Kaitlin Butts
On its penultimate day, AmericanaFest offers gems and jewels you can enjoy without getting caught in the neon bustle of Broadway. Get a start on your treasure hunt at noon with the No Depression Sessions at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge. Ruthie Foster, Gaby Moreno, Christian Lee Hutson and “beer for errbody” are on the bill, and the event will be filmed and released in series format; hooting and hollering are encouraged for atmospheric purposes. Stop by Drifters at 4 p.m. for It’s All Gravy and catch Cajun and Americana acts like Runner of the Woods, Yarn and The Farmer & Adele. If you’re anything like me, it might help to mention that free poutine will be provided.
Bordeaux, France-raised and Austin, Texas-based Theo Lawrence is much more of a pearl-snaps-and-boots guy than a beret-and-shades type. The self-styled “countré crooner” brings his old-school twang to kick off a special AmericanaFest edition of Musicians Corner in Centennial Park with his 5 p.m. set. Malena Cadiz, Tommy Prine, The Dead Tongues and country champ Kaitlin Butts — stopping in amid a whirlwind of dates around her Oklahoma!-inspired album Roadrunner! — will also play before the family-friendly, no-passes-required event wraps at 9.
The Bluebird Cafe’s writer’s round, starting at 6 p.m. (and requiring a separate reservation via the venue’s website), boasts a triple threat of seasoned tunesmiths Adam Wright, Robert Earl Keen and Suzy Bogguss. Over at The Basement, find tons of rising talent you’ll want to know, from ethereal “bootgaze” up-and-comer Clover County at 7 p.m. to Fancy Hagood — who you’ve likely heard lots of places but almost certainly on Orville Peck’s Stampede — at 11.
Longtime East Side favorite The 5 Spot hosts longtime favorite Nashville players like Teddy and the Rough Riders at 7 p.m. and Jess Nolan at 11, plus Pacific Northwestern great Margo Cilker at 9 and recently arrived Nashvillian Max McNown at 10. (Emily Nenni, just back from a U.K. tour with the aforementioned Teddy backing her, plays Exit/In at 11 p.m.) Just steps away from The 5 Spot, Aaron Lee Tasjan’s 10 p.m. set tops a lineup at The Purple Building that also includes Drivin N Cryin’s Kevn Kinney at 8.
Amythyst Kiah
Nashville gospel heroines The McCrary Sisters will take Mainstage at Cannery Hall to Friday evening church at 7:30 p.m. Easy-rolling Uganda-born and Texas-residing singer Jon Muq follows at 8:30, and banjo-picking powerhouse songsmith Amythyst Kiah takes over at 9:30.
Local fans of “the original D-O-double-G” — aka funk-rock-soul hero Swamp Dogg, aka Jerry Williams Jr. — got to witness his showmanship at Grimey’s and on the Grand Ole Opry in July on the tour for Blackgrass. He returns with a stop at Station Inn at 8 p.m. Friday, with fringe-jacket-wearin’ country-Western quartet Jenny Don’t and the Spurs hot on his heels at 9.
Mexican folk songsmith Silvana Estrada and Nashville folky alt-rockers Sixpence None the Richer bookend Friday’s lineup at City Winery, with sets at 7 and 10 p.m. respectively. You know the long-dormant Sixpence for their wispy, wistful late-’90s megahit “Kiss Me,” aka “that one song in every rom-com.” But they’ve recently reunited and are making new music for a new decade; it’s hard to beat a mix of new discovery and nostalgia for ending your night.
Ahead of AMERICANAFEST, we talk with Emerging Act of the Year nominee Wyatt Flores, run down our favorite shows and more
