Today in Nashville. Sounds like breaking news is about to happen. When you own a venue, you sometimes get out ahead of what’s “breaking.”
Today In Nashville is a live daily lifestyle and entertainment show airing on WSMV-TV Channel 4 in Nashville, Tennessee. What happened “Today In Nashville” was Lou Ridley. The local station showcases music videos of up and coming artists. Lou was featured performing her song Delivered from her second album Angel/Outlaw.
Now the reason we knew what was breaking, was that the video was shot in The Looney Jones House a few weeks ago. As per our usual agreement, with the artist, we would not share any of this information until the release of the video. Always a tough task to know something is on the horizon and not be able to tell the tale. Now we can spill the tea, spill the beans, dish, and maybe even run off at the mouth. Lou Ridley is the real deal.
Early on in our discussions about her video needs, she knew exactly what she wanted. The Looney Jones House. Lou was very involved with all our discussions and especially excited to do a site visit in person before the shoot date. It’s so nice to see genuine awe from an artist over your home. I mean we are always in love with the place. But to know that love also exists in a new friend is such a relief for an owner. You just know that translates into respect of the site.
The artists and crew were super careful with our place and all our furnishings. This particular song was shot upstairs in our hallway. Not many items to move, but there is always worry involved when multiple folks need to use our 1839 staircase. They treated our treads, spindles, and walls with the utmost care. Even her band mates helped move items when needed and always asked if it was OK to put their guitars and cases on the bed. Just nice to see some respect for the old place.
Lou Ridley’s Instagram page describes her as a “Soul/country artist & human rights witch.” Sounds good to us. Lou has been pushing Nashville’s boundaries lately. Her look has been described as “Lady Gaga” like. I guess we can see that. It’s also not surprising since she named Lady Gaga, Billie Holiday, and Dolly Parton as three women that she “finds hope in” during an interview for an Atwood Magazine article earlier this year. We can honestly say Lou Ridley was one of the nicest performers to sing in our home.
Bethany Reed was the director and camera operator. Danielle Olson, the producer, was our initial contact with the Lou Ridley team. They were so helpful in the setup stage and very open to Carl documenting the shoot for this blog. You could also tell that Lou and these two are just good friends. It sure helps when everybody is on the same page.
The band, like the crew, was small. Just one guitarist, Johnny Black, who is a Grammy nominated producer and writer on his own. Plus, he had some beautiful guitars. The other blended vocal was provided by J.B. Somers. He and Lou were interesting to watch, while they worked through the sounds of the words. Small band with a nice sound.
So watch and listen for Lou Ridley in the future. And when you hear “Today In Nashville,” know it might have started, weeks ago, “In Columbia”…at The Looney Jones House.
Check out the Today In Nashville segment here.
Looney Jones House 