Bill Mallonee at AthFest 2008

After four days of Bonnaroo, AthFest felt wonderfully local. Instead of trying to decide between Cat Power and The Avett Brothers, I was watching bands I'd never heard of—some good, some bad. And the bad ones left me plenty of time to reconnect with friends in Trappeze, Athens' coolest pub, which also happens to be run with one of my old bandmates.

One set that I wasn't going to miss, though, was Bill Mallonee's. Paste first launched as a company in 1998 by releasing a live album from his old band, Vigilantes of Love, and he played several Vigilantes songs with his new wife, Muriah Rose, including "Skin," about Vincent Van Gogh. Not many folks write lyrics this good:

Now I'd seen him despondent
A few times as of late
Sometimes the answer that love gives
Is the hardest one to take
I know he was prone to paint
The voice of his own fear
So Vincent he picked up the blade
And he put it to his ear

Look at yourself in the mirror
You're all rumpled, red stubbled and gaunt
You walk a dead end path in a dry corn field
And now this morose response
Your princess she don't wanna see you
No your princess she don't wanna hear
So vincent he picked up the blade
And he put it to his ear

Now look, if you're gonna come around here
And say those sort of things
You gotta take a few on the chin
You talking about love and all that stuff
You better bring your thickest skin
Sometimes you can't please everyone
Sometimes you can't please anyone at all
You sew your heart onto your sleeve
And wait for the ax to fall

You there with the paint box
You there with paper and pen
Me I got this blunt instrument
I'm gonna play on 'til the end
And you know you come with empty hands
Or you don't come at all
You deal your best hand out in the marketplace
And let the chips fall

The package it comes wrapped up
There is a lesson here
Vincent he picked up the blade
And he put it to his ear

Now look if you're gonna come around here
And say those sort of things
You gotta take a few on the chin
Yeah you're talking about sin and redemption
Well you better wear your thickest skin
Sometimes you can't please everyone
Sometimes you can't please anyone at all
Sew your heart onto your sleeve
And wait for the ax to fall

I definitely relate to this song as one of those with "paper and pen." Anyone who writes songs or paints or does anything artistically for a living is going to take a few on the chin. Bill's taken his share and dealt his own blows, but I stand by his selection among The 100 Greatest Living Songwriters.

The Melting Point
I also stand by our selection of The Melting Point as one of the greatest venues in the country, thanks in part to the hotel complex that surrounds it. Paste hosted a night of music at AthFest at The Melting Point with Ken Will Morton, Micah Dalton and Hope For Agoldensummer. Singer/songwriter Morton's set was greatly enhanced by the addition of a banjo player, and Dalton's band gave a soulful performance. Hope For Agoldensummer, pared down to a trio fronted by Paige and Claire Campbell, is an Athens band to really keep an eye on. They even turned a couple of the most vacuous pop songs into darkly gorgeous melodies. If you like bands like Hem or Over the Rhine, check them out. While my wife was as disappointed in her steak as I was blown away by the crab cakes (I think they had apple in them), the comfort of drinking and dining while listening to great music is not lost on my 36-year-old body. Being able to walk from the venue to my hotel room at The Foundry Inn as the Campbell sisters wound down their set was an even bigger bonus.