The Megan Saunders Band brings the music to St. Elmo
Who, what, when, where, why and how; those are the big questions in any properly written piece, but the emphasis varies depending on the point of the article. Every part matters, but the biggest news in this week’s article is the “where.” We’ll examine the other points first, before we get to the big reveal.
The Megan Saunders Band, formerly known as Megan Saunders and The Driftless, has a new member and a new show. Megan and guitarist Jason Reed proudly welcome Jonathan McWilliams to the fold as the band’s new bassist. Jonathan, new to town, brings some pretty heavy credentials to the table.
Taking up double bass in 1992, Jonathan went on to receive a BA and a Masters in double bass performance at UNT and Yale respectively and currently performs with the symphony orchestras of Chattanooga, Greenville and Huntsville.
For all his classical chops, McWilliams has a passion for folk/roots music and currently offers lessons at Fiddlers Anonymous in Red Bank. November 12th will mark his first live performance with the Megan Saunders Band and as exciting as that is, there’s just as much excitement for the relatively new venue itself.
The show will be held at The Woodshop Rehearsal Space in St. Elmo. The Woodshop opened last year and their mission statement is straightforward enough: “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 present and record their work in front of an appreciative audience.”
Billing itself as an office, a workspace and an art gallery, the Woodshop seems to have all the bases covered and is a perfect fit for the historic, but constantly evolving, St. Elmo neighborhood. Formerly a corner grocery-turned-carpentry workshop, it’s hard to imagine a more appropriate venue for formidable folk artists like Megan and company and perhaps that’s why she chose it as the place to debut the new talent in the band.
Cozy, intimate, down-home, The Woodshop Rehearsal space is a perfect marriage of form and function and yet another sign of the ongoing renaissance in the Chattanooga music scene, but the same may be said of Saunders, a frequent player in the scene, who’s angelic voice is matched by her talent as a lyricist and her canny ability to assemble the best musicians to bring those lyrics to life.
That’s why Saunders’, whose music has been reviewed here in The Pulse and is about as universally beloved as a regional artist can be, announcement of a new band member (and a new venue), is genuinely exciting. The Woodshop, located at 5500 St. Elmo Avenue, is committed to bringing the best of contemporary folk and roots music to the area and on November 12th that commitment will be realized with the debut of the Jason McWilliams in the Megan Saunders Band.