Inside Girlcrush Social House at 1112 Woodland St., a wall features a gallery of queer Nashvillian artists including Brittany Howard, Brandy Clark, Joy Oladokun and Brooke Eden. Soon the walls will include dozens more, as other queer women musicians are invited to bring in their own signed and framed photos. Over time, they’ll fill the entire space.
The organizers’ collective builds vital spaces for songsmiths from the LGBTQ community
After eight years hosting music showcases for queer artists through RNBW Queer Music Collective — and later, Girlcrush lesbian and queer dance parties — a physical space was the natural next step for sisters Emily and Jamie Dryburgh. Girlcrush Social House is owned and operated by Emily Dryburgh and Sumedha Sagar with collaboration from Jamie, and is set for a soft opening Friday, promising a “womxn-forward queer space.”
RNBW will continue in the new space twice per month, and remains key to GirlCrush’s mission.
“Nashville's come a long way,” Jamie tells the Scene. “There's a lot of safe spaces, but we want to make sure that continues. We were the first — and at this point, longest-running — queer music showcase in Nashville. We want to keep that going. There's so many amazing artists. We just want to make sure that they have a place where they can do their art.”
Girlcrush
“There's kids in this community — trans kids, nonbinary kids — they can't go play down Broadway,” Emily adds. “They don't feel safe there. They can't go play Losers or Tin Roof regularly. They don't know what they're going to get in their tip bucket.”
RNBW grew through its residency at Lipstick Lounge, and before that, Tribe. Lipstick Lounge, one of the country’s few remaining lesbian bars, has paved the way for places like Girlcrush, Emily and Jamie agree.
Girlcrush
“Lipstick really paved the way, and [owners] Christa and Jonda have really built a haven,” Emily says. “It’s genuinely iconic. I think maybe we're just a new generation coming in with our community and our mind, and we don't want to disrespect them in any way.”
“We don't want to feel like we are stealing business or we are taking away from other people,” Jamie says. “We want to uplift the other bars and venues and shops and things that share our vision.”
Girlcrush is one big DIY project for its owners, who created all of the art — including a very real girl-crush collage of gay icons papering the bathroom walls. The bar offers round tables made to be moved and pushed together so people can lean in to talk to their neighbors.
Programming will include more events like the Girlcrush parties that preceded the space, as well as trivia nights, music across two stages, and album release parties. In the future, the team would like to offer fitness classes, a coffee shop and a more robust dinner menu. For now, it’s bar basics.
East Nashville’s The Lipstick Lounge is one of few remaining lesbian bars in the U.S.
“We've been saying, ‘Bring us the weird shit, bring us the stuff that you feel like you can't do anywhere else because you don't know if it would be accepted,’” Emily tells the Scene.
Most bar owners make their space and then try to find a community for it. For Emily and Jamie, the community has already been established — people would drive hours to party at Girlcrush events in the past, they say. Their hope is to contribute to making Nashville a destination for the LGBTQ community.
“There will always be a little bit of competition, but they're our friends first,” Emily says of other bar owners in the area. “We want to work with Rosemary and Beyond the Edge and Canvas and Lipstick Lounge to be hopefully a queer destination. I'd love to make this the Nashville gayborhood.”
Upcoming events:
Aug. 21: Girlcrush Lesbian and Queer Party with Jane Dupree
Aug. 22: Girlcrush Patio Day Party with Ari Thee Calf
Aug. 28: Chris Housman’s Dodge City Happy Hour
Sept. 3: Pride showcase presented by SOLID and RNBW Queer Music Collective feat. The Kentucky Gentlemen, Julia Cannon and more
Oct. 11: Nashville Pride National Coming Out Day
Oct. 31: Nashville Pride Halloween Party
Hours:
Tuesday through Friday: 2 p.m. to midnight
Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. to midnight
