TOOTSIE'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW
Nashville lost songwriting legend Hank Cochran ("I Fall to Pieces," "She's Got You," "A-11") this year, but he long ago achieved immortality on the wall of Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, perhaps the true country music hall of fame. As essential to Nashville's music history as tears and whiskey are to country music, Tootsie's celebrates 50 years as the little honky-tonk formerly known as "Mom's" with a show both worthy of and indebted to its celebrated history. Kris Kristofferson, Terri Clark, Mark Chesnutt and Little Jimmy Dickens all take to The Ryman stage to pay tribute, in song and story (and sometimes both), to Lower Broad's most famous and inspirational dive. Post-show VIP packages are available at www.tootsies.net. Nov. 7 at The Ryman. steve haruch
DON'T MISS:
Next Big Nashville
In its fifth year, Next Big Nashville — Music City's answer to South by Southwest — raises its national profile another notch, with a clutch of buzzy headliners the likes of Yeasayer, Wavves, Javelin, A Place to Bury Strangers, The Hood Internet and The Ponys leading the way for the usual — if somewhat smaller and more selectively booked — bevy of locals, among them The Protomen, Daniel Pujol, Meghan Shahnaz Kabir and Katie Herzig. On the conference side of the festival-and-conference coin this year, Leadership Music Digital Summit, having joined forces with NBN for '10, will be assembling industry panelists ranging from Tim Westergren, of the streaming-music service Pandora, to Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter. Sept. 29 – Oct. 2 at venues throughout the city.
NBN's not the only festival and conference in town this autumn: The International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass convenes Sept. 27 – Oct. 3, featuring workshops, jam sessions and performances from some of mountain music's best — including The SteelDrivers, Cherryholmes, The Grascals and more — and an awards show hosted by Jerry Douglas and Cheryl and Sharon White Sept. 30 at The Ryman.
The Nashville Jazz Workshop kicks off their jazz party of the year on Sept. 26 with their 10th annual NJW Jazz Party & Fundraiser at Limelight. Catch performances from mainstays Lori Mechem & Ritmos Picantes, with powerhouse chanteuse Annie Sellick headlining, and bid on tickets, artwork and fine dining during the night's live and silent auctions.
And while Nashville's rock show crowd has grown accustomed to living in a drive-around city in a fly-over state, watching so many bands skip us over, fall 2010 brings a hearty assortment of touring acts to local stages:
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club roll into Exit/In with their psychedelic garage-blues Oct. 3, the same night The National and white wine-sipping frontman Matt Berninger hit The Ryman with their cerebral, allusive songs.
Led by dynamo Emily Haines, Canadian indie rockers Metric visit The Cannery Ballroom Oct. 13.
Snoop Dogg, B.o.B. (inviting speculation about a Hayley Williams cameo) and Passion Pit play Vanderbilt's Commodore Quake Oct. 22.
Dutch indie stalwarts Bettie Serveert, who have neither slowed nor weakened since their ebullient debut Palomine way back in 1992, hit Exit/In Oct. 23 — their latest, Pharmacy of Love, plays like a clinic in indie-rock charm.
The hypnotic, damaged sounds of Blonde Redhead, played with wonder-twin powers by Amadeo and Simone Pace and fronted by the piercingly charismatic Kazu Makino, come to Mercy Lounge Oct. 27.
Enigmatic singer Bradford Cox and Atlanta mischief-mongers Deerhunter arrive at Exit/In Nov. 10, with Deakin (of Animal Collective fame) in tow.
What do you call a bunch of Bad Seeds gone even badder? Why, Grinderman, of course. Nick Cave & Co. release their second album this week, and bring their feral blues to Mercy Lounge Nov. 19.
