on its side.  This was going to be a kick-ass show.  Talking to another photographer there, I learned that this building was once a K-Mart.  That would certainly explain the incredible amount of space here.  I also learned of that other room that existed in this chain of venues. I am not sure I ever got the name of it, but people kept calling it “The Big Room.”  The Supersuckers, out of Seattle, had just played here in that space the night before.  I absolutely love the conversions of old spaces being repurposed for new ideas.  I hate that we often tear down and rebuild and stop history in its tracks.  When we keep the original building and rebrand, we can still tell the tale of what once was, especially if some of those old markings, doors, windows, or art are still preserved.  Not that K-Mart had a lot of those detail, but you get where i am coming from.  Enough “setting the tone” let us get to those artists. 

Luella was the first music to take the stage.  No backing band was required of her, and she sat centered and picked up her acoustic guitar.  She mentions how happy she is to be here for this show.  She got in from California at around 5am and she is excited to be with so many new friends which include Makena (Waspeater) and Lydia Maes who also join her on the bill.  

From her website: “[Luella] is greatly inspired by the folk and rock music of the late sixties and early seventies, combined with the influences of today’s pop music, creating her foundation around the importance of intentional lyrics, and her love for modern production. Luella is also greatly inspired by the alternative female lead bands and singer/songwriters of the 90s and early 2000s such as The Sundays, PJ Harvey, The Cocteau Twins, Bjork, The Cranberries and Feist. 

From an early age, Luella was embraced by Woodstock’s legendary music community, frequently playing at the prestigious Levon Helm Studios from the age of 10 years old. She grew up enveloped in the famous Woodstock sound and surrounded by the depth of its musical history.” 

She included a cover of The Sunday’s “Here’s Where the Story Ends” that was mesmerizingly perfection to the ear.  If you heard it on the radio, you would have been easily fooled that this wasn’t the original artist performing it.  And when I give her this compliment, do not think for one second that she does not have her own original sound.  She pecks at the guitar lightly so that her voice is the cut that we get first.  The sound that we need first.  She is a singer/songwriter with classic style, yet those attractive nuances of new wave and alternative that were mentioned before.   

She hits us with those songwriting skills when she performed a melody entitled, “Falling Blue”.  The lyrics in that track that got to me were “My feelings so far gone/ They’ve lost their way in the stars and/ you know I would rather be lonely/ so used and abused by the old me”. All her song were magnificently written and arranged, and I can’t wait to hear more from this young talent.  Her sound lives between the highs and lows of her soothing voice and melts your worries away.  Listening to her makes me remember a time of joyous reckoning and a PB&J with the crusts cut off. Just lovely. 

Makena, billed Wasp Eater, followed Luella a few minutes later accompanied by a guitar player, bass player, and drummer. She also plugged in on guitar to complete the quartet.  The band was tight and well-rehearsed.  Even when they were tuning up at the onset of the first song, it sounded like they were jamming.  It was as if this was an impromptu jazz session, and we hadn’t even officially started yet.  Makena vocally leads and her melancholy lyrics seem to drift side by side with a joyous temperament that the rest of the band brings to the sound. That may seem clashing or maybe offbeat, but none of it is.  It works, and it works well. The crowd senses it, they bob their heads and sway back and forth in agreement with their ear. In “January Bugs”, she reassures us that she is “Out of the Blue” and “Better Now”, but do we full believe her cadence. I was excited to red in a recent interview with Nashville Voyager that she is working on a new project and embracing her new moniker: 

“I am in the midst of releasing a five-song EP that I spent the last year working on with my friend Aaron Cage.” she stated “These songs capture a very specific moment of growth and heartbreak. They exist under the artist name Wasp Eater, and the title of the project is “January Bugs.” Growing up, I had a very irrational fear of wasps, and even to this day, I will scream when I see them.” 

In my notes I penned “With bounce and soul they command the stage and take their friends on a happy journey of mystical musical merriment, perhaps to forget the past, or perhaps to remember it for strength in the future.” 

Our final presentation is Lydia Maes and her band that includes a second guitar player (her being the first), drummer and two more string players with a cello and standing bass by my understanding (if the band contacts me, I’ll correct this).   

Her bio reads “Lydia Maes is a folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist originally from Minnesota. Her wistful and introspective songwriting is precise in the imagery it creates for her listeners. Lydia’s sound is a unique blend of nylon guitar, strings, and woodwinds from her background playing violin and saxophone.” She treated us to these violin skills about midway through the set.   

The crowd and band rocked in rhythm during this musical escapade. This section of the show picked up from the exact moment where the other left off.  It all flowed together so nicely.  From the opening act with Luella to where we were now seemed like a flawlessly drawn map. Lydia Maes voice reminded me of a modern-day Linda Ronstadt in both sound and purpose, but again, she had her own thing going. I went to her Spotify to further track down some lyrics and I was driven to solace and deep thought as I put on my headphones and I listened to her song “Quiet Place” as she asks, “Where do you go to get away/Where’s your quiet place/In the world today/Most seem to say/Inside of the lines/You know how to sway/In a different way”.  I really am driven by her capture of feeling and delightful songwriting.  My scribblings at the end of the night said this about Lydia Maes: “She tears through the soul with graciousness”. 

I am glad I stumbled upon Eastside Bowl and these extremely gifted and polished musicians on a Thursday night.  I will be watching for future show that have any of these artists on the marquee, because all their names deserve to be in lights.