In quantity, it’s a pretty light week around town, but the quality is pinging the meter. Between the co-headlining gig with Willie Nelson & Alison Krauss to a record release party featuring some of Nashville’s finest to a city-wide comedy festival, this is shaping up to be another one for the books. This weekend has been a challenge for many with sell outs happening left and right, like the aforementioned Willie-Alison to Portugal The Man to a bunch of the Wild West Comedy sets. Don’t fret though Nashville, we still have a ton of great shows that should keep your asses movin’ straight through til Monday. Check below for the full rundown of our staff picks in another edition of TWiN!
FRIDAY
LULU MAE ALBUM RELEASE SHOW w/ EL EL, OAK CREEK BAND
@ Exit/In | 7pm | $5 | 18+
Folk-rock family Lulu Mae dropped their second full length album this week. Mean River rocks harder and folks smoother than the band ever has before. They’ll be joined by locals EL EL, whose laid-back group harmonies and diverse instrumentation have made them the cool kids every Nashville band wants on the bill. Oak Creek Band lays down some mean keys to go along with the Americana chops fronted by the whole band. Since the entire lineup isn’t shy about gang vocals, don’t be shy about singing along with ’em. [WD]
WILLIE NELSON AND FAMILY & ALISON KRAUSS AND UNION STATION FEATURING JERRY DOUGLAS
@ The Woods at Fontanel | 6:30pm | All Ages | SOLD OUT
We did a full preview on this show this morning. Let me paraphrase it in one sentence here though. “Willie Nelson is 81 years old, so don’t miss your chance to see a music legend perform live.” Tickets for this one are pretty much sold out, but, if you jump on it, you can probably snag one of the hundreds of tickets on Stubhub or Craigslist that are floating around for face value or below. [MH]
BASKERY
@ The Basement | 7pm | $5 | 21+
Swedish alt-Americana sister group Baskery are hitting The Basement in support of their new release, Little Wild Life! The self-proclaimed “Queens of Banjopunk,” Baskery’s sound draws just as much influence from punk and indie rock as it does from traditional folk and country music. Boasting a remarkable live presence, this is a trio you aren’t going to want to miss. [KA]
PORTUGAL. THE MAN w/ QUIET LIFE
@ Cannery Ballroom | 8pm | SOLD OUT| 18+
We’ve been hyping the shit out of this show for months,and we warned you that it would probably sell out. Next time, you’ll have to trust us. Hopefully, you have tickets (or you won tickets through us!), but, if not, you’ll just have to catch new wave psychedelic rockers Portugal. The Man their next go ‘round. You can start cursing yourself for missing out noooooow. [JR]
EX-CULT w/ SLAMMERS, WEEKEND BABES, WAXED
@ The End | 9pm | $10 | 18+
Memphis punks Ex-Cult make it to Music City quite often, so, chances are, you’ve had plenty of opportunities to catch them, whether it was at a Freakin’ Weekend, supporting acts like Ty Segall or JEFF the Brotherhood, or, in headlining spots like this one. Locals Slammers (featuring members of JEFF, Cy Barkley, and more), Weekend Babes, and Waxed round out the bill, and ensure this will be one rowdy, punk/hardcore party. [PO]
SCALE MODEL
@ Grimey’s | 6pm | Free | All Ages
This new wave/indie rock/pop band is bringing their CD release show for their debut album, Star, to Grimey’s. The four piece band is from both Nashville and Chicago (which, let’s be honest, are two of greatest cities in the USA) and, despite this album being their debut, Scale Model have already received quite a bit of attention from the locals. With so much notice for the quartet, it’s no surprise that Star doesn’t disappoint. So head on down to listen to Scale Model and, hey, you’re in luck – since Grimey’s is a music store, you might as well conveniently pick up a copy of the new CD. [BM]
SATURDAY
CAPITOL DISTRICT STREET FAIR: MACHINES ARE PEOPLE TOO, JAMES WALLACE AND THE NAKED LIGHT, RANCH GHOST, ALYSSA BONAGURA, ANDREW LEAHEY & THE HOMESTEAD, WATERFALL WASH
@ Morgan Park (Germantown) | 3pm | Free | All Ages
It’s officially festival/fair season! A.K.A. let’s ruin our beach bodies with cold beer and amazing bites. It’s OK; we hear the Shamu look is in this year. The Capitol District Street Fair has a slew of our favorite local acts to help bring together the Germantown, Salemtown, Hope Gardens, and Buena Vista neighborhoods. If you ride your bike over, they’ll even have bike valet! Now that’s a street fair with class and service. [WD]
MUSICIANS CORNER: JON MCLAUGHLIN, TRISTEN, 18 SOUTH
@ Centennial Park | 1:30pm | Free | All Ages
If you haven’t gotten to check out any of the Muscian’s Corner series yet, we highly recommend you come out to see one of these free concerts in Centennial Park. This week’s installation features pop rock songwriter Jon McLaughlin, whom many of you might be familiar with due to his numerous TV promos and work with artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Jason Mraz, Demi Lovato, and Sara Bareilles. The songwriter has been active since 2003, recording five studio albums in that time. McLaughlin is probably best known for his hit track “Beautiful Disaster”, which we’ve embedded below for your listening pleasure. seeing as this is a free show in the middle of the day, there’s really no reason not to come out if you’ve got the time. Hope to see you there! [JS]
PUJOL, NATURAL CHILD, DENNEY & THE JETS, FOX FUN
@ The East Room | 9pm | $5 | 18+
There’s a whole lot of hard rock happening this weekend, but you can ease into some Nashville spiced garage rock over at the appropriately garagish East Room on Saturday night. The evening is dubbed as the record release party for Pujol‘s upcoming record Kludge that we have been telling you about, but it will also feature sets from two Nashville bands, that we love, but don’t get to see on the reg. Natural Child and Denney & The Jets are two of our favorite local bands right now, and you better believe any one of these three are worth more than the $5 you’ll pay to get in. See you there! [MH]
AN EVENING WITH LED ZEPPELIN 2
@ Exit/In | 8pm | $15 | 21+
For most of us, seeing Led Zeppelin in their prime, live, is an abstract fantasy. Luckily the epic Zep tribute band, Led Zeppelin 2 can give you the second best thing for only $15! This isn’t just a greatest hits show, these guys have the moves, the skills and the improv that will make you feel like you’ve traveled back in time to the hay days of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. [JR]
SUNDAY
THE DEAD DEADS, SHEEP SHIFTER, TENNESSEE SCUM, MEAGAJOOS, AND THE REVOLUTIONS
@ The Basement | 8pm | Free | 21+
Are you in the mood for something unique this Sunday? Good news, then, as as local five piece rock/punk/dance outfit The Dead Deads are having an album release show at the Basement! If you haven’t had a chance to become exposed to the Dead Deads yet, the vocally affluent quintet uses a metal approach to punk and standard rock, meaning they tend to fall into deeply distorted grooves, often written in alternative tunings. Opening for the Dead Deads is a number of local punk and rock acts, basically guaranteeing that the Basement will once more turn into a thrashing, sweaty party. Sounds awesome, eh? By the way, did we mention this show is free? [JS]
[BM] Beth McAllister
[JR] Jacob Ryan
[JS] Jack Smith
[KA] Kelsi Alexander
[MC] Matt Cairns
[MH] Matt Hall
[PO] Philip Obenschain
[WD] Wes Davenport