Nashville for Free

Monday

8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge, -8pm, 21+
8 bands, 15 minute sets, a night of local music and drink specials.

Abigail Bobo at Two Old Hippies – 5pm
Check this out if you’re a fan of strong rhythm, soaring melodies, literature-inspired lyrics, and the harp.

Tuesday

Moon Taxi In-Store at Grimey’s -6pm
Their new album Cabaret comes out today, and they’re celebrating by playing a stripped-down acoustic set at Grimey’s.

New Faces Nite at the Basement – 8pm, 21+
This week’s New Faces Nite will feature performances by Vitamin Overdose, Abbott Martin, Brian Buckley, Rickolus, Henry Wagons, Melody Kills and more.

Film Screening: The Blues Feels Like Going Home at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema – 7:30pm
This homage to the Delta Blues travels through Mississippi and on to West Africa, exploring the roots of the music. It includes vivid original performances by Willie King, Otha Turner, and Ali Farka Toure among others and rare archival footage of Son House, Muddy Waters, Jonny Shines, and John Lee Hooker. English. Not rated. 83 mins.

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Ford must be in the spirit of giving (or selling cars, whatever). Today they are sponsoring a free day at the Country Music Hall of Fame. What does that mean? Exactly what you think it means. Yep, today you can visit the Country Music Hall of Fame for exactly zero dollars.

While there I highly recommend you check out, in addition to the exhibits, the two programs running today. There be a musical petting zoo from 11am-3pm and a songwriting session with Erin Enderlin and Jim “Moose” Brown at 11:30am. You know how I feel about musical petting zoos right? Hint – they’re awesome.

The songwriting session at 11:30am sounds pretty cool too. You might know Erin Enderlin from the Lee Ann Womack song “Last Call,” which Erin co-wrote. Jim “Moose” Brown has some even more famous songs under his belt, including “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” which is now stuck in my head and will remain there all day. You too? You’re welcome/I’m sorry.

The Country Music Hall of Fame is open today from 9am-5pm.

-Emily

Nashville has a new love: food trucks. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – we just go NUTS for food trucks. Thankfully, a plethora of organizations and sponsors (Lightning 100, in this case) want to give us the food trucks we crave all the damn time.

That’s where Meet ‘n 3 comes in. The event brings together four things Nashville loves: local artists, local music, local food trucks, and the Nashville Farmers’ Market! It’ll take place tonight at the Farmers’ Market from 6-9pm, but if you actually want food from a food truck I highly recommend you get there early.

The participating food trucks include Riffs Fine Street Food, The Grilled Cheeserie, Hoss’ Loaded Burgers, Smoke Et Al, Yayo’s OMG, Jonbalaya Catering, Love Shack, Blackbird Heritage, Wrapper’s Delight, and The Latin Wagon.

There will also be twenty local artists and crafters selling handcrafted jewelry, fine art, photography, sculptural objects and more.

Thursday

NAAD Presents Art After Hours – 5-8pm
Be you downtown, in Hillsboro Village, in Clarksville, or elsewhere, there is probably an art crawl happening near you. There will be music, wine, finger foods (maybe), cool art, and awesome people. Don’t miss this, it only happens once a month.

Nashville Music Guide Acoustic Performance Night at Douglas Corner Cafe – 8pm
It will feature performances by Herrick, Stephanie Quayle, Joe Matthews,  Jamie Saylor, Ben Gallaher, Carli & Julie Kennedy, -Brenda Best, and Jon Dakota.

Jody Lee Petty Showcase at 12th and Porter – 6pm
From the artist bio: Who does he sound like? To answer simply, he is authentically Jody Lee Petty, a humble man of southern charm and amazing energy. Petty has appeared live with Colt Ford, Justin Moore, Molly Hachet, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland, Jason Aldean, Toby Keith, Montgomery Gentry, Blackfoot, and Josh Thompson among others in an active touring schedule.

Friday

Curator’s Perspective: Duncan Phillips: Champion of American Art at the Frist Center – 12pm
In this talk, Susan Behrends Frank, Ph.D., associate curator for research for The Phillips Collection and curator of To See as Artists See, will speak about the extraordinary vision of Duncan Phillips, who made an institutional commitment at the end of World War I to champion American art and encourage American artists of independent vision who looked beyond the strictures of the academy at a time when other institutions were unwilling to do so.

Collectors Art Night at The Arts Company – 5:30pm
Prominent Nashville art collectors will discuss what draws them to photography, what criteria they use to discern something collectible, and other insights into the acquisition of photographic art.   Free Admission. Refreshments. By Reservation Only. RSVP to arts@theartcompany.com

Meet ‘ 3 at the Farmer’s Market – 6pm
Meet n’ 3 is the delicious blend of 4 of Nashville’s favorites— Local Artists, Local Food Trucks, Local Music, & Nashville Farmers’ Market. All 4 will converge on Friday, Feb. 3rd from 6-9pm at Nashville Farmers’ Market. This free to attend event will feature 10 of Nashville’s favorite Food Trucks, over 30 local artists, local band Striking Matches, and beer + wine sales. Sponsored by Metro Arts Commission, Nashville Food Trucks, & Lightning 100.

Saturday

Free day at the Country Music Hall of Fame 
Big thanks to Ford for making it possible. I now will buy one of your cars. Just kidding, I already have one! There will also be a musical petting zoo from 11am-3pm and a songwriting session with Erin Enderlin and Jim “Moose” Brown at 11:30am.

Atlanta Braves Autograph Signing at Academy Sports + Outdoors – 1:30-3pm
Yay, baseball! I’m a Reds fan myself, which means I am often filled with sorrow, but I still love them. The Braves, I guess they’re okay. They’ll be signing stuff!

First Saturday Art Crawl in the Arcade – 6-9pm
Look at some art, drink some wine, mingle, and repeat. Oh, and there will also be an architectural tour of the Frist at 4:30pm.

Connection Cultures Celebrates China at the Green Hills Library – 10:30
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts will facilitate an art-making activity at the Green Hills Area Library highlighting the artwork and story of the Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville in conjunction with the Frist Center’s Connecting Cultures: Children’s Stories from Across the World exhibition. In the Chinese tradition, the dragon traditionally symbolizes power, strength, and good luck. Participants will make their own Chinese dragon puppets based on the artwork, Chinese Legends.

Seed Starting Class at Mt. Juliet Community Center – 10am
This class will be on seed starting and will be taught by MariAnne Pelletier, President of the Wilson County Master Gardeners. All classes will be free for the public. For more information please call Jan at the Mt. Juliet Community Center at (615) 758-6522. Look for more classes to be available in the near future.

Reflections in the Freestyle Gallery at the East Library Branch – 2pm
In Black History House’s Freestyle Gallery, some of the city’s top freestyle artists including Rashad “thaPoet” Rayford, Aphropik, and Poet will take prompts from the audience and weave them into powerful messages about the past and future. Younger poets and emcees will join these leading artists to create a dynamic, improvised performance. Freestyle is the art of creating poetry and rap on the spot in response to prompts or in response to lines by other poets and rappers.

To the person or highly intelligent ape reading this,

The Springwater beckons to you.  Its smokey rooms are normally home to loud rock and roll but on the first Wednesday of every month some of Nashville’s funniest comedians (and most fascinating crazy old men) invade the stage for Dive Laughing, a comedy Open Mic where anyone with the ability to write their name can go up (sounds exciting, doesn’t it?)   As the host I’ve seen hilarious observations about bubble baths, fun puns, and the occasional drunken ramblings of a real, live madman.  It’s the best Zero Bucks you’ll ever spend!

So, whether you’ve always wanted to tell jokes and were looking for a place to do it or you just want to enjoy a fun show at one of Nashville’s great underground landmarks, Dive Laughing at The Springwater is a great time for the whole family.  (As long as everyone in your family is over 21 and not easily offended.) Sign-up is at 9pm and the jokes start at 9:30.

heart,

Sean Parrott

Editor’s note: this was a guest blog post by Sean Parrott, a cool dude who hosts several comedy events around Nashville. If you’d like to guest blog about your event email tips@nashvilleforfree.com and we’ll see what we can work out.

It’s been an incredibly busy weekend, so this week I’m going to post the Weekly Highlights in two parts. I should have the rest posted tomorrow night.

Monday

8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge – 9pm, 21+
This week’s 8 off 8th is hosted by Steve Cross and will feature performances by Scale Model, I Believe in Hotpants, Bows and Arrows, King Arthur, Bravo Max, Magnolia Sons, Honey Locust, and Sugar Sk*_*lls.

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.

Free Monthly Meal for Hendersonville Residents at Community Church of Hendersonville – 1:30-5:30pm
Bring your ID (to prove you live in Hendersonville) and bring your family for a monthly free community meal presented by Share Our Food Kitchen.

Tuesday

3rd Annual Keep the Music Playing at the Schermerhorn- 6:30pm
Hosted by RCA recording artist and two-time CMA Award nominee Chris Young, CMA’s Keep the Music Playing All Stars Concert will honor several of the brightest music groups from Metro Nashville Public Schools that have benefited from CMA’s Keep the Music Playing program.

A Twisted Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste at the Main Public Library – 6:15pm
Spend the evening on a comic adventure inside the ridiculously twisted mind of Rubes® cartoonist Leigh Rubin. Rubin’s cartoons are syndicated in more than 400 publications worldwide. Books and other goodies will be on sale in front of the art gallery.

Film Screening: If These Halls Could Talk at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema – 7:30pm
Over a weekend in Ukiah, California, a group of eleven students from around the country gathered to talk about the state of diversity on their college campuses. The students’ stories are starkly emotional, and highlight the complex issues that underlie the demographics of higher education.

Rock’n’Roll Trivia at the Mercy Lounge back bar– 6:30pm
What, you think you know more rock minutia than I do? Well, you’re probably right, but if you really want a challenge then you should hit up this event. It consists of three rounds of questions, two rounds of “name that tune,” and the rock and roll-est of final wagers where you can bet (and possibly lose) it all. The prizes are $50, $25 or $10 to be spent at Mercy Lounge. Plus, everyone gets free parking and beer specials all night. It’s about teams, so grab some friends. Oh, and there’s free parking and drink specials.

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As a woman I am all about anything that can help women become healthier. Let’s face it, sometimes we don’t take the best care of ourselves. It’s a stereotype that we’re always taking care of others and thus forget about ourselves, but seriously, a lot of us are just so busy with our lives on our own.

It doesn’t matter why we’re too busy to be healthy and get to the doctor. What matters is that we change.

On Saturday there will be an event called All About Women: Free Health Resources held from 10am-2pm at Kipp Academy. More than a dozen organizations will be there providing things like pap smears provided by the Tennessee Breast and Cervical Screening Program, bone density, blood pressure and blood sugar screenings performed by the
Vanderbilt Coalition for Healthy Aging, stress reduction techniques led by the Exchange Club, Zumba classes, ways to reduce electric bills demonstrated by the Kilowatt Hour, and more.

Kipp Academy is located at located at 123 Douglas Avenue.

Stay healthy. Tell your friends. Rock.

-Emily

Sexual orientation isn’t just an issue in America. Life for the gay community can be difficult all over the world; it can be a struggle. One place where you don’t really think about the issue is the Middle East, especially Jerusalem. It’s something strangely unexpected. City of Borders is a documentary that surrounds that very culture in the Holy Land.

Here’s the synopsis:

In the heart of Jerusalem stands an unusual symbol of unity that defies generations of segregation, violence, and prejudice: a gay bar called Shushan. This documentary follows the lives of five Israeli and Palestinian patrons as they navigate the minefield of politics, religion, and discrimination in order to live and love openly in a world of conflict.

City of Borders is tonight’s International Lens film. Like usual, it’s being shown at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema at 7:30pm.

Monday

8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge – 9pm, 21+
This week’s 8 off 8th will feature performances by The Cadillac Black, Leroy Powell and the Messengers, The Tendoor, Fly Golden Eagle, Kyle Andrews, Wilder Embry, Cashatt, and Heypenny.

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.

Motown Monday at Two Old Hippies –  5pm
This week Paris Delane and his seven octave vocal range will be performing for Motown Monday at Two Old Hippies.

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The Mercy Lounge‘s birthday parties are always great because THEY give US stuff. Dolly Parton giving us a water park on her birthday is hard to beat, but Mercy Lounge has an awesome lineup of free shows tonight and Saturday night that’ll rock your proverbial socks off.

Tonight’s lineup will feature How I Became the Bomb, Cheer Up Charlie Daniels, Kyle Andrews, Ponychase, Wild Cub featuring Keegan Dewitt and members of Pico vs. Island Trees, ReLapse, and more. Sorry youngin’s, but it’s 21+.

However, it’s Saturday’s lineup that holds a special place in my heart. Heypenny, Evan P. Donohue, The Nobility, Escondido featuring Tyler James, and ReLapse will all be there, but in my humble opinion the fact that Mayhem will be performing Elvis Costello’s excellent This Year’s Model more than makes the lineup perfect. It will be epic.

Happy birthday Mercy Lounge! We love you dearly over here at N4F and wish you many more excellent birthdays to come.

-Emily