WSLR Presents: Kashena Sampson + Jon Latham

5500 Saint Elmo Avenue,Chattanooga TN 37409

15 April, 2022

Description

Kashena Sampson + Jon Latham LIVE at The Woodshop Listening Room - April 15, 2022 The Woodshop Listening Room Presents: Kashena Sampson + Jon Latham April 15, 2022 Doors at 7, Music at 8 $10 Early Bird Tickets, $15 Day of Show [Only 50 Tickets Available] FOOD + BEER + WINE + LIVE MUSIC ------------------------------------------------------------------ KASHENA SAMPSON “I had $3 in my bank account but I thought, ‘I’m working on Tuesday, I’ll be ok. Then the tornado hit and that didn’t happen.’” Last year, Kashena Sampson had plans in place for her new album Time Machine, but then — well, life happened. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter had already finished her forthcoming album — an 11-song journey through her struggles with co-dependency and finding herself, illuminated by a voice that harkens back to a time when Linda Rondstadt and Fleetwood Mac reigned supreme — and then her path shifted, as did that of so many other musicians over the past year. A singular part of her story, though, is that Kashena also funds her music through a bartending job at The Basement East, which was destroyed by the March 2020 tornado that hit Nashville just a few weeks before the pandemic did. “I had the record ready to go, and then the tornado took away the funding for it,” she says, in a matter-of-fact manner that speaks a lot about who Kashena is: she’s easygoing by nature, but also quietly assured in her ability to consistently figure things out. “Here in times of stillness, I know I’ll be okay / If I listen to it closely, I always find my way,” she sings on the album’s title track. “It's about your past, where you came from, what made you who you are today,” she says of the song. “Nobody really knows what they are doing. We are all just trying to figure out this life thing, and the answers can always be found within.” When having a conversation with Kashena, there’s a sneaking suspicion she’s always been just as introspective as she is now. She offers the kind of comments and observations that make it clear she’s always had a knack for tapping into what’s happening around her and identifying the universal feelings that both trouble and fuel us all. “Time Machine tells the story of my struggles with codependency, personal growth and self worth,” she says. “My internal struggle with relationships, the music business, and trying to find joy in the little things in life. In the past, I’ve always looked for things outside myself to fix me and I’ve always come up short. It’s the journey of me discovering that happiness and contentment is an inside job and nothing outside of myself is going to fix that.” Time Machine was recorded in February 2019 with producer Jon Estes, who played bass, piano, cello and organ on the album, and with whom she also worked with for 2017’s Wild Heart. They tracked everything to tape over two days, along with Jeremy Fetzer on guitar, Jon Radford on drums and Elizabeth Estes on strings. “Hello Darkness” is the lone cover on the album, originally performed by Dutch psych-rock band Shocking Blue. Covers themselves are familiar territory for Kashena, who spent several years performing on a cruise ship that took her around the world — Australia, Italy, Vietnam, Romania, and the Amazon among her many destinations — before she made her way to Nashville, from her home town of Las Vegas. During her three-year stint, she performed a wide array of shows ranging from Opera to Motown to Broadway and ‘60s and ‘70s covers. Eventually, mixed in among Joan Baez, Dolly Parton and John Denver, she started adding in her original songs that her patrons loved. Following her travels, Kashena ventured to Nashville — sight unseen. In the years since her move in 2015, she’s become a valuable member of the local music community, as evidenced by some of her co-writers on the album: Erin Rae, Mary Bragg and Kyshona Armstrong. Along with Kashena’s sister, Jolana Sampson, all of the originals were written by women. “Alone and In Love Again,” “The Black Sea” and “Work of Art” each discuss various aspects of relationships: dysfunction, nostalgia and eventually moving on. “I Plead Desire” is a classic fairytale of unrequited love, inspired in part by a misheard lyric from Judee Sill’s “Jesus Was A Crossmaker.” “From The Outside” takes a closer look at the daily struggles of a musician’s life: “It takes a lot of dedication and sacrifice to follow your dreams and not get discouraged. People see the end results but they don't always see the work it takes to get those results. I’m reminded when I’m on stage and performing for people that this is my passion, this brings me joy, and that I was given a gift to share with people, to help them escape from the realities of life momentarily or to relate on an emotional level and not feel so alone.” “Whole Lot Better” is a driving anthem of self-assuredness, celebrating new beginnings. “I had just moved into my very own place for the first time in about eight years,” Kashena says. “This song just came to me, I wrote it in an hour.” “Little Spot of Sun” presents an opportunity to appreciate the small joys in life, like a dog laying in the sunshine. “It’s about searching for the good in life and finding your happiness. Dogs do a great job of this,” Kashena says. “No matter what our past struggles have been, we can choose to live in the moment and find gratitude in each day. It’s a reminder that nothing is permanent. When things are bad, hold on because it will get better again, and when things are good enjoy it because there will be low spots again.” It’s been a little more than a year since Kashena Sampson’s life shifted, since her plans changed, since she re-grouped and found a way amidst incredibly difficult circumstances. If Time Machine is Kashena discovering her own resilience, its release may just be the strongest example of doing just that, on her own terms. JON LATHAM From the earliest of ages, Jon Latham has been obsessed with music. While living in the small! town of Greenwood, South Carolina, his first stage was the fireplace hearth at his grandma's house. Introduced from the kitchen, he'd take the "stage", singing along to his favorite records while strumming along on his toy guitar. The years have passed, the child has grown, but the drive and love of performing is still rooted in the same innocence. Jon grew up for most of his life in Kennesaw, Georgia, a small suburb on the northern sprawl of Atlanta. He picked up drums at the age of 6, and through his early teens, he became involved with music in the local church. A side-effect of his time in the Pentecostal sanctuaries was a honing of skills on other instruments. If the bass player fell ill, Jon would relinquish the drum duties to another player so that he could cover the bass parts. By the age of 16, he had taught himself guitar, and just after high school, he formed a duo with his brother performing in bars, coffee shops, and restaurants in the Atlanta area. As the years went on, Jon's pursuits in music were well-tempered with his work ethic, ever the skeptic that it would lead any further than the local open mics. That all changed when he met a fellow Kennesaw singer-songwriter named Peyton Parker. Both Jon and Peyton found chemistry in their harmonies, and Jon became her sideman, filling out guitar parts. Peyton and Jon eventually found that same spark of inspiration when it came to writing, and together, they began crafting original tunes as a team. In 2013, Peyton took the big leap to Nashville, Tennessee, and once settled there, her family generously offered a spare room for Jon if he could move. Jon moved to Nashville on Memorial Day 2013. Upon arriving he fell ill, only to find himself in a three-day coma in the ICU, fighting blood clots in his lungs. Brushing so close to his mortality in a foreign city had an effect on Jon after his recovery. He channeled this groundswell of emotions into his first batch of solo songs, which he began playing at Nashville open mics and writers rounds. His honest delivery and wholehearted appreciation for the audience won him respect and admiration within the local music community, particularly in East Nashville. With the help of local engineer and co-producer Josh Morris, he released his first record, Real Bad News in the fall of 2015. Playing most of the instrumentation himself, Jon's debut album was met with glowing reviews and even landed in the Bitter Southerner's Top 25 Southern Albums of 2015 and top 10 new artists to know in Rolling Stone, for 2017. As time progressed he found himself sharing the stage with friends and colleagues such as Aaron Lee Tasjan, Glossary, Todd Snider, Elizabeth Cook on the Grand Ole Opry, Brian Wright, Great Peacock, John Doe, Dan Baird and Kevn Kinney/Drivin’ n Cryin’. Jon released his latest album, Lifers, on Cafe Rooster Records. The Woodshop is an intimate live music venue and neighborhood pub on the outskirts of the historic St. Elmo neighborhood.  Since 2015, our goal has been to assemble and host a network of musicians and makers who are local to or traveling through the area. With our resources, they are able to create, present, or record their work in front of an appreciative audience.