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Sometimes, you just feel like somebody's watchin' out for ya. In the middle of doing Saturday morning errands, I got a call that Michelle Malone and Garrison Starr would be playing that night at the Corner Lounge. That is like telling someone who likes classic rock that the Eagles would be playing at the Tennessee Theatre, and that the cover charge was $10. Apparently others' guardian angels weren't lookin' after them as closely as mine were, as there were probably only thirty people there. These are musicians that have a strong undercurrent of followers and pack venues like the Grey Eagle in Asheville, and Eddie's Attic in Atlanta. Lucky for us, we live in Knoxville, and we sometimes get front row because everyone else is hunkered down with their gallon of milk and their loaf of bread--just hoping, waiting, and wishing for that storm to hit.

Sometimes, here in Knoxville, we get a little complacent. We get comfortable with our music scene, our football, our market square, and we forget--we forget that a woman, and a guitar, and a cause--or a good story, is missing from our lives. And we got two of them last night. I'd heard of Garrisonn Starr, but I'd never heard her. She (and a drummer named Jesus) filled that room with sound and story-tellin' that just needed to happen. She has a new album, Garrison Starr's Fans' Greatest Hits, Volume 1--selections that her fans chose. And because just picking ten songs was rather impossible, there will be a Volume 2 at some point, so don't you worry. I just kept wondering if that was her real name, and if so, I'd like to meet her parents--even if they apparently give her a hard time about not enough church-going, the red Vans and her jeans that drop just a little too low. Regardless, she's got to be thanking them for the voice she's got and the guitar that she can play.

Michelle Malone. This was the third time I'd seen her. The first was rockin' the you-know-what out of a private party in downtown Knoxville, the second time she was getting some coffee at my favorite grocery store in Atlanta, the third was playing at the Corner Lounge last night. I think she's been out West for a while--the real out West--not West Town Mall. See, if you thought I meant West Town Mall, it's time to get out of Knoxville for a bit.

This woman is both nonchalant and fierce. Michelle Malone probably tops the scales out at about 105. But one look, and though she's beautiful--her eyes tell you that she has chosen her battles. You decide early that you want her on your team--and you want her playin' her guitar. There were a few guys in the back who looked like they just dropped in for a beer after riding their motorcycles across the country collecting tattoos. A few songs in, a few riffs from her collection of electric beauties...and they dropped their jaws in surprise and then joined in the fray of those that appreciated a woman who could sing and play. With influences like the Rolling Stones, Bonnie Rait, Muddy Waters, and Billie Holiday...you want to be at the front table. Fortunately for Knoxville, you could have been--and fortunately for the world, she can also write a song or two, and she has a new album out, "Sugarfoot."

If you're ever feeling sick and tired of being part of the American Idol society--in her observation, that we're become something more of the American Idle society. If you know deep down that families could do better if minimum wage wasn't so minimum, if you're lonely and you think that everybody (but you) has found their someone, if you appreciate a good southern river and a good southern whiskey--then you would be in good company with Michelle Malone. And although the Corner Lounge doesn't serve liquor, they can certainly bring in women and guitars that can hold their own.

Garrison Starr photos by Jeffry Fasano