03.12.04 The Daily Times Maryville, TN Stephen Simmons: Nashville shows `where you fall and where you stand' Growing up in Middle Tennessee's rural Cannon County, Stephen Simmons wasn't exposed to a great deal of diversity on the local airwaves.There was country, broadcasting from a half-dozen small towns dotting the hilly countryside, and one rock station out of Nashville. Fortunately for Simmons, he had an uncle who turned him onto the country-rock of the 1970s. ``My uncle is probably the main guy responsible for a lot of that stuff,'' he said. "I knew the words to every country song on the radio, because that's all we got, but my uncle was really big on Bob Seeger, The Eagles, Jackson Browne and that other country-rock stuff. ``I think as I got older, the combination of that literate stuff like Jackson Browne, with the rock edge to a country sound, it was a natural progression for me. The first time I heard Springsteen, it kind of flipped me for a loop. I wasn't exposed to it until I was a teenager, but when I heard it, I flipped, because it was a guy singing about country issues and all of those themes, except he was singing it to rock.'' Eventually, Simmons picked up a guitar and learned to play. He was writing his own songs before that, and after college, he started flirting with the music scene in middle Tennessee. Encouraged by the response to his songs, he threw caution to the wind and moved to Nashville in 2001. ``Growing up, it was a semi-big deal to go to Murfreesboro, about 30 miles away, and it was a big deal to go to Nashville, because it seemed like it took forever,'' he said. ``Going to Hickory Hollow Mall in Antioch was a big deal, and we hardly went anywhere near downtown, because my mom and dad didn't know how to get around down there. ``Living in Murfreesboro, where I went to school, I went to Nashville a lot to listen to music, and after I started playing in clubs around Murfreesboro, I was driving to Nashville two or three nights a week. The great thing about Nashville, and the bad thing, is that everybody's in the music business. You get to see where you fall and where you stand, and it constantly challenges you.'' In the summer of 2001, he released a five-song sampler and sold enough at local shows to get noticed by local critics. In 2002, he put together a band and began playing regularly at such Music City venues as Douglas Corner Cafe, The Basement, The End, The Stuler and The Exit/In. "I got to a point where it felt like I could go do a whole show of my songs, and it felt like I was more focused at that point,'' he said. "Every year, it feels my writing gets tighter and comes into focus more. Playing with a band, with other musicians, has pushed me to get better, because it's something I'd never done. I grew up writing songs in my room.'' Call him Americana, alternative-country, roots-rock, whatever label you please -- Simmons doesn't mind, as long as you turn out Saturday night to the Preservation Pub in downtown Knoxville to check him out in person. Because what you'll get is a guy who discovered his calling and didn't stop until he'd obtained it. "When what you're doing becomes crystal clear to you, it's just a matter of showing it to other people,'' he said. – Steve Wildsmith