Nashville for Free

Things are still a little slow going into the new year, but here’s what I found.

Monday

8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge – 9pm
Even though it’s Sunday the Mercy Lounge still hasn’t posted all 8 acts, but so far they have The Armed Forces, Natural Child, Majestico, The Billy Goats, and Powerbrrrd  listed. The rest will just be a jolly old surprise then. Quick question: do The Billy Goats ever play shows that aren’t free?

Kristen Cothron with Lilly Hiatt and The Grayces at 12th and Porter – 7pm
Kristen Cothron with Lilly Hiatt and The Grayces live at 12th and Porter! Yeah, it’s pretty self-explanatory.

Grimey’s Birthday Celebration at The Basement – 8pm
In case you haven’t heard, Grimey’s is 10 years old this month. You might have already attended the Birthday/Christmas party, but that was from Grimey’s The Store. What about Grimey, the man? Mike Grimes, co-owner/founder of our favorite record store, is celebrating a birthday of his own at The Basement, the lower level of that rock & roll complex on 8th Avenue. We don’t know who’s playing, but perhaps Guilty Pleasures (a band headed up by Grimes) needs a little practice before their New Years Bash at Cannery? In any case,  it’s probably worth attending even if you don’t know who’s taking the stage. Happy birthday, Grimey!

(more…)

Hey, it’s the week of Christmas so don’t expect too much.

Monday

8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge – 9pm
This week’s 8 off 8th featuring Silver Seas, Madi Diaz, Tommy Keenum, Karmakite, Lanky, Mike Younger, and Justin and The Cosmics. I’m not sure about comma placement, there weren’t any commas on the Mercy Lounge website, so I just added them as I saw fit.

Holiday Concert: The Caroling Troubadours at the Frist – 2pm
This event is “a holiday sing-along with the strolling minstrels, the Caroling Troubadours. Local favorites Sarah Martin McConnell, Kathy Chiavola and Joe Freel offer a selection of holiday and seasonal tunes.” So it’s just like normal caroling?

(more…)

Shoot the Mountain in the photo booth last year

Christmas is the season of giving, and our favorite local bands have been DELIVERING! I’ve stopped counting all the free shows that have been going on this week, and here’s another one for you!

The Holly House Second Annual Winter Formal is upon us! It’s part two of Winter of Dreamz and the lineup is pretty sweet. Here’s a list of the bands who have been chosen to get your Christmas done right.

And the Relatives
Bird Cloud
Caitlin Rose
The Caresses
Eureka Gold
Non-Commisioned Officers
Shoot the Mountain
Tristen

The show is this Saturday, December 19th at 9pm at the Mercy Lounge. There will be Santa Claus, merriment, a photo booth, and tons of free live music. Okay, so this event isn’t technically free HEAR ME OUT, but it’s only $3 or IF you bring some canned goods for donation it IS free. Seriously though, bring something other than creamed corn or canned peas, opt for something that people actually like.

For a look into last year’s photobooth, click here. There’s some goooood stuff there, haha.

A bit about Holly House: Holly House is a group of bands in Nashville, TN who formed a musical collective in 2008. They play on each others’ records and perform with each other live. Their sole focus is to produce great music and put on amazing shows.

-Emily

• Thomas Hart Benton: An Epic Life at the Frist – 6pm
• Miller Made Music Showcase at Exit/In – 9pm more info here:http://short.to/10z05
• Edgehilll Village 3rd Thursday event – 5-8pm bring some extra shoeshttp://short.to/10yaq
• Believing in the Magic of the Season at Goodlettsville library – 6:30pm. Readings from Polar Express & Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree & more
• Gypsy Hombres at 12 South Taproom at 8:30pm
• Holiday Cocktail Mixer at O Gallery in the Arcade – 4-8pm. New gallery, drinks and refreshments.
• Third Thursday Special Event w/ Lisa Patton, Edie Maney and Evy McPherson at Nouveau Classics (3201 Belmont blvd) 6-9pmhttp://is.gd/5rmma

I personally think that energy drinks are from the devil, and most of the product names and labels really freak me out. I’m not one for especially girly things, but man, 90% of energy drinks are really only advertised towards men, and the last thing I want to drink is something called Monster with a big freaky design on the can. Gross.

Comparatively, CoMotion doesn’t look bad. It’s still an energy drink, and as someone who rarely drinks any caffeinated soda and never drinks coffee I’m pretty sure that this would kill me, but if you like energy drinks this is something that you can check out…for FREE.

You know how Red Bull has the Red Bull Girls and the Red Bull Car? Well CoMotion is attempting to do something similarly grassroots-ish. I was sent the schedule of when and where free CoMotion will be given away. Here it is:

• 12/16/2009 – 3:00pm-8:00pm at Urban Active Fitness @ Nolensville Pk., Urban Active Gym @ Lebanon Pk., YMCA @ Concord Rd in Brentwood
• 12/19/2009 – 2:00pm-5:00pm at Tennessee University Basketball Games @ Vanderbilt
• 12/19/2009 – 5:00pm-8:00pm at Belmont University Basketball Game
• 12/21/2009 – 2:00pm-6:00pm at Sun Belt Classic Basketball Games @ Vanderbilt
• 12/26/2009 – 4:00pm-8:00pm at Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Battle of Bands 5-7pm)
• 12/27/2009 – 1:00pm-6:00pm at Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
• 12/30/2009 at Sun Belt Classic Basketball Games @ Vanderbilt

Apparently they’re also planing to hook up with some local bars and have parties where with people will get their first drink free and take home 2 free cans. Very cool, I’ll keep you up to date on that.

If you want the hook up on where the CoMotion team will be meandering around Nashville, handing out their energy drink then follow them on Twitter. Do iiiiitt.

Too bad they missed finals…

-Emily

Good lord, Exit/In is being generous this week! The Miller Made Music showcase is only the second of three free shows this week and features some of Nashville’s favorite local bands, The Protomen, Parachute Musical, Tallest Trees, and Majestico!

I imagine that there will be drink specials since, you know, the whole event is being sponsored by Miller.

Take a cue from the guy from the flyer and make sure you’re in the holiday spirit, even if you just end up looking like the Big Lebowski in a Santa outfit.

Speaking of which, has anyone seen my elf costume? I know I left it around here somewhere…

Note from Emily: Hey guys, we at N4F have been looking for new scene reporters, and I think we’ve found one who fits! The following article is from Rachel Allen, who recently attended a Music City Bronze concert. Here it is in all its awesomeness:

It is no secret to those who know me that I am a handbell junkie. I’ve played since I was 9 (I’m 23 now, so you do the math.) I youtube handbell videos. I have a  youtube video of my church handbell choir. I will shamelessly brag to anyone that one time I handled 14 bells for one song. So when the opportunity arose for my first N4F blog to be about a handbell performance, I jumped all over it.

Music City Bronze is “Nashville’s Premier Community Handbell Ensemble.” They performed at Andrew Price Memorial United Methodist Church on Monday the 14^th as well as several other churches in Nashville earlier this month. The performance was set for 7:00 p.m., so naturally it started at 7:05. (That’s just how we Methodists roll.)

Usually by this time of the year, my Christmas spirit is putting everyone else’s to shame. I love Christmas. This year, however, I’m falling a little bit behind. I’m not listening to all Christmas music all the time. We only have one 3-foot fiber-optic Christmas tree set up in our apartment as opposed to our 2 traditional trees last year. And walking into the church in 67 degree weather certainly wasn’t helping.

But all of that was about to change. As soon as they started playing, I was dazzled! Did you know you could be dazzled by handbells? Everything about this choir was beautiful. The pieces they chose, the arrangements, their technique, their form (yes, there is proper form!) Among my favorites were “I saw Three Ships”, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.” Before each piece, the conductor gave a little background to each song. Did you know “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is the oldest Christmas carol written? Me either.

There were so many components that made this such a great performance. Their octave range was enormous. They had bells as small as my pinky and as big as my face. They also used chimes in some pieces, which resonate beautifully with the bells. The different techniques they used gave their pieces dimension. And even to a trained ear, they didn’t seem to miss a beat.

Turns out I don’t need snow, hot chocolate or an excessive amount of Christmas trees to put me in the Christmas spirit. All I need is a little bit of time to myself to just listen to what Christmas has to offer.

-Rachel

Here’s another post where I just write about things that are clearly stated on the poster.

As many of you know, every 3rd Thursday of the month the awesome area known as Edgehill Village throws a pretty sweet party, and they’re always different! This month EV is celebrating the holidays, the art of giving, and my favorite type of food: Mexican food.

No one should have to tell you why giving is good. It gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling, you get to brag to your friends about what a good person you are, and sometimes you get coupons. EV is partnering with Soles 4 Souls, a charity that gives new or lightly used shoes to people in need. If you give a pair of ANY type of shoes you’ll get a %15 off coupon for all the shops in Edgehille Village. Not a bad deal for some shoes you were never going to wear again anyway. Still, I think you should keep those 12 inch heels. No one wants those. No one. I’d rather not have shoes than wear those.

And now for the free Mexican food. Rosario’s is gone, but Taco Mamacita has taken its place and it wants to buy its way into our hearts by giving us free appetizers. I don’t know about you, but that would totally work for me. Also, I’m not sure if the free drinks are in any way associated with Taco Mamacita, but they will exist, I promise. Also, I’ll bet you an apple pie that there will be some sort of live music somewhere.

Like most of the events we write about on N4F, this should be good. It’s the last 3rd Thursday of the year, DO IT UP!

-Emily Harris

Tony Weeks likes his name. He also likes to give his rock’n'roll away for free. His band Tony Weeks and the Tony Weeks Band featuring Tony Weeks are playing a free show at the 5 Spot tonight with their friends Mary Nails and Tommy Keenum.

If that wasn’t reason enough for you to depend upon what I like to call hipsterville you might like to learn that there will be gifts given away. I don’t know what the gifts are, so don’t ask me, but who can complain about gifts? If you complain about a gift someone gives you then you suck. You suck suck suck suck suck.

Also, I’m really enjoying this event poster. Word.