Finally Fridays with Tom Tippin and Madeline Rae
04.28.2023 - It was another beautiful, sweet southern spring afternoon in historic downtown Smithville, TN, as Dekalb County High School young men and ladies prepared for their prom on Friday. It’s always a pleasure to see the young folks all gussied up, posing for pictures made in our beautiful downtown area, or heading on down by Center Hill Lake for some traditional outdoorsy pics (it’s comforting to know that the young folks of today still find something as corny and Americana as a “prom” exciting and fun!). Our wish for you kiddos, (excuse me, you young men and ladies) is that you rocked out safely and had the time of your life at this momentous occasion - the memories you’re making now will serve you well for your entire lifetime, so make ‘em good ones!
For a good-sized bunch of folk who are a little too old for the prom, there was also a “Homecoming” going on at the Harvester Performance & Event Center. Well, actually “sort of” a homecoming, because this was actually the first time that Smithville’s very own Tom Tippin has appeared at “The Harv”- he did a single at the Burlap Room several years back, but if you were judging by the crowd and their obvious welcoming enthusiasm, (and Tom’s and his band’s obviously digging playing for us hometowners), it surely did FEEL like a homecoming!
Madeline Rae opened up the evening’s live music performance with her excellent vocals and keyboard accompaniment - her style is a softer, intimate delivery, but Madeline showed off her “I can sound like Adele if I want to” chops on her excellent original compositions and her good choice of cover material (Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah was spot-on, as was her House of the Rising Sun/Amazing Grace Medley). It’s not easy to open up for a headliner as attendees are arriving, eating, talking and visiting, but Ms. Madeline Rae managed to quieten down the crowd with her unobtrusive, melodic music - and they obviously were paying attention, based on the fact they demanded an encore song.
Then, Tom Tippin and his excellent musical hired guns (from the Memphis area) romped through an almost two hour set of original songs from Tom’s past and current EPs, and some inspired covers that you rarely hear performed live (well)...Al Green?!! Glenn Campbell!!?? Paul McCartney??!!
In my opinion, Tom’s original material cannot be defined in a genre - it’s a little bit of everything.
I did some marketing in the automotive industry so to a car guy like me, Tom Tippin’s performance at The Harv reminded me of a dude driving a Lamourgini who also has a heartfelt appreciation for what milestones like a ‘57 Chevy or a ‘55 T-bird represented in the development and design history of the automobile. So, if I were still writing taglines for the auto biz, I’d say, “Tom Tippin is a new and exciting brand built on a true recognition and respect of the classics!”
Enough of the auto reference…Tom Tippin is a very “real” talented, polite young man who got big kicks out of running his fellow musicians all over his downtown Smithville, showing off his hometown and all the exciting new energies and projects that are in process.
Tom’s story is impressive because he realized what he wanted to do at a very early age, persevered, and now he’s doing it, and doing it very well. During his performance he shared the fact with the Harvester audience that “there’s a chance” that a song he wrote, “American Sky”, is a possible theme song of a CBS TV show. You did a good job with this one, Mom & Dad Tippin - I’m confident there’s a lot more opportunities and successes right around the bend for young Tom Tippin – so I’m just gonna go ahead and say it now…“Hometown Boy Makes Good”!
Welcome home, Tom - hurry Back to the Harv anytime!
Kudos to Hardwoods Smokehouse Express food truck (how’s business? --- smokin’!), the Pro Security & Service Staff, Phil Stafford, Sound Engineer, and a very enthusiastic appreciative audience for our biggest Finally Friday event so far!
Up next is Bert’s on Thursdays at the Harvester, 5/4, with Cam Pierce and Craig Anderson, Benefit for Bobby on Thursday, 5/11, with Dramatic Endings and Kelly and Sarah, our first theatrical performance with the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s Education Experience Tour at the Harvester on Thursday, 5/18, and on sale now, our annual Summer Solstice Shindig with Airshow and Austin Grimm on Saturday, 6/17! All the details for upcoming events at burlaproom.eventbrite.com. Stay up-to-date with all the events in the Bert Driver Network (Nursery, Burlap Room, and the Harvester) by signing up for our Burlapper Newsletter - released every other Tuesday morning straight to your inbox!
