TWiN | This Weekend In Nashville | 2/1 – 2/3

It’s Super Bowl weekend, and that means that you have every excuse to sit your ass on the couch on Sunday to overeat food that makes you gassy and watch the Niners whoop that ass.  You’ll also a short set of some pretty heavy duty music for your halftime entertainment, and let’s hope it turns out better for Beyonce than it did for Madonna when MIA flicked off America last year.  Do you know what else your sloth-like Sunday means?  It means you have no excuse not to get out this weekend to see some live music (and help our own Jessika celebrate her birthday).  Here’s our run down of the hot shows in town this weekend!

Friday

Nashville’s Leagues are definitely in the local spotlight lately with their recent release, You Belong Here, their recent in-store over at Grimey’s, and a spotlight on Lightning 100’s The 615.  Leagues is Thad Cockrell, Tyler Burkum (Missy Higgins, Mat Kearney) , and Jeremy Lutito (Mat Kearney).  Their infectious poppy rock tunes have a beat that is sure to make your ass move.  You should not think twice, and get over to Mercy Lounge to check them out tonight.  You can check out their video for the ever-catchy “Spotlight” off of the new record below.  Things get started around 9pm with Ms Nikki Lane.  You can still grab some tickets right here.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOTXM5obLcA&w=560&h=315]

If you haven’t heard of New Jersey’s The Front Bottoms, tonight’s your chance to right that wrong immediately! They’re one of those bands that, once you jump on the band wagon, you can’t believe that everyone else doesn’t love them just as much yet. The acoustic-indie-dance punks will be performing at The End with Gunter Doug and 12th Street Social Club. The Front Bottoms are a bit of an enigma: the duo (often joined by additional members for live shows) are decidedly punk rock, but acoustic. They make you want to dance, but resound emotionally strong with smart and earnest lyrics. The band’s latest release, which is self-titled, is packed with lush, melodically dense, tastefully poppy tunes that will have you hooked from the first note. Check out the video for the band’s song “Swimming Pool” below. The show kicks off tonight at 8PM and tickets are still available here.

This weekend, Nashville is host to the LGBT Music Festival happening on various stages in various venues between the Musica statue and Midtown. The event will feature nearly 400 artists of all genres (in addition to a hefty amount of patrons attending and volunteers making it happen – with everyone invited to perform) and will also offer educational seminars on all aspects of the music biz, plus dance parties! Cornelius Roberston is the man behind the event (also the man behind The Nashville Songwriters Festival and the local Independent Music Festival). HQ for the event is the Music Row Best Western Lounge, you can get more information on the site (but it is kinda’ hard to make sense of — someone email them and volunteer some design services in the name of equality in the Industry!) Gen Admission runs $20-$50 and festival badges are $125-$300.

Saturday

Saturday afternoon, Jessika thinks you ought to head on over to 8th Ave. to catch Holly Williams doing a FREE in-store at Grimey’s. With Hank Sr. for a grandpa and Hank Jr. as your dad, Holly’s awesome is utterly irrefutable. You can check out more about Holly in Thursday’s post and scope out her recent Tonight Show appearance (1/31/13) below. Saturday’s set at Grimey’s starts at 3pm and you can even snag a copy of her new record, The Highway, early and brag to your friends that you got it before the February 5th official release!

http://youtu.be/KWlblefVj44

Saturday night – all of No Country agrees you gotta’ get over to The Stone Fox for The Nashville Pioneers’ pep rally/dance party/victory party! We mentioned previously that Nashville’s official basketball team would be heading to Korea for their first international game. As expected, our beloved Pioneers reigned victorious and now they want you to come celebrate with them! The pep rally will feature a Wild Cub DJ set, LaForce of QDP, and Jeremy Todd. The party’s only $5, kicks off at 9PM, and all proceeds go to benefit the Oasis Center! Come support your team and support a good cause! For more on the Pioneers, check out their site. In case you missed it, you can catch our press conference coverage below, where the Pioneers initially announced the pep rally along with the Korea game: