Elliston Place Street Fest Celebrates 46 Years of Evolution in Music City

Nashville has for decades enjoyed a vibrant and diverse music scene that belies our country-exclusive reputation, and Exit/In and The End (née Elliston Square) have played valuable roles in making that a reality. The two clubs, across the street from each other on Elliston Place, have offered opportunities for locals to hone their skills to road-readiness as well as giving Nashvillians the chance to see national touring acts from Blondie to The White Stripes to Bassnectar as they began to gather steam.

Saturday’s Elliston Place Street Fest, which marks the 46th anniversary of Exit/In’s founding, celebrates the broad spectrum of Music City’s music with artists representing various decades of the scene’s evolution, performing on stages inside both venues and in the street. We’ve assembled a playlist of notable tunes from groups on the bill, which you can stream at the bottom of this page, along with more tracks from these artists, as well as others on the bill: Roots of a Rebellion (slated to perform a regular set plus covers of artists on Exit/In's Wall of Fame), Floralorix and The Beta Macks. Below, find a taste of what you’ll hear.

The Wild Feathers, “Goodbye Song”

Broadly speaking, The Wild Feathers make polished Americana built on rock and drawing on country. This cut from their Jay Joyce-produced 2016 LP Lonely Is a Lifetime draws the group out of its comfort zone a bit. The song stretches out over eight minutes to explore one of the Feathers’ best lyrics yet, a nuanced narrative about addiction.

Billy Joe Shaver, “Old Five and Dimers Like Me”

Close your eyes and point at onetime Nashvillian Billy Joe Shaver’s five-decades-deep catalog, and you’ll probably land on a song that opens up a character and shows you how their whole complex world works. This ballad, made famous by Waylon Jennings on his seminal 1973 outlaw-country album Honky Tonk Heroes, showcases Shaver’s ability to pull this off without using any more or bigger words than necessary.

Self, “No One Knows You” 

There’s no such thing as a typical song from Self, the project with a special genius for pop music, started by Matt Mahaffey in the ’90s. But this rocking track with its sugary hook sure is a standout. Self’s sporadic reunion shows are always cause for celebration — doubly this time, since their long-shelved album Ornament and Crime and B-sides collection Porno, Mint and Grime are slated for a limited-edition vinyl release on Aug. 25. 

Lillie Mae, “Wash Me Clean”

This cut is one of the highlights of Forever and Then Some, the debut solo LP that’s helping expert fiddler, songsmith and sometime Jack White band member Lillie Mae establish her own professional identity. It’s a nimble and wistful string-band dance tune, and her voice skips across the melody like a stone on the surface of a pond as she wrestles with a difficult topic: making peace with herself.

LazerSnake, “Livin’ It Up”

Wrestling fan or not, you liked GLOW, right? LazerSnake is Music City’s own Zoya the Destroya, with members of AutoVaughn performing schlocky active rock as the ultimate heels. “Livin’ It Up” opens the Snake’s 2013 record Visual Eyes, and it’ll stick in your head on its own merit. To keep the kayfabe strong, the group has also stoked a rivalry with The Pink Spiders, which is bound to result in some antics on Saturday.

The Pink Spiders, “Easier Than Ever”

Speaking of the Spiders, here’s a brief primer if you don’t know their saga: Their naked ambition to fully embrace the commercial element of music earned them a short ride on the major label roller coaster in the Aughts. “Easier” is Matt Friction & Co.’s first release since a pair of singles in 2011, and it shows their impeccable skill at crafting post-Weezer/post-Strokes power-pop-indebted rock hasn’t diminished one iota.

The Royal Court of China, “It’s All Changed”

Contemporaries of Jason and the (Nashville) Scorchers, Joe Blanton & Co. represent the Nashville Curse era — a lengthy stretch when it was thought that no rock band from Nashville could achieve anything approaching mainstream success. RCoC dissolved after a couple of records for A&M in the late ’80s, but their members continue to make stellar contributions to local rock. The lead track and first single from their 1987 self-titled LP is a deft and distinctive marriage of jangle pop, moody Southern rock and tough-guy hard-rock stylings. 

KDSML, “CRONIC”

As currents in the music world ebb and flow, ace producer KDSML has remained constant in his outstanding work, whether it’s making beats for local MCs, organizing and performing at multi-artist dance parties or making tracks like this gem. It’s a laid-back, trippy piece built around a loop from the scene in Akira where Tetsuo hallucinates being attacked by toys, and it represents just one facet of a catalog that’s full of trap, bass and other sounds that’ll keep the dancefloor moving.

HR_Lexy, “Spirit”

You might know Arlene Sparacia from her Eternal Visions showcase series, highlighting local women musicians, but her own musical project HR_Lexy — currently performing as a trio — is intriguing as well. The buoyant “Spirit” opens HR’s 2016 EP Slaves to the Light, a collection of melancholy electronic pop that you’ll love if you dig both The Human League and Salem 66.