The Katies
On Friday, Dec. 13, artists from Spongebath Records will play a reunion show at the historic Lindsley Avenue Church in downtown Nashville to benefit Youth Encouragement Services’ Christmas Store.
Odds are, most rock fans who lived in Middle Tennessee in the late ’90s will be familiar with Spongebath Records, the indie label that set up headquarters at 101 N. Maple St. on the Square in Murfreesboro. Formed in 1995, Spongebath was a bastion for talented musicians who had flocked to Murfreesboro, largely to attend the recording industry program at MTSU.
From the beginning, it was a small label with an outsized influence. With a slew of critically acclaimed releases from sElf, Fluid Ounces, The Katies, The Features, Count Bass D and others, it did more than make Nashville turn and take notice, it had heads across the nation swiveling towards Tennessee asking “Sponge who? Murfrees what?” Billboard magazine covered the label at least four times in as many years, and ran a multi-page story in 1997 titled “Murfreesboro Emerges as an Unlikely Music Mecca.” CMJ, Rolling Stone and Spin all highlighted the label or its artists.
Spongebath garnered more than critical acclaim. Their artists were on the airwaves across the country. And sElf, headed by drummer and studio wiz Matt Mahaffey—who went on to work with artists as diverse as Keith Urban, Beck and Beyoncé—landed a number of songs on MTV. The Katies, The Features and sElf all went on to release albums with major labels.
From the piano-driven rock of Fluid Ounces to the wonderfully idiosyncratic fare of the sometimes-rapper, sometimes-singer and always multi-instrumentalist Count Bass D, it was the range and diversity of Spongebath’s stable that cemented its reputation as an indie label to watch.
However, like so many acts in the music industry, Spongebath’s fame and fortune was relatively short-lived. As quickly as its star ascended, it fell. By 2001 it had closed its doors. Within a decade most of its headlining artists were working day jobs to make ends meet.
It’s been more than two decades since Spongebath released its first record and, according to Seth Timbs of Fluid Ounces, nearly as long since all the bands shared a stage.
“Matt [Mahaffey] and I were thinking, it must have been ’99 or 2000 since we did a show with all four of us [bands],” speaking of Fluid Ounces, The Features, The Katies and sElf. “It was at 328 Performance Hall. That tells you how long ago it was.”
When asked about the impetus for the reunion show, which aims to collect toys for the Youth Encouragement Services Christmas toy drive, Timbs said, “It was all Laws Rushing, pastor at the Lindsley Avenue Church, who’s an old friend of all of ours.”
Before Laws Rushing became Dr. Rushing, minister of the historic Lindsley Avenue Church of Christ in Nashville, he was an MTSU recording industry grad fronting a band called, simply enough, Laws Rushing.
“I was in that music scene in the late ’90s and early 2000s,” Dr. Rushing said. “I played with Seth and The Katies and The Features.”
“I love Laws,” said Jason Moore, lead singer of the power pop trio The Katies, and a longtime friend of the singer-turned-pastor. “He does so much good work for Nashville, the downtown area, that community.”
When asked about the importance of service to his church, Dr. Rushing said, “Where we are in Nashville, we’re just placed in a unique spot where we see a lot of need. We’re not a huge church. We’re not a rich church, but we have a beautiful building right in downtown Nashville and it should be utilized for the good of all people. That’s kind of what we’re doing [with the show].”
The show is the seventh annual toy drive hosted by the Lindsley Avenue Church of Christ. As in previous years, the show benefits Youth Encouragement Services (YES), a nonprofit that runs afterschool and summer programs, offering inner-city kids a safe place to learn and grow socially, emotionally and spiritually.
In addition to its daily programs that help students with schoolwork and provide free meals, once a year YES hosts a Christmas Store Day where students’ parents and guardians can come and shop for Christmas presents at a reduced price. It also provides them a new outfit for each of their children, a full holiday meal and a Walmart gift certificate. Each year the Christmas Store serves around 175 families and 600 children, according to Samantha Johnson, Director of Agency Advancement at YES.
The first six toy drive shows were headlined by the Nashville-based Secret Sisters, but when they couldn’t perform this year, Dr. Rushing got to thinking; “I just thought what would be a show that I would want to go see? And the Spongebath reunion sparked in my mind” So he reached out to his old friends.
“I knew there would be people that would love to see that group together again. . . . I just had my fingers crossed and my prayers going the whole time.”
And it worked. With sets from The Katies, Seth Timbs of Fluid Ounces, Matt Pelham of The Features and Matt Mahaffey of sElf, the reunion show will feature many of Spongebath’s most prominent former artists. Maybe Dr. Laws will hop on stage for a feature. Who knows? It’s Christmas. Anything could happen, right?
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The show starts at 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, at the Lindsley Avenue Church of Christ, 3 Lindsley Ave., Nashville. Admission is one unwrapped children’s toy. Come celebrate Middle Tennessee music history and support a good cause!
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If you can’t make the show, consider dropping off a toy in advance. Gifts are gratefully accepted at Lindsley Avenue Church or at YES’s office at 11 Lindsley Ave., Monday through Friday between noon and 5 p.m. For more information on volunteering with YES visit youthencouragement.org/volunteer or contact samantha@youthencouragement.org.
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