Heard It Through the Grapevine
Two new interconnected Web sites offer the dirt on the local rock scene
by Tracy Moore
Music industry insiders long have had their sources for getting the latest gossip and rumor before they hit the streets. Web sites like the Velvet Rope and Hits Magazine post impending label layoffs and information about buzz bands to check out. But where do locals go for the same juicy tidbits about themselves and their peers? Nashville has a handful of sites that tout themselves as the definitive source of dirt on the local rock scene, but two new resources have recently emerged as genuine contenders.
NashvilleZine.com and Murfreesbored.com are two interconnected sites in blog format, with daily articles on the hippest rock and punk bands in Music City and the 'Boro. Together, they offer much of the usual fare—band interviews, listings for shows, a local "MP3 of the Week"—but the real appeal of the sites is their clean design and insider feel.
The meat of the sites is the anonymous postings by local writers and scenesters, written, for the most part, in snappy, entertaining prose, and with the occasional, refreshingly self-deprecating blow to the very scene the posters promote and support. Indicative of the sarcasm and wit to be found here, a recent article on an upcoming festival called "Boogie in the 'Boro" mused, "When Murfreesboro decides to throw a free outdoor music festival, they do it right. 'Right' meaning really shitty."
The sites are also filled with daily posts of news and gossip you likely wouldn't get unless you knew the bands personally. When De Novo Dahl recently showcased at 12th & Porter, NashvilleZine sounded the first alarm. When Glossary's Web site was inactivated due to nonpayment, Murfreesbored was the first to ask questions.
The sites' anonymity might allow those who post to ignore the weight of the byline, but the result is a real behind-the-scenes perspective on what it's like to play and attend Nashville and Murfreesboro clubs—and to live with the frustration of being a rock act in a country music town. A young band looking to book shows at lesser-known venues, for example, will find in a recent piece that Cafe Coco is "architecturally infuriating." (The writer also devotes considerable space to the curious fact that the bar in the back room rarely is open.) Another post fondly recalls "that one time when The Tennessean had an article about Nashville bands."
Still, a true music community resource must do more than just report on its members and offer useful information: It must support the community it inhabits. When the drummer of Imaginary Baseball League was rumored to have suffered a hernia, the sites quickly wished him a speedy recovery and included information where concerned readers could send messages of support. In true Music City style, readers not only responded with concern and sympathy, but quickly offered suggestions for the drummer's temporary replacement.
