Music City’s live music scene makes a comeback

Music City’s live music scene makes a comeback

When we look at industries that were hit the hardest in 2020, live music can be found at the top of the list. The music industry, and more specifically the live music industry, was stopped in its tracks last year once COVID revealed itself as a global epidemic. All of a sudden there were no more upcoming concerts, tickets were refunded, and tours were canceled. Now, as roughly ⅓ of Americans are now fully vaccinated, steps are being taken towards normalcy. But what do those steps look like for live music? According to visitmusiccity.com, concerts are back with precautions in place. For example, there are no dance floors open and there can’t be more than 2 performers on stage at a time. This year Nashville is already set to host several big-name artists, from James Taylor to Justin Bieber. There are plenty of upcoming concerts announced in venues like the Ryman and Bridgestone, but what about the small independent concert spaces? The pandemic has put a very large financial strain on many of them. In response to this, several independent venues formed the Music Venue Alliance last fall to support the live music industry and raise awareness of the challenges it faces. The Exit In was almost permanently closed until fans pulled through with donations recently. Now, since restrictions are loosening many are jumping at the chance to hold events. As of now, The Basement East is one of the smaller venues offering full capacity shows. About a week ago Governor Lee announced, “It’s time for celebrations, weddings and conventions and concerts and parades and proms and everything in...
Nashville named second-most vibrant art community in nation

Nashville named second-most vibrant art community in nation

Most know Nashville for its rich music history, but a recent report has named this city the second-most vibrant art community in the nation. The National Center for Arts Rresearch report is based off of three things — art supply, demand and the level of government support. “The numbers are only the start of the story, not the end,” NCAR director Zannie Voss said on NCAR’s blog. “Each city in our report is unique in what makes it a vibrant community for the arts. Our intention in developing this report is to stimulate conversation about what makes a city vibrant in the arts and how arts vibrancy varies across cities.” It is because of Nashville’s diverse cultural opportunities that it was ranked ahead of New York, Boston and San Francisco. Stroll down lower Broadway to hear a mixture of country and honky-tonk music. Turn the corner to be just steps away from some of Nashville’s premiere music and performing arts venues, like the Ryman and TPAC. Art galleries and coffee shops are also easy to come by in this culture-rich city. To keep up with Nashville’s growth as an art community, The Frist Center for the Visual Arts hosts camps, family days and educational programs. The Frist also hosts a College Night every Thursday and Friday for students to create or simply do homework in the museum setting. Another event that sets Nashville apart is its monthly art crawl. Art galleries throughout the community host receptions and openings during the first Saturday of every month. The festive event takes place on Fifth Avenue North and admission is free. Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR....

Ellie Holcomb and guests perform at Tokens

Dr. Lee Camp’s Tokens concert Tuesday night was filled with comedy, theological teachings and of course great music from artists like Ellie Holcomb. Tokens is a theological variety show. The night was titled Shame and Presence, and each of the guests spoke about times in their lives where they dealt with shame. All of the talks were done in a light-hearted way. Many Lipscomb students attended the concert thanks to 65 free tickets that were given out after the Gathering on Tuesday. Students could also receive an extra chapel credit for attending. Singer Ellie Holcomb spoke and sang at the Gathering as a preview to Tokens. After hearing her preview, students were most looking forward seeing Holcomb’s performance. “I’m a really big fan of Ellie Holcomb, so I’m most excited to see her sing because I really like her songs and her voice,” Lipscomb sophomore Kasey Gibson said. Camp introduced the show by singing a song before introducing all of the guests, and then Holcomb performed two songs. Following her performance was an array of musical and speaking guests. The Token Radio Players performed a skit about Biblical creation, and Al Andrews spoke next in a discussion format with Camp. Several musical guests followed. Andy Gullahorn performed a song, and he was followed up by Brother Parker, a musical group made up of one college and two high school young men. Odessa Settles closed out the first half of the show with a slow tune. One of the most entertaining speakers of the night, according to viewers, was Brother Preacher, who talked about different stories in the Bible in a comedic...