East Nashville Underground: A Magical Reunion | Thursday Preview

For a number of years, East Nashville Underground served as a quarterly, weekend-long, drunken get-together; a showcase of some of Nashville’s finest up and coming artists (many of whom have gone on to do some very impressive things since) that grew out of its basement beginnings to literally putting The East Room on the map. It’s been a little over two years since the festival’s final installment, but we often think back fondly, not only about the incredible music we were able to catch on such a regular basis, but about the community that formed around it. Yes, ENU was a nothing short of a family, and, as families do, they’ve announced a long-awaited reunion, set to take place over three nights (and one day) this weekend, Thursday Nov. 19 through Saturday, Nov. 21 at new east side hang The Basement East.

The “magical reunion” lineup is, naturally, stacked with a ton of blog faves, all ENU alumni.  We’re getting you familiar through a series of posts, and, below, we’ve got the rundown on the Thursday night kickoff event, with The Wans, Blackfoot Gypsies, The JAG, Justin Kalk, Heavy Sole, and DJ Tanner.  You can still get weekend tickets for $35 ($50 for VIP), or, while supplies last, you can get single day tickets at the door for $15. The show starts at 8 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.), and the event is 21+.

Head below to get revved up, and have an awesome reunion weekend!

HEAVY SOLE

We got our first taste of Heavy Sole at ENU, so it is fitting that they are going to start things off for us on Thursday night with their minimal two piece approach to rocking the fuck out.  Check out their live cut of “High Street Walker” below to get a taste of the best reason to get out in time to get your long weekend party started.

JUSTIN KALK

The Justin Kalk Orchestra veered onto the gonzo side of garage blues with 2014’s VoLcanO, not only with album art courtesy of Ralph Steadman, but with the onslaught of screeching guitar, turntables, violins and rabid vocal attacks from producer/madman/marvel Kalk.  Check out the music video for “Dirty Things” from VoLcanO below, and get awesomly weird with it.

THE JAG

Fans of the blog will recognize The JAG, and our absolute love of their recently released LP, Pondermental Wonderment In Hypocricity.  If you haven’t heard it before, click that link back there to get a taste, and you’ll realize why the psychedelic mastery is reason enough to be out on a Thursday night.

BLACKFOOT GYPSIES

Blackfoot Gypsies solidified themselves in the Nashville rock conversation with the release of their stellar release, Handle It, which dropped on Plowboy Records earlier this year.  You’ve had a bunch of chances to see them at No Country events this year, but, even if you caught them all, each of their blues inspired honky tonk Stones era retro rock makes for a great show.  And, if you’re trying to figure out the best route to The Basement East, check out the sweet ass “Pork Rind” video below to plot your course.

THE WANS

Saving the loudest for last, The Wans are designed to crush the end of this bill.  Loud, unapologetic rock is what The Wans perfected with their stand out 2014 release He Said, She Said.  Rumor on the street is that, in the midst of heavy touring, The Wans have another release in final production right now.  Go ahead and start notching this one for your Best of 2016 lists.

DJ TANNER

DJ Tanner is the alter ego of man about town Jerry Pentecost, who you’ve undoubtedly seen on drums backing numerous popular bands, among other endeavors. Jerry’s taste in music is top-notch, so expect a great DJ set to wind down the night, if you’re sober enough to remember it (just make sure you Uber home, if that’s the case).

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