The Famous Faces of Broadway

Every country music mogul and their cousin seem to be buying a bar on Broadway. The latest minstrel to join the neon scene is Lainey Wilson, who will be opening a 1970s western and cajun-inspired watering hole called Bell Bottoms Up. Interestingly, the establishment will be taking over the now-closed FGL House that was opened by Florida Georgia Line back in 2017. If you’ve been around for a while, you know that the success of the duo’s tri-level entertainment venue and bar opened the floodgates, inspiring an onslaught of artist-owned honky tonks. 

Since then, we’ve seen the establishment of Ole Red by Blake Shelton (2018), Luke’s 32 Bridge Food and Drinks by Luke Bryan (2018), Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock and Roll Steakhouse by Kid Rock (2018), Whiskey Row by Dierks Bentley (2018), and Friends in Low Places Bar by Garth Brooks (2024), along with Category 10 by Luke Combs and This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen by Morgan Wallen, set to open their doors this summer—to name a few. 

The question is, will the downtown scene—once a place where up-and-comers tested their chops, hoping to land a record deal—turn into a residency haven for established country crooners to take a break from the demands of tour life? It seems possible. Though we’ve seen various artists moonlight at their own venues, Eric Church is the first to really give it a go, taking up a summer residency in his bar, Chief’s. The show goes through June, tickets are already sold out, and we’re sure other artists are eyeing their own prospects. 

From the rift between Garth Brooks and Kid Rock over boycotting Bud Light, to Church’s recent placement of a plaque on his rooftop bar reading “Don’t even think about it, you are not Morgan Wallen” following the now-infamous chair throwing incident, the Broadway strip has, for better or for worse, taken on new life.

Compared to the old days — when the only establishment with a country icon’s name attached to it was the famed Ernest Tubb Record Shop — downtown seems primed to assume the Las Vegas strip residency vibes of the 40s and 50s: something that former Mayor John Cooper optimistically anticipated during an interview on The Ben & Morey Show in 2023. 

For those who appreciate the historic roots of Music City, the establishment of this new, Redneck Rat Pack is a bittersweet pill to swallow. As Garth Brooks works with the city to change downtown traffic patterns, Oracle breaks ground on their new 1.2 million-square-foot riverside campus on the opposite bank — fully equipped with a lake and a floating concert stage — and the East Bank and stadium blueprints hint at dragging the party across the Cumberland, the next twenty years of development are bound to produce an entirely new city. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

📑 Rewriting The Rules Tonight’s Metro Council meeting will likely be a long haul, with a slew of board appointments, a few public hearings, and some inevitable drama. We’re keeping an eye on three proposed rule changes: one that expands the public comment period to any topic (not just agenda items), one that extends the automatic indefinite deferral of a bill from happening after four deferrals instead of three, and one that gives a one-meeting grace period after deferred legislation is reintroduced.

What you won’t see? A finalized LPR agreement: the council has yet to file a resolution establishing the chosen vendors for the program. Nor have they filed any legislation regarding an East Bank Development Authority—something we expect to see in the coming months, given that the General Assembly successfully passed a bill to establish the authority this session. The Banner put together a useful quick preview; you can check out the full agenda here. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

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🫃 Revisionist Birth Sex The US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to decide whether or not Tennessee residents can change the sex recorded on their birth certificate. Last summer, a judge dismissed the case on the grounds that sex designation on one’s birth certificate is based solely on the “external genitalia at the time of birth.” Surprisingly, Tennessee is the only state in the country that does not allow people to change their birth sex. Lambda Legal is behind the suit, representing four transgender women; the firm has been instrumental in the passage of a number of key pieces of legislation focused on LGBT issues, including Obergefell vs. Hodges.

US Circuit Court Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton was worried that keeping people from changing their birth sex could be seen as spiteful and anti-transgender. “The only risk is that this is a suspect class because of animus towards this group,” Sutton said, “and the recent change is putting you in a tricky spot, if you ask me.” Not sure what that means exactly, but he’s a judge and smarter than all of us (supposedly), so it must mean something. DAVIS HUNT

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🐉 St. George Missing in Action Pushback against companies’ efforts to draw more and more water from the Duck River continues. In a Tennessee Lookout story published this morning, one resident’s comments capture the mood for those living along and around the state’s most treasured waterway. “We’re very, very concerned that development and corporate interests have just taken over,” said Doug Jones, a retired attorney whose family has owned farmland along the Duck for more than a century. Industries like the lithium plant that are coming to the region are “like monsters, like dragons. We can’t quench them,” he said. Where is St. George when you need him? DAVIS HUNT

DEVELOPMENT

• Details emerge for Five Points Pizza expansion; restaurant opens in Nations (NBJ)
• Investors to update Jefferson Street building (Post)
• West Nashville developments land tenants (Post)

❍ SOMETHING'S IN THE WATER

 Last month, the Biden-Harris administration issued a nationwide, legally enforceable standard for drinking water to protect communities from exposure to harmful per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.” Linked to increased cancer rates, birth defects, miscarriage, infertility, decreased testosterone and sperm count, obesity, thyroid disease and a number of other chronic ailments, the standard is a welcome response to what has become, in recent years, a known environmental toxin. 

Typically, PFAS leak into drinking water from fire training and response sites, industrial sites, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants. As you can see on the map, Middle Tennessee tap water is generally unburdened by PFAS.

✸ MOVIE REC: SAFE (1995)

Speaking of environmental toxins, Safe follows a wealthy, suburban, LA housewife as she falls deeper and deeper into what can only be described as holistic derangement syndrome as she falls prey to a series of health issues of unknown origin. It perfectly captures the modern schizophrenic duality of living in a toxic and chemical-laden world while also living in a culture of self-victimization and atomized paranoia. These two forces combine into pure confusion and complete dislocation. Prescient in many ways. Worth a watch. (More Info)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and yearly festival guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 Helmet with Cro-Mags @ Exit/In, 7p, $39.21+, Info
+ alt metal and hardcore punk legends

🎻 20 Years of Community: An Evening with the Nashville Philharmonic @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, Choose What You Pay, Info

🪕 Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info

🎺 Todd Day Wait @ The Underdog, 11:00p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ Honky Tonk Tuesday afterparty, down the street

🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ American Legion Post 82, 8p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p