by Kahwit Tela | Jul 2, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, BREAKING NEWS, News
Nashville’s COVID-19 silence ended in a roaring spectacle on Sunday when Let Freedom Sing! brought fireworks and live music back to Music City. Officials said about 350 thousand spectators attended the event, which began at 4 p.m. and ran until well past 10 p.m. The fireworks were scheduled to start at 9:20 p.m. but were delayed until 10 due to unauthorized people in the explosive danger zone. Police SWAT officers were called to the Bridge Building following reports from the Metro Fire Department of a person on the roof of the building, according to a press release issued from the Metro Police Monday afternoon. A flyover from a police helicopter confirmed the sighting. Officers removed four people from the scene, including one employee of the Bridge Building. Located on the east side of the pedestrian bridge, the Bridge Building was in the firework evacuation zone due to the proximity to the firework launch site and the potential for injury for anyone too close to the explosives. “While the officers were still in the building and the (police) helicopter remained close by, a security guard apparently relayed to an (Nashville Fire Department) employee that he was the last one in the building. Without going through command and without checking with MNPD to ensure officers were out of the building, the message was relayed to start the fireworks show. Command was not advised the show had commenced,” according to the press release. “Due to the close proximity of the professional firework mortar shells and the fallout from detonated fireworks, the eight SWAT members sheltered inside the Bridge Building until the conclusion...
by Jayme Foltz | Jun 29, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, COVID-19, News Slider
COVID left most Tennessee residents and tourists and performers saying goodbye to the 2020 entertainment scene in Nashville. Now, it’s 2021. Forty-five percent of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated and 53% of the population has received one dose of the vaccine. As the world continues to slowly go back to normal, so does Music City. With venues being reopened, artists getting out of the studios and their homes and fans ready to cheer, big name concerts and festivals are making a grand comeback to Tennessee. Here’s a sampling: Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th @ Downtown Nashville – July 4 The free concert is the city’s first major post-pandemic event and will be headlined by country music star Brad Paisley. Lily Hiatt, Regi Wooten and Friends, Priscilla Block, and more will also take the stage. The event will also feature the Nashville Symphony in a synchronized performance with what officials are heralding as the largest fireworks display in Nashville’s history. Lifest Music City @ Hideaway Farm – July 29-31 Originating in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Lifest extends Music City for the very first time with Lifest Music City. The Christian music festivals are presented by nonprofit organization Life Promotions, focused on supporting mental health and wellness in today’s youth. With three days filled with music and fun, Lifest gives the option to its concert goers to camp on the festival grounds. The festival will include performances from Newsboys, Skillet, Lecrae, Sidewalk Prophets, Mandisa, Matthew West, Michael W. Smith, and more. Luke Bryan @ Bridgestone Arena – July 30 Fresh off his third ACM Entertainer of the...
by Mckenzi Harris | Jun 11, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, Galleries, News Slider
Lipscomb alums Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini were the hosts for CMA Fest’s biggest stage: Nissan Stadium, where country music’s biggest stars performed to four nights to fans from all over the world. Their hosting chores will be showcased again when the highlights of the performances on CMA’s biggest stage will be broadcast by ABC later this summer. While Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Dierks Bentley and Brantley Gilbert loaded on the star power, it was rapper Lil Nas X who captured the stage and perhaps the festival itself when he and Billy Ray Cyrus teamed up for their “Old Town Road,” the surprise hit that has topped the charts for more than two months. Lending his able hands to the duo was Keith Urban. Other special guests included rock legend Joan Jett, HARDY, Midland and many others. This was “CMA Fest’s 48th year of connecting fans with Country Music artists” according to the website. The festival fell on a temperamental weekend for weather, and caused delays in both the daytime and nightly shows. Despite the rain coming down multiple evenings. CMA Fest 2019 sold out four straight nightly shows and met capacity crowds throughout the weekend. “Attendees were more engaged than ever before with users of The Official CMA Fest App up 15 percent year-over-year, spending an average of 15 minutes per session during the four days of the festival and scheduling nearly 700,000 events,” according to the CMA. This year’s three-hour primetime television special will air at 7 p.m. August 4 on ABC, Channel 2 in Nashville. In addition to Rhett and Ballerini, that broadcast will include Bobby Bones, host...
by Mckenzi Harris | May 28, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Lipscomb alumnus Thomas Rhett has released the title track to his new album, and it features fellow Lipscomb alum Kelsea Ballerini. None of the album was expected to be released until May 31, but Rhett dropped “Center Point Road” last week. Center Point Road — located 30 minutes from campus in Hendersonville — is a road familiar to many Lipscomb students, particularly those who live in or commute from that part of Middle Tennessee. The song has a strong piano in the background and even starts and ends with the sound of an old projector rolling. The album is sure to have diversity as the vibe of the song is much different from the other tracks Rhett has released from the album. This new title track brings back high school nostalgia saying, “Hold on forever (Hold on forever) / Yeah, hold onto it (Hold onto it) / Yeah, hold on forever (Hold on forever) / And never let go of it / Everyone says when you’re younger / It’s gonna go fast / It suddenly hits you like thunder / And you’re gonna wanna go back/ Wanna go back/ Wanna go back / Wanna go back.” Center Point Road, Rhett’s fourth album, is the first on which he has co-written all the songs on the entire album. He also co-produced the album with Dann Huff, Jesse Frasure and Julian Bunetta. Rhett and Ballerini were both communication majors at Lipscomb, Rhett from 2008 to 2011 and Ballerini from 2011 to 2013. Ballerini wrote a blog in Dr. Jimmy McCollum’s 21st Century Media course, and Professor Tim Ghianni, a long-time professional journalist,...
by Carly Reams | Feb 2, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Student Spotlight
Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini both came from Lipscomb in recent years, and Lipscomb student Peytan Porter is making plans to follow in their footsteps. Porter started her singing career at the age of 12, but she said it wasn’t actually something she wanted to do at the time. She only wrote songs about how her mom was mean for giving her chores. “I didn’t take it seriously until at a church camp, and my mom was having to sing and act at the same time,” Porter recalled. “She was terrible. Then she was like, ‘Well then you do it,’ and I said ‘Noo!’ They ended up giving me a microphone behind the curtain. So I sang, behind the stage, and our music director came back and was like, ‘You’re a singer; you are doing this.’” Ever since then, Porter has been focusing on her songwriting, including her job as a full-time staff writer at Sea Gayle Music and doing a songwriting internship. She said she has always dreamed of becoming apart of the Nashville music scene, and even called it her “Disney World vacation” when she was able to visit at fourteen. “I would not be at Lipscomb if it was not in Nashville,” Porter said. “I chose to come here when I was young. My mom was like. ‘You can go on a cruise to Cozumel, or you can go to Nashville.’ My sister went on the cruise, and I came to Nashville.” Porter said she chose Lipscomb over Belmont’s music program because she liked how Lipscomb’s program felt like a small, Christian community. She is no longer...
