Blind Feline

When you need a jam to awaken your soul with a hook you can’t forget, what you need is Blind Feline.

This Southern-to-the-core psychedelic rock-n-roll band has been making music since their debut “Lost in the Moss” in 2018. They have been a Louisville-based band, but lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Oliver Sayani recently jumped state lines and moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

“I try not to stay in one place for too long,” Oliver said. “I’m a drifter. I’m a troubadour by nature.”

Oliver’s wandering spirit and openness to new experiences feeds his songwriting so much that the band’s 2023 album-to-come is titled “Kentucky Drifter.”

“It’s stories from our path up to this point,” Oliver said.

So, following suit, the next album will be steeped in Tennessee

There’s the romance of new places, always, but Murfreesboro also fits Oliver at this moment because he is following up his degree in jazz guitar, music and new media from The University of Louisville by studying music recording at Middle Tennessee State University.

Oliver grew up in Tazewell, Tennessee. But long before he returned to live in his home state, Oliver and his bandmates, Kurt Spoelker on bass and Matt Griffin on drums and vocals, became honorary locals in Clarksville’s music community. It all goes back to 2018.

“When we first played at Possumstock, something happened. We lost our mic signal. It’s your worst nightmare, singing and your mic sound cuts out,” Oliver said. “There was that awkward moment… then we decide to belt it out, to keep singing. A few people started singing along, then danced up to us, and we hung out with them all weekend. From that moment on we were part of the family.”

Since then, they’ve been regulars in the local scene.

“We’ve traveled throughout the country and met a lot of amazing people, especially in Clarksville!” said Matt Griffin, 27, a drummer who actually got his start playing piano. “I’m having such a great time being a part of Blind Feline.”

Back in 2017, when Blind Feline was just a spark in Oliver’s imagination, he and his friends rented a house in Louisville and started hosting multi-band house shows. Hosting shows gave them street credibility “and established the beginning of our band,” Oliver said.

However the good times didn’t last. The crowds at their house shows got rougher. Someone – they suspected a certain show attendee – stole all of the new band’s equipment. In a moment, Blind Feline lost several guitars, amps, a bass, the cymbals from their drums and anything else that seemed expensive.

“There was a lot of craziness around us, a lot of chaos,” Oliver said. As dark as it all felt, the band arose from the flames a new kind of strong, like forged iron.

“It was a complete rebirth of the band, and myself,” Oliver said. “I had to remember where I came from. From that point on, there was no more being influenced by outside things.”

It’s about “always trusting my gut; it never lies,” Oliver said, quoting a lyric from his song “Daisies.”

Oliver is the only band member remaining who went through the wringer in 2017.

“Matt Griffin, our drummer, came in right after the purification happened. He’s solid,” Oliver said. “Kurt Spoelker has been playing bass with us for about 3 years.”

It’s a tight 3-piece, with funk, twang, bluegrass, blues,do-wop and the whole gumbo, really, flavoring this this Southern rock band’s souldeep storytelling.

As a storyteller, Oliver is quietly, mystically powerful. When he opens his mouth to speak, he is as old as the mountains, and twice as wise. His stories carry an air of being eternal.

“He’s an old soul, when it comes to writing,” said Brian Foster, a fellow Louisville to Tennessee defector who makes sure to catch Blind Feline’s shows whenever they play in Clarksville, which is often!

Oliver knows to give it his full attention when part of a song suddenly comes to him.

“When it happens, you have to put everything down and chase that vision,” he said.

Some songs get Frankensteined, he said.

“The chorus will come to me all at once, then I’ll come back to it five years later and it’ll get stuck in my head and I’ll write all the verses for the song. Maybe I’m gonna change it from a country rhythm to more of a funk rhythm.”

Oliver has a reverence for the audience who will hear the songs he is writing.

“When you’re really genuine about writing a song, when other people hear it they relate to it in some way. You’re connected to the human experience and human nature in a way that’s real, so that other people can also feel what you’re feeling,” Oliver said. “My songs are made for you, whoever ‘you’ is.”

Blind Feline performed at Possumstock for a short time, but they hung out and enjoyed the dozens of other bands performing over three days and nights.

“We have a lot of fun playing soccer, camping, and just being outside,” Griffin said.

At Revel House, they played a stacked out show with Nordista Freeze last month, and have another planned for Nov. 12. You can get a preview on Spotify or YouTube, but there’s nothing like Blind Feline live.

Stacy Leiser

Poorman’s Country Club A.K.A Jumper’s

The first time I took a step into this place I knew I was in the right place. I’ll never forget. The folks that hang around here vary widely. Everyone is appreciated and what they bring to the table is seen. So, like normal people, we just try to do our best. 2017 is the year I got to Poorman’s. Worked here, drank here. Everyone was unique and I got to learn a lot about a whole world I had never known. It took a bit to learn the dialect- I was born and raised in Riverside County, CA Little bit different.

Let’s jump into the music scene for a bit. Did you know that Poorman’s is a major hub for spontaneous singer songwriter nights? Lol I’m laughing but I am not joking Some of the most insane nights of music happen when everyone is just hanging out after working all day. Let’s imagine I’m bartending one night, so Isaac comes in to chill for a bit and then maybe Andy walks in and harasses him to play house guitar until everyone is laughing so much that Ike goes and grabs it It could stay like that for a while, maybe Damnit I am letting you know right now that some random best friend we haven’t seen in a while is gonna pop in for a beer cuz he saw someone’s truck and it might be Jeff Smith for all we know and now it’s Saltines & Jim Beam baby it’s on! I can personally attest to watching groups of critically skilled musicians start pouring in where I’ll have to stand up on the bar to get a good picture. But, of course, a picture is only worth a thousand words. It’s the type of situation where You Have To Be Here.

Alright, Alright let’s talk about sports You like Sports? Just like any beer bar you find, you are gonna find sports fans and man do they do it up. You like food?! Find yourself here for College Football, Titans game, Predators game..you name it buddy..there is going to be some sort of food situation spread up on our snack hutch. Come for the game, talk some shiz niz, eat some food Life is good Happy Hour 3-6pm on weekdays. Have you heard: $2 Monday?? COME ON DOWN! You Have To Be Here!

A note on golf we have many avid and novice golfers who come to drown their woes in camaraderie. They encourage with the spirit of vikings and press on.

There’s a lot that goes on in this here ol’ bar and stories to educate you on what life was like way back when This place opened its doors in 1939 and to even scratch the surface of legends I have heard would be silly. They’re not my stories yet, all I have is what I know and that’s five years worth of history and differing opinions and friends being allowed to disagree and still love each other and just a down home spirit that makes what happens here thrive. Whether the dudes are preaching original music or a fresh face is covering their favorite song, we’re all here and if the music breaks out in the middle of a football game I bet someone’s bitchin and the rest of us are laughing. Either way, You Have To Be Here. ;)

Love,

Ashley Frost

Fest