Summer Hullender is back in Chattanooga after time spent in Nashville and Atlanta working on her music career. It’s their loss; our gain. Not only is this young songbird beautiful, she has the talent and the band to make some mighty fine music anywhere in the country. She will go places eventually, other than Chattanooga, so you better scurry out to see her soon. The easiest way to do that is to catch her and the band at Jack A’s Chop Shop Saloon on Ashland Terrace on Saturday nights.(Ashland Terrace runs between Dayton Blvd in Red Bank and Hixson Pike by Highland Plaza)

That’s what I did, so I will tell you all about it.

First of all, Jack A’s Chop Shop Saloon is a pretty cool place. It is as clean a place as you will ever find, with spotless bathrooms and a nice fresh feel to the main bar. They have a full menu of food from burgers to steaks to salads, including breakfast anytime. The crowd there was nice and out for some fun on a Saturday night, with dancing and whatnot. It is a non-smoking place, but there is a covered patio right outside so smokers can puff away.

Now, back to Summer and her band, The Embellishers. (Or as Tim Starnes says – The Embezzlers!)  This is a well-seasoned band with years of experience in live music. Barry Wilde plays keys, Tom Cavin plays the cahone – a box that is used instead of drums, Jay Stanfield plays bass guitar, Summer is on acoustic guitar, and the Swiss-army knife of musicians, Tim Starnes, plays lap steel, harmonica, fiddle, Tuba, kazoo, and anything else he may have in his bag of tricks. He also adds backing vocals, as well. Now, understand this – this is one fine band. Couple that with the great vocals of Summer Hullender, and what you have is a really enjoyable listening experience that will have you walk away saying, “Wow, we have a lot of talent in this town!”

I suppose if you had to classify the music, it would be a mix of country, folk, pop, and blues. There was no polka, and no reggae that I heard. Summer and her band did the best version of “Your Cheating Heart” I may have ever heard. She nailed the vocals and the band nailed the music. She also did a cover of one of my faves - Dusty Springfield – with “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.” In addition, she ran through many of her original tunes, all of which I liked very much. They have made some of the arrangements with Summer starting out with the acoustic guitar and vocals, then the band joins in about 10 seconds later – really cool and well done.

You can learn more about Summer from her website, http://summerhullender.com, or go to her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/summerhullender. Better yet, go see her live on stage!

For local music info, try www.chattanoogaentertainers.com or www.chattanooganightscope.com. They both have great local music info and schedules. For local info on Country music, try Jim Boles’ site www.chattacountry.ning.com.

Email Bob Payne at davrik2000@yahoo.com or catch him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/davrik2000 .