Clockwise from top left: Courtney Marie Andrews, Los Straitjackets, Billy Strings, Wednesday, David Byrne
As 2025 draws to a close, there’s already a ton of music to look forward to in Music City in 2026. Maybe you have some holiday gift cash burning a hole in your pocket, or perhaps you’re finally getting a few minutes to yourself to make some plans for the new year. We’re here to lend a hand with a quick rundown of some new releases and shows on our radar in the coming months.
Let’s include books about music in “releases.” Jan. 13 is publication day for What You Do When You’re Lonesome (DaCapo Press), Rolling Stone senior research editor Jonathan Bernstein’s authorized biography of the late, great Justin Townes Earle. Gearheads can preorder Made on Earth for Rising Stars: The Electro-Harmonix Story (Third Man Books), an in-depth history of the groundbreaking effects-pedal company, though they’ll have to wait a bit as the book’s ship date is May 12 as of this writing.
Fans of epic video-game rockers The Protomen have been waiting more than a decade for Act III: This City Made Us, the third installment in their ongoing Mega Man-inspired rock opera. New tracks have been rolling out on the group’s Bandcamp profile throughout the fall, and the full LP is officially out Jan. 9. That’s also release day for Bloodline, the debut full-length from self-described Afro Appalachian folk singer Mon Rovîa. He lives in Chattanooga but frequents Nashville and will be playing a release event at Grimey’s on Jan. 9.
Widely loved singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews’ next album is called Valentine; it’s out Jan. 16, and her release tour will stop at The Blue Room at Third Man Records a good bit later, on March 27. State Fête, the debut from the improvisational trio of wide-ranging Nashvillian Matt Glassmeyer, Billy Martin (of Medeski Martin and Wood) and Jonathan Goldberger is due Jan. 16 as well. Meanwhile, Andrews’ fellow songsmith Bre Kennedy is set to celebrate her new LP The Alchemist with a show at The Blue Room on release day, Jan. 30, and Jeremy Ivey’s Its Shape Will Reveal Itself is on deck for a Feb. 16 release.
The calendar is also already brimming with shows that don’t have local releases attached. Two beloved Middle Tennessee rock bands, The Features and Glossary, are reuniting for a pair of shows benefiting public radio, Jan. 30 and 31 at Eastside Bowl (tickets sold out very quickly). Soul legend Mavis Staples plays the Ryman Jan. 24 with support from M.J. Lenderman. Contemporary bluegrass star and rocker Billy Strings will also be at the Ryman, on Feb. 22; that show is sold out, but as has become tradition on his adopted-hometown run, he’s playing the previous two nights at Bridgestone Arena as well.
Rock instrumental champions Los Straitjackets are headed to The 5 Spot Feb. 6, the night before independent venues all over town join in the daylong second annual 615 Indie Live festival, featuring performances from soul legend Charles “Wigg” Walker, rockers like Lilly Hiatt and Venus & the Flytraps and heaps more.
Looking ahead a little further, Bonnaroo-bound rock aces Wednesday are stopping in at Brooklyn Bowl March 15, and the venerable rock ’n’ pop explosion that is Redd Kross will be back at The Blue Room April 11. Pop queen Demi Lovato will be at Bridgestone Arena April 14. Hometown rock heroine (and recent Scene cover interviewee) Hayley Williams’ tour for Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party stops in at the Ryman for three nights, April 25, 27 and 28. While it’s technically not summer, May 9 is far enough off that it feels like it, and that’s when David Byrne’s latest tour touches down at Ascend Amphitheater. If you’re going to Big Ears Festival in Knoxville (March 26 through 29), you’ve got a chance to see him there as well.
Speaking of summer, festival season will be here before you know it. We know the lineup of the aforementioned Bonnaroo (featuring Skrillex, The Strokes, Kesha and more) and Big Ears Festival, but info on free concert series Musicians Corner, Nashville Pride, AmericanaFest, Pilgrimage and other fests is yet to come.
