Ok ok I'll say it again... I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday like a good little blogger would have. But the problem is that I JUST DON'T CAREEEE RIGHT NOW. And I don't mean that in a melodramatic "screw life" sort of way... actually quite the opposite. Because here's the thing, when life is going [...]

TNT's The Closer ran their Christmas episode this week , focusing on a man who played Santa professionally. That figure is generally presented as the personification of the holiday, even though he's a relatively recent addition. The idea of a winter festival goes back to the Romans, but it took a couple thousand years to resemble our American holiday. Even though Saint Nicholas lived in the 4th Century, the version of Saint Nick that followed wouldn't be familiar to kids today. "A Visit From St. Nicholas" established a number [...]
So I was doing some of my Google combing when I came across this link via a German website reporting from Burbank, Calif., about the Nashville Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Guess the demographic ... Continue reading "Jeremy Lister and Gabe Dixon Coax Folks to Nashville With Safe Jams" >

Friday's a little bit tamer than Thursday's schedule - there are eleven showcases to choose from instead of fifteen, but the festival makes up for it with the first of two official after parties at City Hall. Friday's after party is sponsored by Red Bull and features The Dynamites , and I'm pretty sure everyone's going to end up there at the end of the night. But before that, you've got your work cut out for you deciding what to see. The Cannery has a great lineup - including Kindercastle , Cortney [...]

So - two weeks from today, Next Big Nashville will be in full swing, and we'll all be recovering from the second night of festivities and the first night of showcases. With over 130 local and regional artists playing the festival, there's a HUGE list of performers to digest - some of which are familiar names around town, some of which I'll admit I've never seen, heard, or maybe even heard of. That means it's about time we start looking at some of this year's performers... and by "looking at" [...]