The Staged Battle for Nashville's Soul

The Belcourt’s Music City Mondays has remained one of Nashville’s most consistent weekday evening offerings for most of the indie theater’s recent history. And last week, the series that aims to highlight the most important movies about music in film history took a decisively local turn with its screening of The Day The Music Stopped, a feature documentary that, as its official synopsis states, “follows Exit/In owner Chris Cobb as he wages a heroic effort to advocate for venues nationwide — while struggling to keep the legendary Nashville venue afloat at home.” 

The latest from Nashville-based filmmaker Patrick Sheehan positions itself as the definitive version of the events that took place from Spring 2021, when AJ Capital Partners announced plans to buy the storied Nashville venue, to January 2023, when Cobb made his tumultuous exit from the property. Co-produced by former WSMV anchor and Nashville Banner co-resurrector Demetria Kalidimos, the film also prominently features an interview with Axios Nashville reporter Nate Rau.

For anyone who weathered COVID in the Greater Metro Area, Cobb’s self-styled David v. Goliath fight against the corporate overloads at AJ became a potent symbol of Nashville’s identity crisis in the wake of unprecedented growth. During the year it was supposed to be celebrating its 50th anniversary, the storied independent venue found itself for sale.

Owner and local music entrepreneur Chris Cobb made a bid on the property that was summarily rejected, then created a firestorm of publicity and a GoFundMe campaign purportedly to buy the venue that raised $271,541. At the same time, he restarted the Music Venue Alliance Nashville, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, “dedicated to retaining and nurturing the fragile, yet complex ecosystem of our famous music scene in Nashville, Tennessee.” 

Despite these seemingly valiant efforts, Cobb’s work appeared to be in vain. AJ closed on the property and Cobb’s tenure as EXIT/IN owner ended in November 2022. The night before the new owners took the reins, someone vandalized the venue, cutting wires, ripping up breaker boxes, and tagging everything with phrases like, “Sorry, not sorry.” As for the money, Cobb told the public on his campaign site that,  “Should our bid fail, all money raised with be donated to NIVA [The National Independent avenue Alliance] and MVAN.”

Our prior reporting on the matter revealed that long before he started the fundraiser, Cobb knew he had no chance of purchasing the property. Its original owners, whose relationship with Cobb soured over his incendiary approach to community conflicts, rejected his initial offer even though it was above the asking price. Likewise, AJ Capital never expressed interest in selling the property. According to all available evidence, Cobb knew his bid was dead in the water before he started the campaign.

🖋️ Edited by Davis Hunt.

💸 Stand Up Nashville Is Not Local To much fanfare, Metro on Tuesday released its Unified Housing Strategy to address Nashville’s “affordable housing crisis”. One part of the document stood out to me, and it reflects the primary problem with how politics operates in today’s Nashville. I’ve mentioned before the growing power of NGOs in the city, and the UHS affirms this observation.

The plan lists a group of “UHS community ambassadors” who represent “populations disproportionately impacted by housing insecurity.” Among these groups are Stand Up Nashville and Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), both radical left-wing organizations whose voices are being given a privileged position in the conversation over housing affordability.

On the face of it, local non-profits interfacing with local government to organize constituents for public comment and/or listening sessions seems fairly benign. But in the case of Stand Up and TIRRC, the word local barely applies. 

Because this is a blurb, let’s focus on Stand Up Nashville as an example. In 2023, Stand Up raised $956,368. Of that, $178,000 came from the DC-based Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, which raised $284 million in 2023 to foster a “more just and equitable world.”

The DC-based New Venture Fund ponied up $80,000. In 2023, it raised $887 million to “shape a more just, equitable, and sustainable future.”

And the San Francisco-based Tides Foundation, which raised $576 million in 2023 to “advance social justice and equity”, sent over $50,000. 

In total, that means that at least 32 percent of the funding for Stand Up Nashville came from groups outside of Nashville. That Metro government is coordinating so deeply with an organization whose funding sources and agenda are so heavily influenced by massive, progressive NGOs should give you pause.

🏟️ Bridgestone Expansion Last week, the Nashville Predators announced a plan to expand Bridgestone Arena. The $650 million upgrade could include two additional towers for a hotel or other accommodations, around 600 additional seats, a new entrance on Rep. John Lewis Way, and a restaurant. The construction timeline is reported to begin in 2027. According to the Tennesseean, the construction and renovations would be paid for by ticket sales and the sales tax revenue generated in the arena.

When asked about the proposal’s use of tax revenue, Mayor O’Connell indicated that he has not had any discussions on the proposed expansion or renovations. “This seems to be, more than anything, as far as we can tell, an announcement of intent,” the mayor said during last week’s media roundtable. It's also worth noting that Bridgestone would also become home to the Tennessee Summit if Nashville lands the bid to bring a WNBA team to Music City.

🛫 Home Rule Airport Tennessee’s appeals court said the 2023 law letting the governor and top lawmakers pick Nashville’s airport board members breaks the state constitution’s Home Rule rules. So, the mayor still gets to name the board. Other parts of the law—like giving the airport bigger powers, even eminent domain—still stand. The case now heads back to the trial court.

DEVELOPMENT

• Peninsula team to launch Cauponor and Charmers bar in Nashville's evolving Neuhoff area (NBJ)
• Holland & Knight signs massive lease at SoBro's Symphony Place tower (NBJ)
• West Nashville building once housing Cajun restaurant listed for sale (Post)
• Exterior updates sought for future Dolly hotel building (Post)

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.

TONIGHT

🎸 Fontaines D.C. @ Marathon Music Works, 7:30p, $47.05+, Info

🎻 Lettuce with the Nashville Symphony @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $48+, Info

🎸 J.R. Carroll @ Exit/In, 8p, $27.37, Info

🎸 Lucy Dacus @ Ryman Auditorium, 7:30p, $39.50+, Info

🪕 Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info

🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt (everything else) and Camelia Brennan (Local Noise).