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January 11, 2008 @ Mercy Lounge — Paper Route Paper Route Delivers Irresistible Post-Rave Electronica to a Sold Out Mercy Lounge The Nashville-based indie electronica quintet Paper Route has quickly become one of Nashville's hottest live acts. In only six months' time, the band has gone from filling small clubs to selling out Nashville's premier large venues like Exit/In and Mercy Lounge. Friday night January 11 the line to enter the Mercy Lounge extended into the second parking lot, and the cold wait outside lasted some 30 minutes. Brooke Waggoner and Butterfly Boucher were also on the bill, and their own fan-base undoubtedly contributed to the large draw. But Friday night's headlining set proved that Paper Route's current wave of success is still drawing water and far from peaking. Beginning as a trio, the band's current line-up consists of JT Daly on Lead Vocal, Samples, Keyboards, and Bells; Andy Smith on Lead Vocal, Guitar, and Lap Steel; Chad Howat on CP70, Keyboards, Bass, and Glockenspiel; Gavin McDonald on Drums; and Daniel James on Guitar, Samples, Keyboards, and Background Vocals. They deliver tight two and three-part harmonies atop bass-thumping electronica strobe music that ebbs and flows. Unique to Paper Route are their thoughtful, reflective lyrics that are sung beautifully by Daly and Smith while Howat, a talented in-demand record producer, works his magic on the bass and the CP70. The only thing consistently missing in all of the Paper Route shows I've seen is a light show, which the music certainly deserves. Regardless, Friday night's set was tight, and singer JT Daly was electric—looking like a fired-up character actor in a Scorsese film. The set was an adrenaline rush consisting of released and unreleased material: Second Chances, Stationary, You Kill Me, Only Words, The Last Time, Are We All Forgotten, American Clouds, and Carousel—no encore. This show was well worth the wait to get in, and a mere foreshadowing of what's to come from these guys.
Nashville is bursting at the seams with talented indie rock of all kinds, but right now Paper Route is capturing most of the attention, and deservedly so. Look for Paper Route to release a CD of new material in 2008—you better get on this bandwagon while there's still room. —Vincent Wynne
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