Friday News, Viral Edition, March 20

The rapidly developing situation surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic has no doubt impacted all aspects of your daily life, seemingly in an instant. It has ours, too.

We will be sending out a newsletter in the next few days with information regarding the status of our March | April print edition, as well as information about how we intend to move forward during this crisis in a way, we hope, will best serve our community.

In the meantime, take care of yourselves and one another … from a safe distance.

Metro Nashville’s COVID-19 Response Efforts

Mayor John Cooper has been providing daily briefings this week outlining Metro’s efforts to address the pandemic we face. The situation is changing daily, if not hourly, so the mayor’s office has set up a special website containing information on preventing the spread of the virus, Metro services updates, information for people facing economic hardships as a result of the outbreak, and more. Visit the site at asafenashville.org.

Listed below are some items of note.

Mayor’s Office Works with Local Utilities to Offer Residents Financial Relief
Working with local utility providers, the mayor has found the following ways to offer financial relief to all Metro Nashville and Davidson County residents as the community rebuilds from the March 3 tornado and responds to the coronavirus disease.

• Metro Water Services will not assess late fees or disconnect water services to any MWS customers for the next two months. Additionally, any MWS customer who needs to defer payment within this two-month period may make a request by calling (615) 862-4600.  Account balances that are deferred will be evenly spread out over a 12-month period.
• Nashville Electric Service has suspended all disconnects, including disconnects for nonpayment, and late fees until May 31. Contact NES at (615) 736-6900 for more information.
• Piedmont Natural Gas is suspending disconnections for non-payment, waiving late fees and insufficient check fees, and offering flexible payment terms to both residential and commercial customers upon request. Contact Piedmont Natural Gas at 1-800-752-7504 for more information.

United Way Establishes COVID-19 Response Fund
Mayor John Cooper has convened a group of philanthropic, government and business partners to form a COVID-19 Response Fund, which will rapidly deploy resources to community-based organizations, getting dollars to where they are needed most. The fund, housed at United Way is chaired by former Senator Dr. Bill Frist and was established with a $1 million grant from the Frist Foundation. Since the launch of the fund on Tuesday, the Frist Foundation has donated another $1 million and $500,000 was donated by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.

The fund will focus its initial allocations on helping our neighbors who are experiencing lost wages or who become ill from the virus receive the assistance they need to stay in their homes and keep food on the table through grants to various assistance agencies. Side-by-side with the Mayor’s Office, United Way and the Response Committee will work to get these dollars into the greater Nashville region quickly— funding nonprofit partners and service providers working directly with those disproportionally impacted by this challenging landscape.

For more information, and to donate to the fund, visit unitedwaynashville.org/covid-19.

MNPS Works With Second Harvest To Distribute Free Meals
Metro Nashville Public Schools will be offering free student meals along with food boxes provided by Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee at sites identified throughout Davidson County. Metro Schools will be distributing Second Harvest food boxes to families, in addition to food bags provided by The Bridge Ministry, on Wednesday, March 18, from 2-5 p.m. as long as supplies last at locations throughout Davidson County. (Read more: https://news.mnps.org/mnps-food-delivery-sites-announced/)

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Local Businesses and Artists Find Creative Ways To Carry On

It’s In the Cards — Support the Locals!
Many of East Nashville’s small businesses are temporarily closed or running at reduced capacity due to the COVID-19,  but we can still show our support in creative ways. A great way to do so is by purchasing gift cards for later use, or as gifts to others. The Historic East Nashville Merchants Association has made that idea even easier with a list of East Side merchants who are selling gift cards online.

“Since you’re not able to visit your favorite bar, restaurant, or shop the least you can do is buy gift cards now to help keep them afloat until we can get back out into the world and enjoy our favorite spots,” says HENMA board member and Brass Advertising head Matt Hudson.

These efforts were made possible by the HENMA board members — Anne Nicolas Weiss (Weiss Liquors), Lisa McCauley (The East Nashvillian), Tyler Cauble (The Cauble Group), Annie Klaver (River Queen Voyages), Shawn Blazer (Xenergy), and Matt Hudson (Brass Advertising).

To download the list of gift card merchants and for further updates, visit eastnashville.org.

Restaurants Maintaining Take Out/Delivery Services

5th & Taylor — takeout/delivery
8th & Roast — takeout/delivery
12 South Taproom — takeout/delivery
51 North Taproom — takeout/delivery
615 Chutney —  delivery via Doordash, Grubhub, and Postmates
615 Waffles — takeout/delivery
Amerigo —curbside pick-up
Anzie Blue — open and will deliver lunch items, pastries, and CBD products within a 5-mile radius of the store.
Bar1281 — takeout
Babo — takeout/delivery
Baked on 8th — takeout/delivery
Black Dynasty Ramen — curbside pick-up at Bar Sovereign, beginning at 6 p.m.
Butchertown Hall — takeout/delivery
The Cafe at Thistle Farms — takeout/delivery
Café Roze — takeout/delivery
Cava — takeout/delivery
Char — curbside pick-up
City House — takeout/delivery
Crema — takeout/delivery
Daddy’s Dogs — takeout/delivery. now offering free meals to anyone in the music/touring businesses who is now out of work.
Dino’s — takeout/delivery
The Donut + Dog — patio seating, curbside pick-up
Earnest Bar & Hideaway — curbside pick-up
East Park Donuts — takeout/delivery
Emmy Squared — takeout/delivery
Falcon Coffee Bar — takeout/delivery
Far East Nashville — 15 percent discount on takeout/delivery
Fat Kat Slim’s — curbside pick-up
Folk — curbside pick-up from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily
Fonda el Cubilete — phone-in carryout orders
Frothy Monkey — adjusted hours/curbside pick-up
Gino’s East — takeout/delivery
Gray & Dudley — curbside pick-up
Greko Greek Street Food — takeout/delivery on Doordash.
The Grilled Cheeserie — curbside pick-up and delivery via Postmates
Hai’s Sushi & Pho — takeout/delivery within a 5-mile radius
Henrietta Red — curbside pick-up/delivery coming soon.
Hugh Baby’s — online ordering for curbside pick-up
I Dream of Weenie — curbside pick-up of orders placed through their new website
Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse — online ordering for curbside pick-up
King Solomon Gyros — takeout/delivery via Postmates, Grubhub, and Doordash
Liberty Common — added online ordering for takeout
Lockeland Table — takeout orders from 3-8 p.m.
Los Arcos — curbside pick-up/delivery via Doordash, Postmates, and UberEats
Lou — new takeout offerings and pantry items
Lyra — takeout orders 5-8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday
M Street — new delivery menu
Mane & Rye Dinerant —  take-out, including breakfast all-day
Marché Artisan Foods — curbside pick-up/delivery, hours may vary
Margot Café —  curbside pick-up
McCabe Pub — curbside pick-up
Miel — new  takeout menu
Mitchell Deli — takeout/delivery  until 7 p.m., also delivering grocery items including milk, eggs, Drew’s Brews coffee beans, kombucha, and more
Nashville Venezuela Food — delivery
Nectar Urban Cantina — curbside pick-up/delivery via Grubhub and Postmates
Niccoletto’s Italian Kitchen — takeout/delivery
Oak Steakhouse — 10% off takeout orders
O-Ku Nashville — 10% off takeout orders
Ole Smoky and Yee-Haw Brewing at 6th & Peabody — takeout for Prince’s Hot Chicken and White Duck Taco Shop
Otaku Ramen —  takeout/delivery.
Party Fowl — curbside pick-up/delivery via UberEats
Peg Leg Porker — takeout/Doordash
Pelican & Pig — adding takeout and delivery options soon
Pork Belly Farmhouse — curbside pick-up
Proper Bagel —  takeout/delivery.
Red Bicycle — curbside pick-up
Riddim N Spice — delivery
Rolf & Daughters — curbside pick-up
Rosie’s Twin Kegs — curbside pick-up
Rudie’s Seaford & Sausage — takeout only
STK Nashville — delivery via GrubHub
Saint Stephen — takeout and pantry items like fresh pasta, biscuits, meatballs, and bloody mary mix
Saltine — closing an hour earlier each day, curbside pick-up
Slim & Husky’s — takeout/delivery
Smokin’ Thighs — takeout/delivery
Southside Grill — takeout/delivery via DoorDash and Nashville Delivers
Subculture Urban Cuisine & Cafe — curbside pick-up/delivery via Uber Eats.
Superica — takeout/delivery
Taziki’s — curbside pick-up/delivery
Tower Market and Deli — curbside pick-up
Twin Kegs II — takeout/delivery via Doordash and UberEats
Two Ten Jack —takeout
Village Pub & Beer Garden — closing one hour early
The Wild Cow — takeout/delivery
Yeast Nashville — takeout/delivery 

The Music and Events Go On — Virtually

The new day of social distancing has struck a blow to Nashville’s live music and event scene, but that doesn’t mean people are going quietly.  Many “virtual” events have been announced in the last week and more are surely on the way, while stores and artists are finding new ways to deliver their goods to customers.

Many upcoming events —Sevier Park Fest, Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival, East Nashville Beer Festival have been canceled or postponed. Most music or live event venues are now closed. The new normal will be to check before planning to attend any event for the next few months.

Despite this, humans are a tenacious and inventive lot, so people have already begun to find new ways to share music, stage events, and deliver goods. For live music virtual concerts has been a reality for some time, but have now gained new popularity as a number of “Quarantunes” sites spring up online to meet the demand for at-home entertainment.

Below is a very limited listing, but we look forward to bringing you more info about online happenings in the very near future.

One ongoing series we’re particularly fond of is “Kitchen Covers with Drew Holcomb“, available on the Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors FB page.

Looking for virtual roots music show or staging one and not sure how to get out the word? A new Facebook group, Country Blues QuaranTunes, is a central clearinghouse for shows. The first show sponsored by the group is Brennen Leigh, Sunday, March 22 at 8 p.m. CST. Check out the Facebook event page for details.

Always a source of outside the box (but now inside the home) thinking, Third Man Records launched their new streaming concert series this week, Third Man Public Access, with a performance by new-age pedal steel player Luke Schneider. The music is live, every day at noon CST. Check it out at Third Man Records YouTube Channel where you can also access archived shows.

Amanda Shires launched her ongoing live performance/hanging out with friends series, “I So Lounging” on Thursday on her YouTube Channel. Follow her on Twitter for announcements of future episodes.

Matt Friction of the Pink Spiders is staging a house show from his living room on Tuesday, March 24, at 8 p.m. CST via StageIt. Tickets are $3.50 and are available from The Pink Spiders website.

On Wednesday, March 25, at 8 p.m. Appalachian Road Show’s release party for their album Tribulation will be at the Station Inn and will be streamed live via stationinntv.com. A GoFundMe is accepting donations that will benefit Hands On Nashville’s tornado relief efforts.

Happening tonight, Friday, March 20

6 p.m., Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn will host Banjo House Lockdown on Facebook Live from their home. Details at Béla’s Facebook page.

Ron Gallo launches the “ongoing, ever-changing digital festival”, REALLY NICE FEST tonight at 7 p.m. via Instagram Live channel found @reallyniceinstaan and continuing through March 26. REALLY NICE FEST is named after the creative outlet Gallo launched in December, REALLY NICE WEBSITE. Initial performances scheduled will feature Ron Gallo & Chickpee, Natalie Prass, the 3:11 Eric Slick Bongo Bananza, Naked Giants, Not From England, No. Stress (Paul Horton of Concurrence & Alabama Shakes), and Ohmme. The live streaming festival will also feature comforting/positive reading material, DJ sets, tutorials, a talk show hosted by Gallo, with many more artists added to the schedule daily.

10 p.m. CST Maggie Rose will be presenting a virtual concert live from East Nashville. The show is free but tips are encouraged through Venmo or PayPal. Details at maggierosemusic.com.

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Musicians are not the only ones finding new ways to continue in a world of lock-downs and quarantines. Local record shops are adapting too. The Groove and The Great Escape have both closed their stores but The Groove is still slinging records through their website and is offering delivery and curbside pick-up for some purchases. See their Facebook page for more info. The Great Escape is adding more items to their online store and will be offering curbside pick-up for new comics, for details visit them on Facebook.

Grimey’s and Vinyl Tap are still open with limited hours and are offering to mail-order curbside delivery. For updates, see their respective Facebook pages.

Reading a good book is a great way to enjoy your time at home and East Side booksellers have all responded. Fairytales Bookstore and More is still reeling from the damage inflicted by the tornado on the shop, but they are adding more items to their online store and are offering both curbside pick-up and free local (37206 and 37216) delivery. The Bookshop is closed but is offering online sales, with local delivery and curbside pick-up coming soon. Defunct Books also selling books online and offers browsing by appointment only.

Need some greenery for the Spring? The Perennial Plant Society of Middle Tennessee announced the cancellation of its 2020 Plant Sale this week, which was scheduled to take place at The Nashville Fairgrounds on April 4, 2020.  But the virtual sales go on for past plant sale attendees and PPS members. Visit the PPS website for details.

If you’re a merchant finding new and safe ways to reach customers let us know. Contact the editor at randy@theeastnashvillian.com and we’ll help get the word out!