After the Starwood complex closed down in 2007, it seemed that dedicated outdoor venues were largely a thing of the past in the Middle Tennessee concert business. Then came Ascend Amphitheater, which opened in 2015 in downtown Nashville and feels like a successful venture some seven years in. A couple years later came the brewery-adjacent Hop Springs complex on the outskirts of Murfreesboro. Last year, FirstBank Amphitheater opened up outside Franklin. Another project in our general vicinity has been announced today. Colorado Springs-based Notes Live is set to open an entertainment complex not far from downtown Murfreesboro in 2023.
If all goes according to plan, an 18-acre parcel of city-owned land near the Stones River and Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital — near the intersection of Medical Center Parkway and Gateway Boulevard in Bucket City — will be home to The Sunset Music Colosseum on the River, an outdoor venue with room for 4,500 people. Also planned for the campus are an indoor venue, to be called Boot Barn Hall, expected to have a capacity of 1,400 plus extensive livestream ability, and an upscale casual-dining spot called Bourbon Brothers Smokehouse and Tavern.
The price tag on the project, described in a release as a public-private partnership, is expected to be $40 million. Plans include hiring some 200 full- and part-time employees.
Notes Live’s first venue launch was a Colorado Springs indoor club called Boot Barn Hall, which opened in 2019. This year, they expanded that footprint with an 8,000-capacity amphitheater called The Sunset and a Bourbon Brothers restaurant. The release notes they aim to repeat the model in expanding markets including Gainesville, Ga., outside Atlanta, as well as unnamed cities in Florida and North Texas.
“I can’t tell you how excited we are to be full steam ahead in building our new Murfreesboro campus,” says Notes Live founder and CEO JW Roth in the release. “We love Murfreesboro and plan to build one of the most luxurious music campuses in the country. We expect our live streaming and content strategy to make ‘Live from Murfreesboro’ a household name in every living room in America.”
The release also includes comments from Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland, who says: “Providing final agreements are approved by Council, the amphitheater will be a public-private partnership adding a significant amenity to the area and elevating Murfreesboro in the Nashville music scene. As mayor, I am delighted, along with the City Council, to welcome Notes Live to Murfreesboro in making this substantial investment and we look forward to Notes Live contributing to the community in many ways.”
