Nashville for Free

People don’t seem to like tax day. Well, I take that back, procrastinators don’t like tax day. Yeah, it’s kind of a pain, but a bunch of businesses like to treat their customers to a free treat on tax day. Here are the sweet deals I could find for tax day:

Chili’s
Free appetizer or dessert with the purchase of an entree on April 16, 17, and 18.

PF Chang’s

Get 15% off your total order when you preorder your meal.

MaggieMoo’s
Free scoop of their new frozen yogurt. This deal applies to Marble Slab as well.

Cinnabon
Two free “Tax Day” Bites from 6-8pm.

Bruegger’s
13 bagels and two tubs of cream cheese for $10.40.

Whole Foods
This is for Tennessee and Alabama only, but Whole Foods will pay the sales tax on your entire order on April 16th! Buy big.

Arby’s
If you Like them on Facebook you’ll get a coupon for a free value size curly fries.

White Castle
Like them on Facebook to get a 15% off coupon on April 16th. Also, you can get Buy One Get One sliders until April 28th.

Panda Express
Get a free single serving of Shanghai Angus steak with a coupon on 4/17 only.

Seattle’s Best Coffee
Free house coffee on tax day.

Boston Market
Buy one get one free on entries on 4/17.

Sonic Drive-In
Happy hour drinks all day!

Schlotzky’s
Free chips and 20oz drink with a sandwich.

Hooters
20 boneless wings for $9.99.

Office Depot
They’ll shred up to five pounds of paper and make 25 single-sided b&w copies for free.

Monday

8 off 8th at The Mercy Lounge – 9pm, 21+
This week’s 8 off 8th will feature performances by The Captain Midnight Band, Courtney Jaye, The Electric Hearts, Escondido, Fly Golden Eagle, Oh No No, Ravello, and Sol Cat.

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.

Family Zumba at the Northwest Family YMCA – 4:30pm
Yay Zumba! Get your fit on. This class is free and open to the community as part of Thrive, the YMCA’s Healthy Living Challenge.

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The Vespers have quickly become one of my favorite local bands, and not just because they’re incredibly nice people with ties to Dairy King, one of the best home-cooked meat-n-three restaurants in Nashville.

They consist of two groups of siblings (Callie and Phoebe Cryar, Taylor and Bruno Jones) and offer some great Americana music. They even got a sweet write-up in the Huffington Post and just got back from a tour of the Northeast.

They’re the real deal and they’re playing their biggest show ever today – as their record release party. It’s completely free, even parking, so you have no excuse to not find yourself there tonight. So come on out and celebrate the release of The Fourth Wall with them.

It starts at 8pm at the Boone Center at Trevecca University. It’ll be live-streamed by Music City Roots and Live It Now Entertainment.

-Emily

Monday

Presidential Lectures in Art and Art History: Nick Cave at Lipscomb’s Ezell Center – 7pm
Nick Cave the visual artist, not the musician. Still cool.

8 off 8th at the High Watt – 9pm, 21+
Yep, you read that right, 8 off 8th will be at the High Watt, the new venue attached to Mercy Lounge, this week. Performers will include Hot Mess, The Joy of Painting, Dogs of OZ, Echo Group, The Gills, Phantom Farmer, Robert Chisolm, and Josh Foster.

Signature Series: Blair Brass Quintet at Blair’s Ingram Hall – 8pm
The Blair Brass Quintet, founded in 1995, has concertized throughout the Southeast, and is very involved in exposing young people to their music through school concerts. Their repertoire ranges from traditional to contemporary. For this concert, the Quintet will perform works by Samuel Scheidt, John Cheetham, Malcolm Arnold and Charles-Marie Widor, among others.

Tuba Fools’ Day at Austin Peay’s Concert Hall – 7:30pm
Come on, how could I NOT shout-out this event. Tubas!

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Monday

8 off 8th Road to Bonnaroo at the Mercy Lounge – 9pm, 21+
This week’s 8 off 8th will feature performances by Evan P. Donohue, Five Knives, Marquee Mayfield, Nikki Lane, The Running, Static Revival, Tesla Rossa, and Wild Cub.

Classical Performers at Belmont’s MPAC – 7:30pm
Featuring a composition by Cory Winters and soloist Daniel Bolick, Travis Patton, Alan Puglisi, Ryan Traub and Amanda Walden with the University Orchestra.

Tuesday

Film Screening: The Hedgehog at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema – 7:30pm
Inspired by The New York Times best seller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery. The timely story of Paloma, a young girl bent on ending it all on her upcoming twelfth birthday. Using her father’s old camcorder to chronicle the hypocrisy she sees in adults, her unlikely friendship with a grumpy concierge helps her to come of age in a different light. French with English subtitles. Not rated. 100 mins.

Pat Bergeson, Charles Treadway, and Charles Walker at 12 South Taproom – 9:30pm
One of the best B3 organists, one of the best soul singers,  and one of the best guitarists in Nashville in one room? You better believe it. It’s going to be a great set of music.

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Cherry blossoms make spring a reality for me. I know that winter is over when I see those beautiful blooms all over Nashville. Sure, Spring gives me insane allergy fits, but damn, it’s beautiful, thanks in no small part to those trees.

Apparently cherry blossoms, or sakura, have been a symbol of U.S.-Japan friendship since the Mayor of Tokyo donated 3,000 cherry trees to Washington, D.C., in 1912.

That’s why Sister Cities of Nashville and Japan America Society of Tennessee host the Cherry Blossom Festival every year. It’s a celebration of Japanese Culture and American friendship that features a musical showcase, tea ceremony, origami, a CosPlay contest, Japanese food booths and more.

A 2.5 mile walk with the Mayor will take place at 9am in Public Square Park, and the festival will get started at 10am, also at Public Square Park.

-Emily

I have to admit, I’ve fallen out a bit with reality TV, even genuinely awesome programs like Project Runway. One thing that truly ruled about that show was Tim Gunn. Come on, everyone knows who the real star of that show is. No one ever quotes the contestants or Heidi. Nope, you just hear people say “make it work, make it work, make it work.”

This Saturday from 1-3pm Tim Gunn will be at the Green Hills Mall for Fashion Week to debut the Juicy Couture, kate spade new york and Lucky Brand Spring 2012 Collections in a live runway show.

That’s the free part. If you want to meet him and get your picture taken with him without paying a dime, then you’re out of luck. You see, there will be a professional photographer there who will take a picture of you and Mr. Gunn…but you have to spend something like $150 at one of the featured stores. It’s not exactly hard to do so at any of those stores, but that’s why I don’t shop there.

But whatever you do, if you end up meeting Tim Gunn, please don’t be that person who goes up to him and yells “MAKE IT WORK!!!”

-Emily

12 Monkeys is a weird movie. Most futuristic sci-fi movies are though. However, it has pretty high reviews and a kind of ridiculously awesome twist at the end. Brad Pitt is in it for a minute. Here’s the synopsis:

A stunning adaptation of Chris Marker’s La Jetée, this sci-fi mystery thriller is set in the year 2035, where a lethal virus has wiped out most of the population. A criminal volunteers to go back in time to 1995 to gather information about the origin of the virus and is mistakenly sent back six years earlier than expected.

It’s showing at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema at 7:30pm as part of the International Lens Series.

-Emily

Sometimes one in-store just isn’t enough. Today is one of those days. Yep, this afternoon Grimey’s will be bringing you free, intimate performances by a pair of pretty awesome bands.

The first up is Fanfarlo at 4pm. Fanfarlo is a British band that “fuses elements of folk, indie rock and post-punk using eclectic instrumentation including trumpet, violin, mandolin, musical saw and clarinet.” The show is a little earlier than most, but if you can make it out for this set I HIGHLY suggest that you do.

Then, at 6pm Scissormen will take the room. Scissormen will be releasing their new CD/DVD set entitled BIG SHOES: Walking and Talking the Blues. According to Grimey’s, “the movie captures the Nashville-based contemporary juke blues band on tour in the midwest and is part road movie, part concert film and part blues history lesson.” It sounds pretty awesome. Absolutely worth sticking around after Fanfarlo for.

-Emily

Thursday

Film Screening: Pardon at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema – 7:30pm
Based on a true event, the tragicomic story of three friends who end up in prison when they are mistaken as members of a terrorist organization. In prison, they remember the families and lovers they left behind. Turkish with English subtitles. Not rated.

Author Event: Robin O’Bryant at Parnassus Books – 6:30pm
Join humor columnist and author Robin O’Bryant as she discusses her book, Ketchup Is A Vegetable And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves.

Vanderbilt Divinity School’s Antoinette Brown Lecture at Vandy’s Benton Chapel – 7pm
Amy Hollywood’s talk is titled “Love Abyss: Preaching Desire in the 13th and 21st Centuries.” Hollywood, who is the Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies at Harvard, specializes in mysticism, with strong interests in feminist theory, psychoanalysis and continental philosophy.

Vanderbilt University Berry Lecture: Can Bad People Live Well at Vandy’s Furman Hall – 7:30pm
Marilyn Friedman, the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University, will deliver the last of four 2012 Berry Lectures in Public Philosophy. Her talk is titled “Can Bad People Live Well?” The Berry Lectures aim to make philosophy accessible and relevant for the public. Friedman will address the fact that bad people, those who harm others seriously and often, sometimes manage to live good lives. This talk explores a variety of ways to come to grips with this disturbing observation.

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