Exit/In, December 11th, 2023
What is there to say about a night that I’ve waited for since January 2020 (when the original Basement East show went on sale)? To say it’s been a rocky road would be an understatement. From a tornado flattening the original venue in March 2020, to Covid closing the world down once the show located to Exit/In, to Exit/In being given its last rites before being saved by a mystery benefactor…
Suffice to say, Dick Jr.’s homecoming gig seemed fated never to happen.
So it was an ecstatic Team FanWorld that finally spotted “Dick Jr.” on the venue’s marquee, while on Creation’s Music City bus tour. It was truly happening. And to add an extra emotional layer for us, Rich’s own choice of poster for the show was originally designed by Beth in tribute to the show that never was. To see it repurposed for the actual event was a wonderful full circle moment.
If you know me at all, it goes without saying that, with close to 4 years notice, I’d still be sewing my outfit for the show on the day of the event! And having finished my rhinestone rodeo suit mere hours before we left for Elliston Place, I knew I wouldn’t relax until Rich had seen it.
We’d talked about it a little on the bus tour, but he’d requested no spoilers (which was hard when he directly referenced the lockdown selfie I’d recreated for the jacket’s centrepiece while discussing Hatch Show Print, our first tour top!). So when Rich rocked up with Emma and spotted me waiting on the sidewalk, I jumped at the chance to give him his first look. It’s always a nerve-wracking moment, but his cheerleading is why I sew (more on that later).
By the time we get into the venue, the artists (minus Emma) are already poised waiting to take photos. And not just any photos. Chris Schmelke is on hand to ensure every fan leaves with a souvenir worthy of the night. After photos, the guys take to the stage and answer fan questions - everything from the song they just *have* to sing along to on the radio (Rich’s is his old karaoke number, “Love Shack”) to which breed of dog they’d be (Rich says a bulldog). One lovely moment comes when Patt (@archangelsanon) asks Rich if he’d consider singing “Holly Jolly Christmas”, and he launches into a delightful acapella rendition.
While being at Exit/In to See ‘Dick Jr and The Volunteers’ was something I’d imagined a lot over the past 3 years, something I definitely hadn’t imagined, was being on stage at Exit/In with ‘Dick Jr and The Volunteers’. During their M&G, Rich has Jason Manns escort me from the front row to the stage, to provide the audience with a guided tour of the Nashville themed embroidery on my Nudie Cohn inspired suit. It’s a moment that will stay with me forever.
My heart is just about returning to normal when the first musical act takes the stage. Emma Fitzpatrick (giving us all severe shoe envy) and Rob Benedict start the evening with a delicate and dreamy set that takes me back to the golden days of Germany’s Rockwood Festival, where I first encountered Emma’s astonishing voice.
The pace picks up with Station Breaks, and wow, does it feel good to be singing along with those songs once more! I hope one day we get a second album - there’s just something about Rob and Jason’s voices together for me.
I’ll confess to feeling a lump in my throat when our hostess for the evening, Briana Buckmaster, introduces our headliners. (Oh, and about that running order – it was Rich’s choice to concede the night’s last slot to co-headliners Louden Swain, as he had so many family and friends there that night, and didn’t want them to have to wait around too long).
Dick, Jr. takes the stage looking every bit the country rocker, with his hair looking tousled under a black fedora, and a Western shirt with flame embroidery, worn over a white T, with blue jeans and boots.
“Sweet merciful crap, it’s great to be here in Nashville, Tennessee, playing the Exit/In”.
Rich’s joy at finally getting to do this is obvious, and the crowd are right there with him. We’ve been waiting impatiently since this was pencilled in as an album launch party for 2019’s “The Dance and How to Do It. As it is, tonight’s set includes just four tracks from that debut - one of which is the opening number (and the first track from the album), The Bottle Rockets’ “24 Hours a Day”. While original Volunteers Zachary Ross, Cooper Appelt and Rob Humphreys were unable to make the Exit/In show, the Nashville Volunteers assembled for this second show (guitarist Jules Belmont, bassist Rob Calder and drummer Jon Epcar) fill in seamlessly.
Next up is perhaps the song I was keenest to hear live – “When the Devil Drives”. Back in November 2020, Rich recorded an acoustic version of the song at my request, giving us the first taste of the upcoming second album. Having grown so familiar with that barebones take, it’s pretty exciting to finally hear a version with its hat and boots, so to speak, and even to clock some of the tiny lyrical tweaks since lockdown. The full band version does not disappoint, and retains the gleefully grubby charm of the original.
We return to the first album with “Goin’ Straight, with Emma’s soaring vocals providing the perfect foil to Rich’s rumbling voice. The way they spark off each other remains delightful, and carries on into playful banter after the song:
“Emma Fitzpatrick, why’d ya do me like that? Oh man…break my heart? Even my pretend heart. In a pretend song. About a pretend scenario. About a pretend relationship we never had. Oh, man.”
Rich segues into the next number by saying it’s a song he wrote about a real relationship. “A lot of you know her as the Machete”. I hope she felt our collective affection that night, wherever she was, because the cheer as she was referenced was something else. “Where I Go” is a beautiful and clearly heartfelt ballad that feels as much a love song to Jaci’s hometown of Joseph, Oregon as it is to her and the family she and Rich have built together. I asked Rich about the song on the Thursday before the show, and he said that it was long overdue, but that Jaci likes it and that’s what matters. As she should. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and Rich’s vocals on the night are particularly lovely.
Rich introduces “Layin Low in Leb’nun” with the story of being confined to his hotel room in between shooting days on “Old Henry”. Like “When the Devil Drives”, this new track is a bit of a barnstormer with plenty of grit (or stank, to use a word Rich loves). It even gives us duelling guitars in the instrumental break.
Another new track follows, and it’s what, so far, is my favourite on the second album. A duet with Emma, “Your Whiskey on My Lips” is a cinematic and seductive Western story with Emma as Mary, the woman with a gun, rescuing Dick Jr’s outlaw Westley from the hangman’s gallows. The song has a murder ballad vibe, Rich channelling Lee Hazelwood, and utterly haunting vocals from Miss Fitzpatrick - I’m desperate to hear how it sounds in its finished form, and hoping this is one track that ends up with a video, because it’s seriously a mini movie.
“I Liked You More (When I Knew You Less)” is the song previewed in Rich’s Creation Entertainment Spotlight with Billy Moran, who co-wrote the track. This might just be the “Raspberry Beret” of the second album - a catchy as heck song, with a lyric that showcases Rich’s comic delivery. The hilarious lyric is, as the title suggests, about realising you don’t have as much in common with someone as you initially hoped. In this case, our Willie ‘n’ Waylon loving hero finds himself at dinner with a vacuous influencer (and her dog in a purse) –
“Fendi, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Oh Lord, I can’t afford anything you got on” is the line that stuck out for me, but the whole lyric is a hoot.
“When I was sneaking into this bar, and when I was paying money to get into this bar, it was usually to see “Walk the West”.
Rich introduces “Living At Night” by paying tribute to the band who shaped his Nashville youth, before calling Briana and Jason to the stage for what is, to me, still the stand out on “The Dance and How to Do It”. It’s always a stomper live, but tonight Mr Billy Moran is absolutely *on fire*.
Rob Benedict and Paul Carella are summoned to act as whiteboard monitors for the last new song, the insanely catchy “Low Bar”. Featuring a gorgeously twangy Western guitar sound (and, oh hello - first bass solo of the night!), it’s the song that will remain stuck in our heads as we leave the show. We didn’t even need the lyrics (though Rich, I’m pretty sure that’s not how you spell “lofty”).
Sadly, the set is over way too fast, and all too soon we’re welcoming another guest on stage for the final song. Our second major footwear envy of the night comes as the stunning Reyna Roberts takes the stage, in some *sensational* boots, to provide backing vocals on Raspberry Beret (as she did on the album). It’s a slightly chaotic version with so many people crowded around the mics, but it’s pure joy, and a suitable high on which to end a magical night.
When Dick Jr & The Volunteers leave the stage in the capable hands of Louden Swain, we relinquish our front row spots to congratulate Rich, and catch up with Tyler James, Blake Lewis and other friends at the bar.
Late night pizza with pals follows Swain’s set and our final goodbyes and thanks to Rob and Rich.
Overserved and overfed, we make our way back to Music Row and to bed, knowing that we’ve experienced not only a night worth every moment we waited, but the perfect end to our Nashville trip of a lifetime.
THANKS FOR READING