He goes by the username rocketpastsix.
We meet on the patio outside Village Pub. He’s wearing a bright-red shirt and has a jolly, round face — not unlike that of a cherub, or a little angel boy.
But this is no little angel boy. This is Nashville’s resident online cynic. A hardened 37-year-old man who regularly traffics on the r/nashville and r/movetonashville subreddits and posts things like:
“They all suck.” (On Nashville roads.)
“Tell the Titans to pound sand and fund their own play palace.” (On the new stadium deal.)
“This state isn’t exactly at the top of the education charts. Unless you have a damn good reason to move here, I’d look elsewhere.” (On getting a teaching job in Nashville.)
“Your aunt is a fucking moron.” (Unsure.)
For more than a year I have been monitoring his online activity, looking for the right occasion to meet. Now I have one: a new Nashville guidebook by local author Michelle Spiva called Music City Musings: Old Nashville Knowledge for Newcomers.(Full disclosure: I also have a personal connection to the project, as I contributed jokes to Michelle’s book.) If anyone was going to have strong opinions on a guide designed to help transplants navigate the unique norms, customs and habits of Nashvillians, it was rocketpastsix. So I dropped off a copy to an address he provided, and we sat down two weeks later to discuss it.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
First off, kudos to you for being open to this.
I was trying to think back to when you first messaged me [in 2023], and you were like, “I just want to get to know one of Nashville’s trolls.” And I was like, “All right, first off: I guess I am a troll.”
I wanted to meet you in person because Lord knows what the review would have been like on Reddit.
There were some witty parts of this book, I thought. I actually have two-and-a-half pages of notes.
Let’s get into it.
It was witty enough that it kept my attention. It was short enough — and it’s only, what, 120-ish pages? She nailed it on the “sidewalks to nowhere” thing. I loved that she shouted out Nashville Severe Weather. I thought the Citizenship Test was hilarious.
Is it something you would recommend to a newcomer who moves to Nashville?
Yeah, I would give it to people who moved here. However, however … I feel like there’s a few things that were missed.
OK.
So first off, there’s nothing about how the city works — the council. Did you know we have one of the largest city councils in the entire nation? And that’s also why there’s so much gridlock there, because you have to get 26 people to vote for something.
If I may, would that be a little too inside-baseball for the average newcomer who’s just trying to figure out their social and nightlife?
I mean, Michelle talks in the book about how we have meetings upon meetings upon meetings upon meetings. That is because the city demands it to be. And it’s like, we’re going to be dead by the time we have these meetings. It makes it hard not to be cynical.
What else was missed?
You wanna talk about the social calendar, I’m a little sad that Daddy’s Date Night [at Daddy’s Dogs] didn’t make it in. It’s on Valentine’s Day, it’s like a four-day event. They bring out actual tables, put tablecloths on the whole thing, candles, and for $69 you get two hot dogs, tater tots, salads and your choice of an “adult Kool-Aid” or 40 of High Life.
Back to the cynicism: Do you think it’s a mischaracterization on my part to be like, “rocketpastsix points out the problem, but he’s not part of the solution”?
No. I mean, like, that’s the thing. That’s why I campaigned so hard for Freddie [O’Connell]. It’s like that sign, “I Believe in Nashville.” I believe that Nashville can be better, and I believe my Reddit commenting is not going to get us there, but even through the sarcasm and cynicism, if it gets one more person involved in the grand scheme of life here in Nashville, I see that as a win.
To me, the idea of being perpetually online is agonizing. Of constantly refreshing your feed, constantly getting into arguments with people. What do you get out of it? Is it the dopamine hit? It can’t be fun.
No, it’s not. There are times where, if I’m having a bad day, it’s like the Eye of Sauron posted up on the Batman Building, and I’m like “which bar on Broadway am I about to destroy?” So there’s a little bit of dopamine when you see the upvote counter go up and up and up and up. There’s also a little bit of digging in my heels when I see the downvote counter go up and up and up and up, too. If I’m going to be wrong, I’m going down with the ship. But I have backed out of comment threads because I realized what I didn’t know.
Do you notice a difference between how you are online versus real life?
I don’t know if you’re familiar with this or not, but there’s a thing called the CliftonStrengths, and one of my strengths is “includer,” and one skill that people really see in me is empathy.
Interesting.
Yeah, you wouldn’t know that in my Reddit comments. In my real life I’m introverted, I’m really shy, and like everyone else I want to feel like I belong. So when I see those upvotes, in my head I have concocted a story that says, “Oh, people are laughing at that comment where I level and attack somebody.” So of course I’m like, “I belong. I belong in a Nashville community where people are never going to know who I am.”
Any final words?
We all should go to Chili’s and get a frosty frozen marg and enjoy ourselves.
And then if you’re in the mood, is there a book you’d recommend?
I mean, Music City Musings: Old Nashville Knowledge for Newcomers is a great stocking stuffer, great little book under the tree. You might roll your eyes a little bit, but I think Michelle did a great job covering the basics, and even old people like myself can learn something new.
And you weren’t coerced into saying this?
No.
