Ten Out of Tennessee

As much a conceptual project as what can perhaps best be described as a touring collective, Ten Out of Tennessee (Erin McCarley, Andy Davis, Katie Herzig, K.S. Rhoads, Tyler James, Matthew Perryman Jones, Trent Dabbs, Butterfly Boucher, Jeremy Lister and Andrew Belle) began in the imaginings of Kristin and Trent Dabbs. Realizing that some of their favorite music was being written by friends, the Dabbses hit upon the idea of creating a tour consisting of a traveling group of ten of Nashville’s finest songwriters and performers. The entire troupe would serve as the backing band, and each songwriter would showcase two of his or her songs in turn at each performance. Even though every one of the Ten Out of Tennessee performers is an accomplished songwriter with an established career, this project could have been nothing more than a gimmick resulting in mediocrity. Instead, these Ten have produced pop music of surprising sonic depth and emotional honesty.