The local venues are bursting at the seams with local talent this weekend, so if you're looking for something to occupy your free time from the grind, then you've come to the right rundown.
Friday
If you want to hang with us tonight, get to the High Watt early because the visionaries over at OurVinyl have put together a showcase featuring Daniel Ellsworth & the Great Lakes and Sol Cat. The whole thing is being recorded, so wear your favorite dance pants or bring someone enough tall to hide behind. Show's $5, doors are at 8:30, and the whole thing kicks off at 9.
In the same building but up the other staircase, you'll find Night Beds and Tristen performing over in the Mercy Lounge. This one will cost you $10 with doors at 8 and the show at 9.
We told you earlier this week about Anna Haas' Women Who Rock Nashville showcase, featuring Frances & the Foundation, Hot Mess Loves You, and Anna Haas & the Effect and now it's happening tonight! Doors are at 8, show is at 9, cover is $10.
Over at the 5 Spot, there's a four-band lineup, featuring Bear Cub, The Great Barrier Reefs, Andrew Leahey, and Levi Weaver. Bear Cub starts things off at 9 pm, so be sure to show up on time.
Stagolee is hosting their CD release party for The Latest Craze over at the Basement, and they've enlisted the help of The Weakenders, The Future, and William the Accountant. Get there at 9, $5 cover.
After you've finished making the rounds through the Friday night music circuit, get to the Stone Fox for the Nashville Pioneers Pep Rally, Part 2. La Force and Coach will be on deck to get people pumped about the forthcoming face-off between Lightning 100's Wells Adams and Justin Hammel. The two local radio DJs will go head to head to find out who will represent Lightning 100 on Nashville's official basketball team. The pep rally starts at 9 with a $5 cover at the door.
Saturday
Things are a little less crazy on Saturday because almost every musician in town will be at No Country for New Nashville's two-year anniversary party. Tomorrow night at the Basement, two(!) handfuls of Nashville's best and brightest will cover selections from Beck's Song Reader. From Daniel Ellsworth & the Great Lakes to Milktooth to Anna Haas, the lineup is stacked and the venue will be full. Currently set to perform are:
Anna Haas
Ben Elkins
Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes
Jared Corder
Milktooth
Park Chisolm
Steve Lee
& special guests
The show kicks off at 9 and tickets are $7 at the door.
If you're looking for something a little more punk, head to Mercy Lounge. Most people will be there for out-of-towners Face To Face and Teenage Bottlerocket, but you'll be there to catch the Joshua Black Wilkins set. Tickets are $20 and it looks like JBW is opening, so if you show up early, you've already gotten your money's worth.
Happy Friday! Party responsibly, and have fun out there!
This Friday at 12th & Porter, Anna Haas will debut her monthly Women Who Rock showcase series. Highlighting four female-fronted bands (three local, one touring), Haas is creating a new platform for female musicians in the Nashville music circuit. "Upon moving back to Nashville from New York, I noticed that there were a lot of showcases around town primarily focusing on roots and Americana-- which is great! And the couple of chick singer nights that I hopped onto tended to be primarily country. I wanted to provide a showcase for female-centric bands who are trying something a little more progressive, and may feel frustrated at times that what they're going isn't 'very Nashville,'" says the singer-songwriter and Nashville native.
With writer's nights filled to the brim with sad girls with guitars singing songs about ex-boyfriends, Haas saw a space to create something different for female songwriters in Music City. "It's been a journey, trying to figure out where my sound fits in this scene. I get a lot of people trying to fit my band in a box, and it's difficult. I figure, instead of resisting that, I'm excited about being a part of this cultural and artistic shift that's beginning to take over the city." So she contacted some of her favorite local female musicians and started to put together the lineup for her first Women Who Rock showcase.
In addition to featuring female voices that are confident and unique, Anna Haas wants to create an environment where women don't feel the need to compete against one another to get ahead in an industry already known for being typically cutthroat. "I was talking to Caitlin from The Broadcast about how discouraging it can be when other bands or women put off this competitive energy. It's important to be strong women, but we don't need to be competing. There's plenty of room for all of us, and I want this showcase to help bring women in the industry together to help, support, and encourage each other."
Though the showcase debuts on Friday, Haas has some bad ass lineups in store. This Friday, 12th & Porter's stage will feature Frances & the Foundation, Hot Mess Loves You, Asheville's The Broadcast, and Anna Haas, along with her band, the Effect. "I'll go out and see a bill and a rock venue typically, and if there's a female-fronted band in the mix, a lot of the time there's this feeling of 'Whoa! A chick singer! Yes!' I just want a whole night of that. I think it will be really exciting."
The night kicks off at 12th & Porter @ 8 pm on May 24th. For tickets and more information, click here. –Brianne Turner
Clocking in right around the 20 minute mark, Tender Age's only fault is that it doesn't go on forever. Just in time for summer weather and pool hangs, all of the teasers and hype surrounding the Joy Of Painting's latest effort have paid off. If you start streaming now and buy yourself a copy of Tender Age on Tuesday, you'll know enough of the lyrics to sing along at the band's in-store performance at Grimey's on June 8th. –Brianne Turner
With a name like brotherun, the relationship between the band's two members, Nicholas and Trevor James Tillery, seems like an obvious one. Hailing from Phoenix and residing now in Nashville, the duo's self-proclaimed "whatever-you-thinktronica" scales back on the bleep bloops generally associated with any genre ending in "-tronica" and instead opts for something a little more calm and clean. Their video for "Wishful Thinking," directed by Nick Duplessis, is a firm representation of the band's sound, flashing black-and-white images that waver between a Rorschach test and a virtual brain massage.
If you prefer to downshift and ease your way into the weekend, hit the video below and catch the chillest vibe you can find on a Friday afternoon. –Brianne Turner
We've been excited about the forthcoming Kyle Andrews album that has been in the works for some time now, and it looks like the wait is about to pay off. Premiered today over at MTV Buzzworthy, "Way To Wonder" stays true to Andrews' indie-pop sound, complete with his signature bouncy cadence and sticky bubblegum melodies that make you want to get out of bed in a good mood, even on a Monday.
Click over to stream "Way To Wonder" (caution: autoplay) and keep your ear to the ground for more about Kyle Andrews' upcoming Brighter Than the Sun, out July 23rd. –Brianne Turner
Our favorite weekend of the season is upon us! Starting tonight at 9 pm, East Nashville Underground's spring lineup hits the East Room for their last festival weekend in the two-story venue on Gallatin Road. Tonight starts strong with the Kicks and the Weeks headlining, and the weekend has no intention of slowing down, with Erin McCarley and Alyssa Bonagura headlining the Saturday day show and the Kingston Springs and Chancellor Warhol taking the big spots for the night show.
In the past, we've spared no expense fawning over the Corders and their independent festival that started in a basement, so there's no doubt that you're in for a wild ride this weekend. For the price of a wristband, you get two nights (and one day!) of rad music, free drinks, and a $1 candy buffet (where you'll find me, hi). If you haven't pre-ordered your day pass or wristband, be sure to show up early to get in, and we can't wait to see all of your sweaty, happy faces tonight at the East Room!
Let the games begin...
Friday NIGHT (May 10, doors at 9pm, to 3am) EVAN P. DONAHUE
THE FUTURE
THE YOUNG INTERNATIONAL
THE KICKS (headliner)
THE WEEKS (headliner)
BANG OK BANG
SOMAAA (DJ)
Saturday Bands + Brunch + Beer ("the day show") (May 11, 1pm to 8pm)
BEARS OF BLUE RIVER
DEREK HOKE
LITTLE BANDIT
NATALIE PRASS (headliner)
ERIN MCCARLEY (headliner)
JUSTIN KALK ORCHESTRA
Saturday NIGHT (May 11, doors at 9pm, to 3am)
BRANDON JAZZ & HIS ARMED FORCES
*repeat repeat
KINK ADOR
CHANCELLOR WARHOL (headliner)
THE KINGSTON SPRINGS (headliner)
HOTEL WAR
DJ JAZZY JAZZ
To begin their upcoming spring/summer tour, punkgrass duo Grace and Tony played The 5 Spot last Thursday. The tour will be the group's most canvassing jaunt yet. The Lawrence County, Tennessee natives will cover eight of these United States and will venture across the pond to the UK for their first international performances.
Performing songs from their recently-released November, the twosome strummed and picked a guitar, a banjo, a ukulele, and a mandolin, swapping instruments between themselves as the songs rolled along. (There was even a brief appearance by a kazoo.) However, as fervently as they played these bluegrass instruments, the tunes were often drowned out by the noise of the crowd. This is almost certainly the fault of a rude crowd and inefficient sound mixing, and not of a low-quality performance. Going forward though, Grace and Tony might want to consider keeping their acoustic performances in more intimate venues and bringing on some additional musicians for club gigs. This would not only help in keeping audience's collective attention, but would more truly represent their studio efforts, which are well developed and missed in the acoustic format.
For an exemplary representation of their sound, have a go at the video below. It is for the title track of their latest release, and has been gaining some air play on the Country Network. –Jonathan Parrish
Last night at our show featuring Milktooth, The Gills, and Vinyl Thief, Apple Road and The Deli Nashville teamed up to give you the chance to tell us your thoughts about the Nashville music scene and take over the blog for a day! With the ballots tallied, we give you... The Deli Nashville and Apple Road Present... Take Over the Press!
Our final category asked who would play your dream local showcase if you could feature two modern local acts and any local headliner, alive or dead. The results are fantastic:
Thanks so much to everyone who came out last night and to everyone who filled out a ballot! You make this fun and we appreciate that more than you would guess.
Until next time, Nashville!
Last night at our show featuring Milktooth, The Gills, and Vinyl Thief, Apple Road and The Deli Nashville teamed up to give you the chance to tell us your thoughts about the Nashville music scene and take over the blog for a day! With the ballots tallied, we give you... The Deli Nashville and Apple Road Present... Take Over the Press!
In our third category, we gave you the mic to hype your most-anticipated upcoming local show. East Nashville Underground seems to be on everyone's mind this week (can you blame them?), but there are some exciting shows coming up, and you guys told us what to keep an eye on:
