Nashville for Free

Oh my gosh, it’s that time again! That’s right, it’s the first Thursday of the month, which means it’s time for Art After Hours, presented by NAAP.

Yes, it’s that wonderful night when the art galleries in Nashville stay open late, from 5-8pm and provide you with free wine, cheese, and all the art you can view. There are some special things this month, as always, and our friend Tinnin wanted us to know all about it.

• The Arts Company downtown will welcome Brother Mel for a special one-night-only book signing of the new art book, Brother Mel:  A Lifetime of Making Art, written by Anne Brown and published by The Arts Company Press
• Cumberland Gallery in Green Hills heralds in the gift giving season with its signature “Small Packages” show of works by gallery, as well as invited artists.  Dimensions this year are restricted to 6” x 8” with the majority of works in the 5” x 5” category.  This is a show that has attracted national attention
• Finer Things Gallery, near the Fairgrounds, presents Elder Jones showcasing his cast concrete sculptures and discussing his cross-country teaching tour which kept him on the road for much of 2009
• Gallery One in the Belle Meade Galleria opens “A River,” a special all-media exhibition aimed at raising awareness of our precious rivers in Tennessee.  A portion of the proceeds from all sales will benefit the Harpeth River Watershed Association (HRWA), with an additional direct contribution made to HRWA by the gallery.  This will be a juried show.  Recipient of the People’s Choice Award will be offered participation in a future, two-person exhibition at Gallery One
• LeQuire Gallery near Sylvan Park presents “The Nature of Wood,” an exhibition of sculpture, turnings, and woodcuts by Olen Bryant, William Kooienga, Alan LeQuire, Jim Sherraden, and Brenda Stein.  MIEL Restaurant will provide guests with special organic treats from freshly picked Tennessee products
• Local Color on Broadway presents “Small Treasures,” an annual event featuring small works from over 30 local and regional artists.
• Zeitgeist in Hillsboro Village continues its discussion series Oblique Strategies with archeologist John Janusek, Ph.D.

Sounds like fun, right? Other galleries participating in Art After Hours include Bennett Galleries, Hiram Van Gordon Memorial Gallery at Tennessee State University, The Parthenon, Richland Fine Art, among others.  Frist Center for the Visual Arts and the Parthenon at Centennial Park present exhibitions with a fee to non-members – Frist Center participates in Art After Hours with free music and lectures. Check out more at ArtAfterHours.net

And, as usual, here are some pictures from the highlighted galleries…behind the cut

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No free stuff today, folks! You have to rest up for all the sweet shopping deals you’re going to get on Black Friday.

-The N4F crew

Lance, in the Weekly Highlights, wrote about this awesome free event that the Mercy Lounge is hosting on the day after Thanksgiving. It’s Electric Western‘s Black Friday Bash, and I thought I’d hook all you fine people up with the details.

First of all, someone named Reno will be spinning some sick tunes all night long. Also, he’ll be giving away some free CDs, and the Mercy Lounge recommends you re-gift that shit, freal. I mean, I’ll be giving all of my friends stuff I got for free as their Christmas gifts, because I get some good stuff for free. Word.

The tagline for the event is “Party like it’s the 5 Spot on a Monday night.” I’m not hip enough to know exactly what that means, but I’m guessing it means something awesome. I looked it up and apparently Electric Western is the group that brings Monday night dance parties to the 5 Spot. I can get down with that.

There will be $2.50 pints of Sweetwater 420 flowing until they run out, which they probably will, because that’s cheap and Nashvillians like to drink at the Mercy Lounge, I’ve seen it.

There’s some talk about Winter of Dreamz and snow, but I don’t think it will snow on Black Friday. I mean, where I am it’s 50 degrees outside right now at 10:30pm in NOVEMBER. I don’t trust this warm weather, you guys, I just don’t.

Also, the event is free, but it’s 21 and up, which might make some of you sad. I know, I know, it sort of sucks being under 21 in Nashville.

As of now we don’t know the bands that are playing, but as Lance mentioned earlier, they’ll probably be some Electric Western bands.

Bottom line: this is going to be RAD!

-Emily

Lance, in the Weekly Highlights, wrote about this awesome free event that the Mercy Lounge is hosting on the day after Thanksgiving. It’s Electric Western‘s Black Friday Bash, and I thought I’d hook all you fine people up with the details.

First of all, someone named Reno will be spinning some sick tunes all night long. Also, he’ll be giving away some free CDs, and the Mercy Lounge recommends you re-gift that shit, freal. I mean, I’ll be giving all of my friends stuff I got for free as their Christmas gifts, because I get some good stuff for free. Word.

The tagline for the event is “Party like it’s the 5 Spot on a Monday night.” I’m not hip enough to know exactly what that means, but I’m guessing it means something awesome. I looked it up and apparently Electric Western is the group that brings Monday night dance parties to the 5 Spot. I can get down with that.

There will be $2.50 pints of Sweetwater 420 flowing until they run out, which they probably will, because that’s cheap and Nashvillians like to drink at the Mercy Lounge, I’ve seen it.

There’s some talk about Winter of Dreamz and snow, but I don’t think it will snow on Black Friday. I mean, where I am it’s 50 degrees outside right now at 10:30pm in NOVEMBER. I don’t trust this warm weather, you guys, I just don’t.

Also, the event is free, but it’s 21 and up, which might make some of you sad. I know, I know, it sort of sucks being under 21 in Nashville.

As of now we don’t know the bands that are playing, but as Lance mentioned earlier, they’ll probably be some Electric Western bands.

Bottom line: this is going to be RAD!

-Emily

Following a massive 1976 tour during which the band spent $140,000 on livestock, Texas arena boogie unit ZZ Top took a three-year vacation from the music industry. While drummer Frank Beard disappeared to the Caribbean and lived the life of a hermit, the two guys not named Beard each grew enormous ones, separately and without the other’s knowledge. Purchased for a buck at the Great Escape’s outlet on Charlotte, 1979′s Degüello is the product of this bizarre sabbatical. In spirit and musical aesthetic, this entertaining heap of twisted, white boogie reminds me of NRBQ or Alex Chilton.

Ever since Canned Heat ate its first road pizza, white people (with notable exceptions) have tended to turn the blues into museum piece when not shitting all over it with alleged ability. ZZ Top does a little of both, but there’s a fun-loving, madcap nonchalance, a flashy economy to the playing and songs that makes it not matter.

Those not familiar with ZZ Top’s history: this is after “Tush,” before “Legs.” There are no disco beats or synchronized guitar tremolos, but Degüello isn’t exactly an Eric Clapton record, either. There are some deep laughs here, the first being the innersleeve’s photograph of “The Lone Wolf Horns,” depicted as Gibbons, Hill, and Beard, each holding a saxophone. Punchline: Rather than hire a horn section, the Top took saxophone lessons and tracked the parts themselves, note by note.

I realize just how far into it these guys are at the close of Side One, where “Manic Mechanic” tosses fusion, Texas car-talk, and science fiction…I think? Really, I can’t tell what’s happening here, but these guys appear to be artists. Find this record–there’s a lot to love in these Texas beirdos.

This week, Michelle and I scoped out the Great Escape‘s Charlotte Ave outlet. The store’s vast selection of dollar records is broken down into genres, so one won’t have to flip through twenty volumes 101 Strings to find that fair-condition copy of Aerosmith‘s Rocks. Good call!

It’s a pleasure to shop here. There’s always a fantastic selection of obscure promotional merchandise. I spied a BR-549 car air freshener on one visit, a Don Henley visor on another. Worth the trip, even if you’re an eastsider like myself.

Following a massive 1976 tour during which the band spent $140,000 on livestock, Texas arena boogie unit ZZ Top took a three-year vacation from the music industry. While drummer Frank Beard disappeared to the Caribbean and lived the life of a hermit, the two guys not named Beard each grew enormous ones, separately and without the other’s knowledge. Purchased for a buck at the Great Escape’s outlet on Charlotte, 1979′s Degüello is the product of this bizarre sabbatical. In spirit and musical aesthetic, this entertaining heap of twisted, white boogie reminds me of NRBQ or Alex Chilton.

Ever since Canned Heat ate its first road pizza, white people (with notable exceptions) have tended to turn the blues into museum piece when not shitting all over it with alleged ability. ZZ Top does a little of both, but there’s a fun-loving, madcap nonchalance, a flashy economy to the playing and songs that makes it not matter.

Those not familiar with ZZ Top’s history: this is after “Tush,” before “Legs.” There are no disco beats or synchronized guitar tremolos, but Degüello isn’t exactly an Eric Clapton record, either. There are some deep laughs here, the first being the innersleeve’s photograph of “The Lone Wolf Horns,” depicted as Gibbons, Hill, and Beard, each holding a saxophone. Punchline: Rather than hire a horn section, the Top took saxophone lessons and tracked the parts themselves, note by note.

I realize just how far into it these guys are at the close of Side One, where “Manic Mechanic” tosses fusion, Texas car-talk, and science fiction…I think? Really, I can’t tell what’s happening here, but these guys appear to be artists. Find this record–there’s a lot to love in these Texas beirdos.

This week, Michelle and I scoped out the Great Escape‘s Charlotte Ave outlet. The store’s vast selection of dollar records is broken down into genres, so one won’t have to flip through twenty volumes 101 Strings to find that fair-condition copy of Aerosmith‘s Rocks. Good call!

It’s a pleasure to shop here. There’s always a fantastic selection of obscure promotional merchandise. I spied a BR-549 car air freshener on one visit, a Don Henley visor on another. Worth the trip, even if you’re an eastsider like myself.

Okay, maybe not THAT much free music

It’s pretty easy to find free shows in Nashville. They’re a nightly occurrence and some of them (like tonight’s with Paul Burch and the Joiners or any in-store at Grimey’s) are pretty awesome. In other words, finding free concerts is child’s play. Getting record companies to give you free CDs and merch, on the other hand, is something I’ve become pretty good at and some I’ve just witnessed, and I wanted to share with you some of these not-so-secret secrets.

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How would you like to blog for Nashville for free? It has almost zero perks and you don’t get paid, but you get to join our family, which is okay, I guess. People will read things that you write, and that’s really cool! You might have noticed a lack of content lately. Apparently we’re all really busy at N4F, so we’re looking for a little help.

Qualifications:

• You understand the basics of grammar
• You can be funny/goofy/honest
• You really like free crap
• You have the time and focus to contribute at least one post each week, be it a Scene Report, basic info on an upcoming event, or any other new column idea you have

If you think that you can handle it then feel free to send a sample of your writing to nashvilleforfree [at] gmail [dot] com. I’ll read over what you send and if I like it then you’ll become an official N4F blogger!

-Emily

Do you love animals? If you answered no to that then I’m sorry, but we can’t be friends.

If you’ve read this blog for the past few months then you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Edgehill Village’s 3rd Thursday event (even though I got a little sick after eating some food that had been sitting out for awhile, though I have no proof that was the cause of my illness). I don’t know what exactly draws me to Edgehill Village. It might be the fact that this past summer I lived right down the street and could walk there more easily than Bongo, but I think it’s a really cool place, and I think that their block party events are a lot of fun.

This month’s theme is probably one that Michelle will fancy. It’s going to support Robyn’s Nest Animal Rescue as well as Happy Tales Humane. There will, of course, be art, drinks, snacks (that I’m sure won’t make you sick), and music from The Party, an apparently awesome cover band in the Nashville area. Are you curious as to what songs they play? Well, you can see the whole list here. The party goes from 5-8pm and seriously, bring your pets so that all the poor college students in the area who miss their dogs and cats can pet yours.

Also, if you’re feeling charitable there will be a shelter supply drive all month long. Check it out, dudes! And think of all those poor animals who would be in a terrible state without Robyn’s Nest Animal Rescue and Happy Tales Humane.

-Emily

This weeks’ Artist of the Week is A.A. Bondy, who currently resides on the label Fat Possum. On Tuesday night he’ll be opening for the excellent Elvis Perkins but first he’ll be stopping by Grimey’s at 6pm to serenade you lovely people. Let’s see what Doyle at Grimey’s has to say about Mr. Bondy.

“Scott Bondy’s Birmingham, Alabama-based band Verbena came on like a southern Nirvana and was much-loved in these parts. Since the band’s demise, Scott has recast himself as AA Bondy, stripped-down indie folker, and his music is perhaps even more compelling. His latest is called When The Devil’s Loose and the AV Club says it ‘showcases a resolve and relief Bondy’s never evinced before, as if he’s raked his hand through the sands of these spooky songs and transformed the grains that stuck into flawed, captivating pearls.’ Ooh!”

I have to say, I’ve been listening to A.A. Bondy’s MySpace, and I really enjoy his stuff. Very good indie folk. I think you guys would like it. It won’t be a par-tay like Edward Sharpe, but I’m sure that it’ll be great and that there will be free beer. So come and get your chill on with A.A. after a long day at work. It’s gonna be awesome.

-Emily