Nashville for Free

Monday

8 off 8th East Nashville Underground Preview Party at the High Watt – 8pm, 21+

This 8 off 8th will feature performances by The Gills, The Future, Bear Cub, Brandon Jazz & His Armed Forces, Frances & the Foundation, Blackfoot Gypsies, The Black Shakes and Kiernan McMullan.

Garrett Family Garden and Public Art Dedication at the Goodlettsville Library – 10am

Mayor Karl Dean will dedicate the garden that was made possible by a generous donation from the Garrett Family. It features mosaic and engraved artwork Seasons from a Bird’s Eye View by artists Dan Goostree and Paige Easter. The garden also features a seating area, performance stage, & sidewalks in addition to the lush landscaping. LIght refreshments will be served.

Jacklyn North & The Band at Two Old Hippies – 6pm

The music Jaclyn North writes and loves to perform has been described as a smooth blend of southern rock and traditional country, with a sultry kiss of blues. Chuck McKinley of KKUS in Tyler, TX described Jaclyn’s style as a “controlled, reckless abandonment.”

Tuesday

Beach House and Best Coast Listening Party at Grimey’s – 6pm

It’s a indie beach music party! There will be goodies and prizes and art prints and 7 inches with record purchase, and other crazy stuff like an autographed Best Coast poster and glow-in-the-dark Beach House vinyl and a Sub Pop swag bag.

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Monday

8 off 8th in-store at Mercy Lounge – 9pm
8 off 8th features 15 minute sets by local bands. This week’s show will feature performances by Billy Swayze, The Grayces
Lulu Mae, I am Sabot, Paper, Buffalo Rodeo, Hot Mess, and Paper Lantern.

The Glass Harp featuring Phil Keaggy at Two Old Hippies – 6pm
According to their bio, they’re a power rock trio from Youngstown Ohio that formed in the late 60s/early 70s and their songs “stretch beyond the confines of standard form” including guitar, bass, flute, and drum solos.

Tuesday

JT Daly In-Story at Grimey’s – 6pm 
JT Daly is the singer for Paper Route. While they were recording new music as a group, JT was recording music for his new solo album, Memory. Join him and the folks at Grimey’s as he debuts his new music.

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Monday

8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge – 9pm, 21+
This week’s 8 off 8th is hosted by Andy Wilmoth will feature performances by Kelsie Cameron, Peter Terry & The City Profits, Kendra Chantelle, Kink Ador, Tillman, Lane Abernathy, Flint Forehead, and Aevory.

Employee Jam at Two Old Hippies – 5pm
Hear tunes from Chad “Catfish” McMillian (Blues), Matt Walberg (Rock), and Hilary Romaine (Singer/Songwriter).

Tuesday

Heart Healthy Cooking School Classes at Saint Thomas Hospital – 3pm
This week’s healthy cooking class is a Father’s Day prelude. To register for the classes, call 1-800-588-3270.

ARTini: American Art from the Phillips Collection – 12pm
Join Anne Taylor, curator for interpretation at the Frist Center, will lead an informal conversation about some of the works included in the exhibition To See as Artists See: American Art from The Phillips Collection.

Onward Southern Soldiers: Religion and the Army of Tennessee in the Civil War at the Public Library’s Metro Archives – 2:30pm
First Tuesday at the Archives: Using primary source material such as diaries, letters, journals and sermons of the Army of Tennessee, Traci Nichols-Belt, along with Gordon T. Belt, presents the history of the vital role of the army’s religious practices. Located at 3801 Green Hills Village Dr.

Understanding Your Body’s Nutritional Needs at the Green Hills Library – 6pm
One of the easiest ways to stay healthy is to know your body’s needs. This little workshop will help you figure that out.

Wednesday

Old Time Jam at the 5 Spot – 7:30pm
East Nashville’s Wednesday Night Old Time Jam provides enthusiasts of traditional, acoustic-based roots music the opportunity to regularly meet, share tunes, dance, swap stories, and bond together in general camaraderie.

Nightcap Series at Blair School of Music – 8pm
An evening of contemporary horn trios, spotlighting works by composers Paul Lansky and Verne Reynolds. Lansky made his reputation as a pioneer in electronic and computer music (Radiohead featured samples of his work prominently on signature album Kid A), but has more recently been writing for acoustic instruments. Reynoldswas a distinguished composer and influential horn professor who wrote extensively for brass instruments. This event will be recorded live for later broadcast on WNPT-2 television and VUcast.

Pints + Pistons is a motorcycle rally presented by Imogene + Willie. Being based out of an old gas station, and being totally rad, it seems to make perfect sense that they would have an appreciation for the most bad ass, greasy mode of transportation.

Those with motorcycles should meet at the shop at 1pm for a ride across Middle Tennessee. It’s extensive. It’s awesome. You might want to fill up before you head out.

Just be sure to be back by 5pm. That’s also when you’ll want to head over to i+w if you just want to check out all the awesome bikes (because you don’t have one of your own but really wish you did.) That’s because 5pm is when the free beer happens.

Enjoy, and rev-on.

-Emily

Supper + Song at Imogene + Willie is always a good time, and I couldn’t be happier to have it back. It’s always an incredibly friendly event with good music, food, and some awesome jeans (purchase not required).

Tonight brings the return of Supper + Song with a special guest – Karen Elson of Third Man Records. Kate Tucker will also be performing, so get there early. You might recall it being on Thursdays in years past, now it seems to be on Wednesdays, at least this week.

Mas Tacos will very likely be there, dishing out their ever-amazing tacos, and Bang Candy Company has been known to appear. It’s BYOB, as always, so bring some brews and come on down!

Things get started tonight at 6pm at Imogene + Willie in 12 South.

-Emily

Our good friends at AEG Live/The Messina Group are always bringing great shows to Nashville, and once again they’ve brought a great contest to us.

Mayer Hawthorne is coming to the Mercy Lounge on Tuesday, May 1st, and we have a pair of tickets to give to YOU. Well, one of you anyway.

To enter just leave a comment on this blog post with the name of your favorite Mayer Hawthorne song. Make sure to leave your REAL email address and, preferably, your real name so I know what name to put on the list. I’ll pick a winner at random.

However, if you want me to place your name in the hat five extra times, there is a little something you can do. To complete the bonus step post a picture of yourself tangled up in strings (in honor of the song “No Strings”) to our Facebook wall. It can be real string, photoshopped, string theory, whatever. Thing is, if you make me laugh I might toss your name in there one or two extra times.

I’ll randomly pick a winner on Sunday night, so get yourself entered!

-Emily

Monday

Big Kettle Drum at the High Watt (ALL AGES!) – 6pm
They boast “raw passion, raw nerves, raw power, and ultimately raw talent” in their artist bio. Think bluesy bluegrass with some rock.

8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge – 9pm, 21+
This week’s 8 off 8th will feature performances by Serotonin, Imaginary Baseball League, Daphne’s Operation, Snakeskin Machinegun, Java Christ, Jetpack, The Lonely Hearts, and Tommy and the Whale.

Quilt in-store at Grimey’s – 6pm
From the Grimey’s description: Boston band Quilt weave a tapestry of float-away guitar sounds with Eastern melodies and languid, intimate vocals, laying out a modern take on psychedelic folk.

Kenny Vaughan and Friends at 12 South Taproom – 9:30pm
Kenny has played with such artists as Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell and others and is currently a full-time member of Marty Stuart’s band. He was also named instrumentalist of the year by the Americana Music Association in 2006.

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Record Store Day is one of the most wonderful days of the year. Exclusive releases, massive sales at the record stores, free live performances, it’s such a wonderful day. Here’s a low-down of happenings at some of Nashville’s record stores.

Grimey’s

RSD at Grimey’s is hard to beat. There will be a massive outdoor parking lot sale with $1 CDs and vinyl, a sale on all new goods in the store, food from Mas Tacos, beer from Yazoo, and tons of live bands. There will even be a few films screening in The Basement! My tip – bring cash for the outdoor sale. It’ll save a ton of time for yourself and everyone around you. and bring a milk or mail crate if you have one.

Here’s the live band schedule: 11:30 – djb (dj set)

12:00 - Langhorne Slim
12:30 – Best of Bread (dj set)
1:00 - The Grenadines
1:30 - Chris Crofton
2:00 - Blouse
2:30 – Pimpdaddysupreme (dj set)
3:00 - JEFF The Brotherhood
3:30 – Geezus (dj set)
4:00 - Caitlin Rose
4:30 – Kelley Anderson of SGRRC (dj set)
5:00 - PUJOL
5:30 – DJ SRC (dj set)
6:00 - Lovedrug
6:30 – Janet from Out the Other (dj set)
7:00 - Kansas Bible Company

And here’s the film schedule:

1:00 - Don’t Follow Me I’m Lost (a film about Bobby Bare Jr.)
2:45 - Andrew Bird FEVER YEAR (a feature length concert documentary film)
4:30 - Brick And Mortar And Love (a documentary film about indie record stores with some footage shot at Grimey’s from last year’s Record Store Day).

The Groove

Like Grimey’s, The Groove will be having a big outdoor blast with bands, a big sale, and more. There will be a bunch of records and CDs priced at $1 or less and everything non-RSD specific will be 15% off all day long.

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After years of various bands Jack White is finally releasing a solo album. It’s called Blunderbuss, and everything I’ve heard from it is really good. But duh, it’s Jack White. Like him or not, you have to admit the guy is talented.

The record isn’t out yet, but tonight at 6pm you can swing by Grimey’s and listen to the whole thing! It’s free, there will be free beer, and one lucky fan will win a test pressing of the album. And you thought those 45s tied to balloons were hard to get!

Just to be clear, if you’re expecting Jack White to actually be there you’re probably going to be disappointed. He will not be performing.

-Emily

According to their bio, Umbrella Tree‘s first show at The Basement’s New Faces Nite is “the stuff of legend.” I wasn’t there, so I can’t confirm this, but Grimey’s sure does invite them back a lot. I remember a few years ago stopping by Grimey’s when they debuted their 16 video DVD for The Letter C (there was free cake)!

They didn’t actually perform that day, but they’ll be performing tonight at 6pm at Grimey’s to celebrate the release of their new Kickstarter-funded LP To the Memory of a Once Great Man is out now. Apparently it’s about the life and death of Napolean Bonaparte. It’s vinyl-only with mp3 download.

-Emily