Bryce McCloud and Courtney Cochran
Letterpress printing was invented in the 15th century by Johannes Gutenberg, and its ancestor movable type originated much earlier in China around 1040. But what’s happening over at The Truth, Live Nation’s new music venue in Wedgewood-Houston, may be a first for the time-honored art.
Every time there’s a show at The Truth, artist Bryce McCloud uses a vintage letterpress to make prints of the set list for the night’s show as it happens. Concertgoers can watch the art being made in the custom-designed Set List Studio on the venue’s second floor.
“We wanted to take a very iconic part of Nashville’s history, a really amazing art form, and make it our own, and have it mean something for the future of this venue,” says Mietra Beyer, head of brand and experience development Blueprint Studio, Live Nation’s in-house design team. “We were trying to create something new that really is iconic for The Truth. Nobody else is doing this — printing the set list of an artist as they’re performing it. It’s very hard to do, but we wanted to challenge ourselves.”
Indeed, when Blueprint Studio approached McCloud with the idea about two years ago wondering if it would be possible, he said, “Let’s try it and see.”
A vast web of printers, many of whom got their start at Hatch Show Print, stretches out well beyond Tennessee
“Nashville is historically a printing town,” says McCloud, who until recently lived and worked in Wedgewood-Houston. “Part of the reason it’s Music City is music publishing in the 1800s. There were hundreds of music publishing printing houses here in town, specifically in this neighborhood. Even in the 1990s, when people were photocopying gig posters and show posters, they made them look like they were letterpressed because it was such an integral part of how Nashville sees itself. So I felt like if there is any place in the world to try this idea, this is the perfect place to do it.”
Live Nation chose the paint colors for Set List Studio — it is open and faces the venue’s multistory lobby, with its lyric chandelier that scrolls the words to songs as they are played. But McCloud was otherwise empowered to design and set up the studio as he wanted, sourcing a 1950s press and tracking down antique cabinetry cases to hold the sorts (letterpress lingo for the individual letters).
On a typical night, McCloud receives the set list from the artists after they complete sound check. The night of The Chicks’ show last month, it was 5:02 p.m. That gave him about five-and-a-half hours to compose the design, hand-set the type and print 200 posters before night’s end, with breaks to chat with folks about the process and concept.
Ink for the press
Attendees can purchase posters at any point during the night (as long as they don’t sell out) and pick them up after the show. Because the set list is secret until the songs are played, McCloud prints behind a sign that reads “CONFIDENTIAL.” Viewers can see the process and talk to McCloud about what’s happening, but they can’t see the song titles and can’t pick up their purchases until the last song has been played. The team slides the posters into glassine bags to keep the ink from smearing before it’s fully dry as people leave the venue.
How do you get an entire city to make an artistic statement about the way it sees itself? One that doesn't weigh celebrity over average citize…
McCloud’s Isle of Printing has been a fixture in Nashville since 1997, creating highly visible works such as the can wall in the bowling alley at Pinewood Social and the packaging for Barista Parlor. In recent years, McCloud and his art have become more interactive, underscoring the company ethos: “[We] believe in the positive power of creativity to make our world a more interesting place to live.”
That included Bailout Nashville prints folded inside Olive & Sinclair chocolate bars to raise money after the 2010 flood, community- and morale-building projects during the coronavirus pandemic, and Experimart, his art-creation retail space. Toward the end of each night at The Truth, McCloud delivers a handful of posters backstage to the artists’ team. The artists sign one to hang at the venue, and the rest are for them to keep. As McCloud walks back to the Set List Studio, he takes a picture of the audience — a way he’s documenting this experience in this next stage in letterpress history. McCloud’s belief in art as a community experience rather than something you just hang on the wall, combined with his expertise in printing and his commitment to preserving Nashville’s history, makes him uniquely qualified to bring the Set List Studio to life.
Picking out sorts — lingo for individual letters — for hand-setting type
McCloud is still working on what to do on nights when the artist doesn’t use set lists. During Jack White’s two-night stand at the venue last month, he printed some of his well-known “Invest in Kindness” prints. Folks who signed the print and pledged to bring more kindness into the world could take a print home. In the future, McCloud hopes to use Set List Studio to train up-and-coming artists in letterpress arts. “I have faith in the creative spirit and want to teach the next generation,” he says. “Where else are they going to learn that?”
“In the world of AI and in the world that we live in today, this is at the core of a live-music experience,” Beyer says. “It’s happening here, live — now, right in front of you. I think the tactile, visual nature of creating something that you can take home in front of you right now pairs well with live music.”
Post a comment as anonymous
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Welcome to the discussion.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or otherwise abusive language. Comments featuring hate speech or threatening or violent content will not be tolerated.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie or mislead.
Be proactive. Use the “report” link on any comment that violates our comment policy.
Share with us. We'd love to hear your feedback.