If you read the Buzz last week, you already know that The East Nashvillian has launched its first annual Best of East awards. And hopefully, you have already followed this link to vote for all your favorite just-about-everythings, including bars, restaurants, parks, tattoo studios, festivals, attorneys (yes, attorneys), and more. But if you haven’t, don’t stress, you have until Aug. 17. Vote for your favorite gas station beer selection in the “Victuals & Libations” category. Or vote for your favorite teacher in the “Toddlers, Tykes, & Teens” category. Have fun with it, and help those hard-working, pandemic-surviving (or new) businesses get a little well-deserved love. Don’t forget to read the fine print: You can only vote for businesses located in East Nashville zip codes, and all ballots must have a minimum of 30 entries to be valid. Ready, set, vote!
Check out our web-only pieces on Nashville’s prolific Americana poster-child Jim Lauderdale, who celebrates the release of his 34th album, Hope, tonight at 3rd & Lindsley, and Amelia White & Brett Ryan Stewart, who lay bare their loneliness with the new single, “Somebody to Hold.”
And don’t forget to enter our contest for two tickets to see Bill Maher live at The Ryman on Aug. 15. You must enter by Saturday.
We went bowling at Eastside Bowl but you still can’t (soon though!)
The best part of owning a bowling alley is, well, free bowling, duh! Staff at Eastside Bowl bowled the first private games, following last week’s completion of the 16-lane bowling alley. “It was fun to finally roll one down the lane and actually experience what we’ve been building for the last couple of years,” said Chark Kinsolving, one of the venue’s owners. The rest of the 32,000 square foot Madison complex, featuring a 5,000 square foot concert venue with two stages —affectionately called The Wash as a nod to co-owner Jamie Rubin’s former establishment, The Family Wash, and a diner (painted the exact colors of a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop guitar) called, Chark’s Laneside Diner, is still under construction. Stay tuned, as we will be announcing the opening date very soon.
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum announces membership deal in August
Throughout August, individual memberships to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will be $5 off and family memberships will be $10 off. Museum members enjoy free admission to the museum galleries, family and youth programs in the Taylor Swift Education Center, and hundreds of other educational programs, including Songwriter Sessions. Visit here for more information.
Walk the West reunites Saturday at The Basement East
Walk the West — a rootsy mainstay of Nashville’s early rock scene — will reunite Saturday at The Basement East to play songs from their 1986 Capitol Records self-titled release and other fan favorites.
“This whole thing is to get together with old friends and have some damn fun with music,” said bassist John Golemon, who formed the band in 1984 along with singer/guitarist Paul Kirby, guitarist Will Golemon, and drummer Richard Ice.
Unfortunately, the current lineup Saturday will be missing Paul, as he passed away in 2011, and Will is unable to perform. Golemon, however, says fans will not be disappointed with Joe Blanton singing and playing Paul’s guitar/harmonica parts, and Nick Nguyen playing lead guitar. Dave Kennedy, who played with Walk the West for years before the band changed its name and countrified its sound — becoming The Cactus Brothers in 1992 — will be on drums Saturday.
“God it sounds great and the songs sound just like they did on the fuckin’ record, and that’s what we want,” Golemon said. “We’re doing this for the fans.”
The show will see some special guest vocalists, and serve as a tribute to not only Paul Kirby, but renowned Cactus Brothers dulcimer player David Schnaufer, who passed away in 2006, Golemon says.
Walk the West was scheduled to play The Basement East last year, but then the Mar. 3, 2020 tornado tore the roof off the building. The band then started working on a benefit show for The Basement East at 3rd and Lindsley, but the COVID-19 pandemic put that on hold too. “We’ve been waiting for a damn year to do this,” Golemon said. “We’re excited.”
The show will be opened by John Jackson and The Rhythm Rockers, fronted by former Bob Dylan guitarist and longtime Nashville musician John Jackson.
Tickets are available here.
It was not a great week for gun violence in East Nashville
A man followed a woman, then got out of his car and fired a gun at her car, just off of Gallatin Pike at the intersection of Bronte Avenue and Litton Avenue in East Nashville Saturday afternoon.
A man carjacked a real estate agent at gunpoint on Porter Road July 20.
A man was shot after an altercation with another man he knew on Hanover Road in East Nashville Monday Morning.
And a domestic disturbance left one man shot dead at an East Bank hotel Monday night.
A representative from Metro’s East Precinct could not be reached for comment by deadline.
Quick Bits “There Goes the Neighborhood Edition”
- Popular East Nashville dive bar and karaoke hangout Fran’s East Side, 2105 Greenwood Ave., must move from its current location. A new spot has not yet been secured, but a GoFundMe (available here) has been set up, with a goal of raising $50,000 to help with the move and other mounting expenses.
- Residents of the Berkshire Place Apartments, 1500 Porter Road, met with the complex’s owners on Saturday to discuss a plan to relocate all residents to a new location in Madison. Many of the tenants in the Section 8 complex are elderly or disabled. According to WPLN, First Cumberland Properties, which owns the property, plans to build a larger, mixed-use development in its place.
- According to The Tennessean, a federal eviction moratorium did not stop evictions in Nashville during the COVID-19 pandemic, and when it expires July 31, housing advocates and city officials are uncertain what will happen.
- A man has been accused of spying on women in the locker room at the East Nashville YMCA.
- Police found a 24-year-old man in Five Points naked, wearing one shoe, and trying to get into a car early Tuesday morning.
Love Buzz: “Watch the Stars” by Lindsay Starr
Feeling overwhelmed? Me too. There is a lot going on! COVID-19 numbers are climbing again, tornadoes, wildfires, and earthquakes have ravaged parts of the country just this week and PBS announced they’re canceling Arthur! What the fuck?!
Thankfully, today Nashville’s own Lindsay Starr releases her debut album Blaming the Weather, and the opening track, “Watch the Stars,” is just what you need to hear when things begin to spiral. The song is a breezy and romantic invitation to slow down. Over tender, repetitive percussion and with a Mazzy Star-like airiness, Starr sings wistfully about laying in bed with someone she loves, just talking, just “hanging around.” It’s a simple sentiment, but a poignant one.
Also worth checking out: her cover of the Tears for Fears classic “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” The pop song is already haunting, but Starr takes it to another level early on with ethereal vocals. There’s a little something sinister in the way she sings, “There’s no turning back / Even while we sleep / We will find you.” Like, OK, I believe you, Lindsay. There really is no turning back. Chills.
“Love Buzz” is curated by contributor Megan Seling
