by Phil Dis.

I remember when I was a kid growing up in the latter part of the seventies there was a chain of music stores called MUSIC+ that used to sell any LP in stock for just $3.99.  Every Friday my brother Billy and I would hop on our bicycles armed with our weekly allowance and religiously go to work on building-up our record collections.  I remember that our tastes in music were pretty heavy for a couple of kids aged 10 and 12.  Week after week it'd go on like this; I'd buy Aerosmith - "Rocks", Billy would buy Led Zeppelin -" Presence".  I'd buy Lynyrd Skynyrd - "One more from the Road", Billy would buy KISS - "Alive".  I'd buy Richie Blackmore's - "Rainbow", Billy would buy Ted Nugent - "Free for All".  So you see, all the best Rock music is the foundation that formed Phil Dis' musical identity into what it is in the present day.  Yes, Punk Rock and the energy and very real sense of urgency that drove it also worked it's way into my musical mix, but like it or not Punk Rock saved me from bands like Journey.  This month's Artist of the month at antiMUSIC is a band that would have been just as relevant in the period of time in music I just spoke of as they are right now. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further delay� NASHVILLE PUSSY! 

Nashville Pussy singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist Blaine Cartwright once told a reporter that people seem to tread lightly around him with their ideas and opinions.  He's got a truck driver baseball cap with a confederate flag patch on it, an ape-hanger mustache, and a dead-on stare that can really intimidate the s*** out of some people.  The Blaine Cartwright I met before a recent show was well mannered, laid back, and the kind of person who gives off the vibe of "let's not talk out of turn," and "let's respect each other's personal space."  I like the way Blaine carries himself.  He's self-assured and he's got a purpose for doing what he does.  Blaine's wife and lead guitar player Ruyter Suys looks just as sexy before show time dressed in her midnight black bicycle shorts as she does onstage covered in sweat, and wearing not much more than tight leather pants and a lace bra.  I'm proud to say I've witnessed Ruyter looking more like a soccer mom than the Hellion guitar goddess she's known as.  Bass-playing Babe Tracy Almazan (a.k.a. "Tracy Kick Ass") possesses a very cool and reserved manner backstage that's a 180° turn from the Rock&Roll animal she unleashes onstage.  Nashville Pussy drummer Jeremy Thompson is a nice guy, he's quick with a handshake but he's got a perpetually mischievous grin that brought on a vision of him with an ice pick hidden in the left hand behind his back as he shook my hand with his right.

Blaine and Ruyter formed Nashville Pussy in 1996 as a remedy for a music industry that had grown dull and lacking in any substantial musical offerings.  "We were sick of seeing bands that sucked, so we decided to make the kind of band we wanted to see," says Ruyter.  Explosive, Fast, Southern-Fried and Hella-fied is the end result.  They've been touring non-stop around the world since 1996, they've released the full lengths LET THEM EAT PUSSY and HIGH AS HELL, as well as contributing to various tribute and benefit compilations, and strangely due to the fact that it was never the band's intention, they were nominated for a Grammy in 1999 for "Fried Chicken and Coffee" from their debut release LET THEM EAT PUSSY.  So what's next for Nashville Pussy?  More non-stop touring, more excessive ass kicking, their third full length record due out in early 2002 with Tracy's songwriting skills showcased on 2 numbers and putting plain ol' kick-ass Rock&Roll back on the map.