by Jayme Foltz | Jun 29, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, COVID-19, News Slider
COVID left most Tennessee residents and tourists and performers saying goodbye to the 2020 entertainment scene in Nashville. Now, it’s 2021. Forty-five percent of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated and 53% of the population has received one dose of the vaccine. As the world continues to slowly go back to normal, so does Music City. With venues being reopened, artists getting out of the studios and their homes and fans ready to cheer, big name concerts and festivals are making a grand comeback to Tennessee. Here’s a sampling: Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th @ Downtown Nashville – July 4 The free concert is the city’s first major post-pandemic event and will be headlined by country music star Brad Paisley. Lily Hiatt, Regi Wooten and Friends, Priscilla Block, and more will also take the stage. The event will also feature the Nashville Symphony in a synchronized performance with what officials are heralding as the largest fireworks display in Nashville’s history. Lifest Music City @ Hideaway Farm – July 29-31 Originating in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Lifest extends Music City for the very first time with Lifest Music City. The Christian music festivals are presented by nonprofit organization Life Promotions, focused on supporting mental health and wellness in today’s youth. With three days filled with music and fun, Lifest gives the option to its concert goers to camp on the festival grounds. The festival will include performances from Newsboys, Skillet, Lecrae, Sidewalk Prophets, Mandisa, Matthew West, Michael W. Smith, and more. Luke Bryan @ Bridgestone Arena – July 30 Fresh off his third ACM Entertainer of the...
by Camryn Given | Jun 9, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
To adapt to the pandemic, many industries have had to change their business models in a COVID-friendly manner. For theatres, this included offering home rentals for movies and, for some, hosting drive-ins. Nashville’s own Belcourt movie theatre used these innovative methods to stay afloat when health guidelines prevented movie screenings as usual. Now, as these restrictions are being lifted, the Belcourt has opened their doors to the public once again. Since their reopening, the Belcourt has seen many Nashvillians return to see movies in person. In March, the Belcourt started showing Academy Award recognized films. It didn’t seem to matter if they had already seen the films, people were ready to come back to the movies regardless. Stephanie Silverman, the executive director of the Belcourt, said “We started slow. Both theaters [were] at 20% capacity,” “Once the CDC came out with the new guidance, we now increased our capacity to 50%.” As of now, there is still a mask policy in place, but Silverman said that the staff is monitoring data to find what makes people feel the safest about returning to the theater. “It’s pretty clear that people feel most comfortable with a mask policy in place and some amount of distancing.” However, since some may have gotten used to streaming at home, what is going to bring them back to the actual theater? Silverman says, “The difference between the experience in a theatre and the experience in your house is just fundamentally different, from the sound to the image to the communal piece of it,” She adds while laughing, “Your popcorn is probably not as good as...
by Kahwit Tela | Jun 8, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
In recent years of cinema, the heroes of Earth are often depicted as a group of highly athletic, agile, brilliant and dangerously attractive superpeople. Whether it’s the Avengers or the Justice League, audiences have seen countless times a group of ragtag individuals who unite to save humanity from the fate of evil. However, in Michael Rianda’s directorial debut The Mitchells vs. The Machines, audiences are introduced to a new kind of hero: Your everyday dysfunctional family from Michigan who save the world from a global robot revolution during their family road trip. Initially intended for a 2020 theatrical release under the title “Connected”, the film instead went to streaming on Netflix alongside being played in select theaters due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. The film was produced by Sony Pictures Animation and features the voice talents of Danny Mcbride, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Doug the Pug (yes, THE Doug the Pug), and more. The main protagonist, Katie Mitchell (voiced by Jacobson), is a young aspiring filmmaker who just got accepted into the film school of her dreams in California and is eager to leave her home. However, in a last-ditch effort to salvage the relationship with his daughter before she leaves, nature-loving and technologically inept handyman, Rick Mitchell (voiced by Mcbride) puts together one last family road trip with Katie, as well as his sweet and supportive wife Linda (voiced by Rudolph), dinosaur-loving son Aaron (voiced by Rianda himself), and the lovable blob of dog that is Monchi (voiced by Doug the Pug). Everything is going great until the apocalypse is brought upon by a rogue smartphone,...
by Hannah Cron | Jun 3, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
Since her debut single “driver’s license” was released in January, Olivia Rodrigo has taken the world by storm. Her first album, SOUR, came out in May and quickly topped the charts, earning her appearances at awards shows and Saturday Night Live mere months into her music career. If you aren’t familiar with Rodrigo, she is the latest in the long series of Disney Channel stars turned pop artists, following in the footsteps of singers such as Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. Rodrigo currently stars in Disney’s High School Musical: The Musical The Series (bet you can’t say that three times fast), a series spinoff of the popular High School Musical movie franchise. Rodrigo’s album SOUR pays tribute to her musical inspirations through the 11 tracks which focus on lyrical themes of heartbreak and the coming of age of the artist and her peers. While SOUR is an impressive debut album, it does leave Rodrigo plenty of room to grow and improve in the future. What really holds SOUR back is that it isn’t sure what to be. Many of the songs are pure pop songs and ballads, but there are a couple of songs that lean into an early 2000s pop-punk sound. While variety can be a good thing, there isn’t really a smooth transition between the different sounds and there isn’t an even balance between the two types of songs (mostly pop with two rock songs). The rock-leaning songs are great, but they feel a little bit out of place here. But SOUR’s biggest issue isn’t its genre confusion; it’s how on-the-nose it...
by Camryn Given | May 7, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, COVID-19, News Slider
When we look at industries that were hit the hardest in 2020, live music can be found at the top of the list. The music industry, and more specifically the live music industry, was stopped in its tracks last year once COVID revealed itself as a global epidemic. All of a sudden there were no more upcoming concerts, tickets were refunded, and tours were canceled. Now, as roughly ⅓ of Americans are now fully vaccinated, steps are being taken towards normalcy. But what do those steps look like for live music? According to visitmusiccity.com, concerts are back with precautions in place. For example, there are no dance floors open and there can’t be more than 2 performers on stage at a time. This year Nashville is already set to host several big-name artists, from James Taylor to Justin Bieber. There are plenty of upcoming concerts announced in venues like the Ryman and Bridgestone, but what about the small independent concert spaces? The pandemic has put a very large financial strain on many of them. In response to this, several independent venues formed the Music Venue Alliance last fall to support the live music industry and raise awareness of the challenges it faces. The Exit In was almost permanently closed until fans pulled through with donations recently. Now, since restrictions are loosening many are jumping at the chance to hold events. As of now, The Basement East is one of the smaller venues offering full capacity shows. About a week ago Governor Lee announced, “It’s time for celebrations, weddings and conventions and concerts and parades and proms and everything in...
by Abigail Davis | May 3, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
The formerly pre-pubescent boy known for crooning in his falsetto and making 14-year-old girls swoon, proves in his new album Justice that growing up in the spotlight is not always as glamorous as it seems. Justin Bieber shares as much in his hit “Lonely” that detailed the dark place he inhabited as a result of his young fame. However, the so-called “Beliebers” — fans who have been with him throughout his entire career — have recently seen him become a believer himself: In God and true love. Faith and marriage have become his new brand and are reflected in his newest album, titled Justice, with song lyrics that suggest remorse for his actions and thankfulness for forgiveness. Throughout his new music, he credits his wife, formerly Hailey Baldwin, and God for giving him a new perspective and second chance. His once booming music career seems to be revived amid these dramatic life changes. Though, along with success he has also met more controversy. Some have criticized his “inauthentic” references to social injustice within his album. “Rolling Stone” even referred to his use of Martin Luther King Jr., speech samples on his album as “a jarring musical misstep”. In response to these criticisms Bieber responded: “I’m not trying to make a connection between me and Martin Luther King. That’s why I never try to talk about social injustice, or I didn’t want to be the one to talk about it. “I just have so much more learning to do. But I have this man who was ready to die, and what he believed to be true. If I’m not willing...
