Nashville Neon

12/31/2016

I'm not normally the type to make Facebook posts and I'm not normally the guy to point out that I'm not normally the guy to make Facebook posts. I'm not even normally the guy to mention that I'm not normally the guy for anything. So if you were wondering, I'm not normally the guy. Only sometimes. Today is that day.

Today, the year 2016 ends and my, what a year it was. In the inferno of hell, a bacchanalia is taking place in celebration of Satan's absolute dominion over the world.

We lost rockstars, people. The joker was elected president and people still die almost daily. I mean, what a world!

Cheers to 2017!

08/16/2016

#6 Tennessee in Overall Freedom

The Cato Institute released their freedom index recently, ranking Tennessee as the #6 freest state in the US.

We typically float between #1 and #3, but an aggressive increase in drug related arrests between 2015 and 2016 knocked us out of the top 5. The rating system views drug related arrests as indicative of an over active police force that should focus more on violent and property crimes.

Fiscally, Tennessee taxes significantly less than the rest of the country with no income tax and lower state and local tax rates than the national average.

Tennessee ranks #6 overall. The Freedom in the 50 States 2015-2016 index from the Cato Institute measures freedom across a range of over 200 policies and across the personal, regulatory and fiscal dimensions.

08/15/2016

El Chapo and the Secret History of the He**in Crisis

Interesting stuff about the drug wars in Mexico and the power vacuum created by the arrest of El Chapo who is like the Pablo Escobar of our lifetime, escaped prison multiple times and loves his mother.

And how legalization of ma*****na in the U.S. helped.

06/02/2016

Five years after WRVU left the airwaves, community radio is back and better than ever on WXNA

Five years after WRVU left the airwaves, community radio is back and better than ever on WXNA

"You can't put your arms around a memory You can't put your arms around a memory Don't try Don't try" And with that, on June...

06/01/2016

How Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick Wrote ‘White Rabbit’

An account of how Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane wrote "White Rabbit".

HINT: She was high as a Georgie Pine

Grace Slick wrote ‘White Rabbit,’ in 1965, on a used piano that was painted red and missing keys. The hit song, with lyrics based on “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” became a touchstone of psychedelic rock.

05/26/2016

DeMarco Murray in the house!

05/23/2016

Corker says meeting with Trump was on policy

Corker denies the VP rumors yet again.

Sen. Bob Corker met privately with Donald Trump on Monday, stoking speculation the Tennessee Republican is being vetted as Trump's possible running...

05/23/2016

Netflix: Movies, TV shows coming and going in June

Prepare yourselves.

Netflix is adding a few new titles to its online streaming service in June, but others are going.

05/23/2016

Showgrid | Weekly Digest Issue #14

Some hot takes on good shows in town this week.

A weekly newsletter bringing you great shows in town for the upcoming week as well as a Spotify playlist so you can hear the music!

05/20/2016

Podcast: Lessons from Green Brier Distillery's Charlie Nelson

Charlie Nelson of Nelson's Green Brier Distillery talks whiskey, women and family heritage.

Charlie Nelson is best known for reviving Charles Nelson's Green Brier Distillery, a once-storied producer that rivaled Jack Daniel's in the 1800s. But there's so much more to know about the Nashvillian.

05/20/2016

Kesha, Ben Folds & Y Music cover Dylan's It Ain't Me Babe

Good to see Ke$ha back in action. Covering Bob Dylan with Ben Folds. Transcendent s**t right here.

05/19/2016

Don't trash-talk Lower Broadway around Heath Haynes

At Nashville Neon, we don't understand those who don't admire Lower Broadway in all her boot worn, h***y tonky, hip swinging, fist fightin' glory.

Quite literally, to hate Lower Broadway is to indirectly express disdain for neon. We call ourselves Nashville Neon, and as ambassadors of this inert gas, we must defend all that it brings.

But really, if you can't go down on Lower Broadway and enjoy yourself, get over yourself and go to Robert's Western World and drink beer until you're falling over laughing.

Lower Broad seems to hold a stigma for locals, but Haynes says we don't realize how good we've got it.

05/19/2016

Deconstructing the greatest rappers of all time

Fascinating take on MF Doom, The Notorious B.I.G., André 3000 , Eminem and others, breaking down their rap technique and getting you geeking like a freak.

05/19/2016

Tony Kemp's first MLB start is a memorable one

Fellow Nashvillian Tony Kemp makes a strong debut with the Houston Astros.

CHICAGO -- Tony Kemp didn't wait long to get the first one in the books. Kemp, who made his first Major League start -- along with Colin Moran -- in the Astros' 5-3 win over the White Sox on Wednesday, ripped the first pitch he saw in his first at-bat for a double and wound up going 2-for-3 with an…

05/19/2016

This Evil Prank Birthday Card Will Play Music For Hours Unless You Destroy It

For that special someone in all of our lives.

05/19/2016

City working to improve Nashville's worst intersections

This is not clickbait. Click the article to see where you've nearly had a wreck like the rest of us. I'm looking at you Harding and Estes.

Mayor Megan Barry promised to improve traffic. The first evidence of that a plan to spend millions improving 15 intersections in Nashville.

05/18/2016

Tomorrow night, a bundle of laughs in Centennial Performing Arts Studios for The Ben & Morey Show.

Tomorrow’s guests have appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien Presents: Team Coco, The Daily Show, and now, The Ben & Morey Show. Which one do you think falls under “career low?”

Welcome comedians Nate Bargatze, Rory Scovel and Chad Riden! See you at 8:00!

05/18/2016

Martin's Opening Soon in Downtown Nashville

Martin's BBQ Joint moves downtown in an effort to to increase the amount of red meat you consume. We endorse the Brisket plate and recommend a nice nap soon after.

It doesn't seem like that long ago that we opened the doors to our first bar-b-que joint out in Nolensville, Tennessee, so it's pretty daggum crazy to believe that we're preparing to open our fourth Martin's location in downtown Nashville this June! Yup, you read that right: Martin's fourth (and bad...

05/18/2016

[REMINDER] Catch Mayer Hawthorne, Gabriel Garzon-Montano, & Alanna Royale | TONIGHT @ Marathon

Mayer Hawthorne is a former hip-hop artist that jams some funky, electric soul music. He's at Marathon Music Works tonight. Check it out.

05/18/2016

Exclusive look at Bajo Sexto Taco Lounge in Sylvan Park

A taco joint with a very Neon color scheme lights up Charlotte Pike.

New restaurant brings Oaxacan authenticity from young chef.

05/17/2016

Pilgrimage Music Festival announces their cosmic, country lineup for September. Last year, despite the rain, the whole Nashville Neon crew had so much fun, they all lost their shoes...

We are so excited to announce the First Wave of our 2016 lineup! Tickets available now

https://goo.gl/m0lfhA

05/17/2016

Beastie Boys HD : " Too Many Rappers " ( Music Video ) - 2009

Beastie Boys and NAS shot a music video in Nashville using the Parthenon and oddly enough, the Green Hills Kroger to frame their hit "Too Many Rappers". Roman Coppola directed it and, hell, man, wouldn't we like to have the Beastie Boys back.

https://www.facebook.com/BeastieBoysVideos Thanks To Eoin for the original find & to Sarah for bringing it to my attention. Awesome stuff guys ! Beastie Boys...

05/17/2016

Guy Clark dead at 74

An emblem of artistic integrity, quiet dignity and simple truth, Guy Clark has passed. Go out and drink some beer for him.

Guy Clark was a Nashville songwriting fixture for more than 40 years. His songs were recorded by Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, and legions of others.

05/16/2016

'Blonde on Blonde' at 50: Celebrating Bob Dylan's Greatest Masterpiece

Recorded right here in Nashville. Bob Dylan's masterpiece and the closest one will get to experiencing 3 AM without being up at 3 AM.

Shakespeare, Smokey Robinson and Nashville session pros fueled singer-songwriter's revolutionary double LP

05/16/2016

End of an Era: The Springwater Goes Non-Smoking

On the plus side: A place with a pool table and no cigarette smoke.

It's official: Perhaps the final nail in Old Nashville's coffin came over the weekend in the form of a new non-smoking policy at Music City's...

05/16/2016

Monday is National Piercing Day

Don't let this day slip away.

Salons across the country are offering specials in honor of the day.

05/16/2016

Louis C.K. announces Nashville show

A funny man comes to town.

The Emmy-winning comedian will bring his stand-up show at Bridgestone Arena on July 14. Tickets ($25-65) are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.

05/16/2016

Nashville Scene Names Steve Cavendish Editor

Welcoming Steve Cavendish back to Nashville. Sis-boom-bah!

The Nashville Scene named Steve Cavendish as its new editor today. He succeeds Jim Ridley, who passed away suddenly in April. Formerly the editor of...

05/14/2016

The Fine Art And Vague Science Of Keeping History Alive

Concise interview with one of Nashville's great historians.

These people are guardians of the past: They explore kitchens, living rooms and attics, tracking down the recipes, stories and artifacts that tell us who

05/13/2016

Female jockeys' hearts race on their Steeplechase horses

Not that you care, but horses do run at the Iroquois Steeplechase. Better known as .

In horse racing, approximately 8 percent of jockeys are female. With finesse and guts, these women work to prove themselves in a male-dominated sport.

05/13/2016

thomasajohnston.files.wordpress.com

A Wild and Crazy Guy

Like the burlesque dancer,
I am,
Abnormally fond of that precision that makes music

Blanker than blank, like paper hanging inside a typewriter
I was tableau rasa,
A poor American, proven to watch television
More than any other household appliance

At one point, I
Was an entertainer
Playing a not so good entertainer
That hypnotic nothing drove me
To work in this vien

Incurring psychological debts
That came due years later
In disguise of romantic misconceptions
And a wrong-headed quest for solitude
A chaotic jogger, power walking through the scenes of life

Drama came under a flat dead sky of ease
Opportunity's door knock as I rest my knees
My resume, concise: no experience at anything
So I snuck aboard a pirate ship at Disney World
Bent out for some faraway impossible
Visit to Shangri-la

So I started hitch hiking
Then bought a car, drove off, and never came back
They say he still parades hilarity
Right out into the streets

Do you rustle musty one-liners?
Inside a twenty five minute meleodrama
Where you are encouraged
To cheer the hero and boo a villian

Then dressed up as Lincoln, reading
The Gettysburg address to local school children
Next to a strange kind of celebrity
That swings like a Swedish Nightingale
Sing Gypsy Rover one more time for me, please
She said, "I don't understand any of this"
And at that moment, neither did I

I, like a stage magician questing for knowledge
Swept away in learning
Universal, final, unquestionable knowledge
The ancient secrets possessed by a few,
Wandering along in search of

Again, I saw the curvature of the earth
In the eyes of a girl with short black hair
Charging up with delusions of valid inspiration
Between the moments

In Television I met a man,
Not more than a grin on a stick
He drove a Mustang
And talked the new aesthetic cool-essentially

This is funny you just haven't gotten it yet,
Comedy, distortion of what is happening
There is always something happening
Son, you have an ob-leek sense of humor,
Do you want to see my guns?

Its campfire recreation for the bent at heart
Loonies
Disney World on acid

Then performing against an active salad bar
In Nashville the audience never leaves
That's when I realized there were no Exits to this stage

Like the burlesque dancer I,
Am abnormally fond of that precision
Which moves chaos
So the plot goes forward

Nostalgic Shock

Once a thing is made it must be let go
Listening to you for years, you've become a real friend
I feel as if I could ask you anything
Ask anything
What time is it?

-In honor of one wild and crazy guy

05/12/2016

A riot of a time at The Ben & Morey Show tonight. We know the Nashville Predators play at the same time, but if you're not into hockey, want to get out and enjoy nice long strolls in the park instead of full contact sports, this is your spot.

Excited to welcome Mary Laura Philpott and Nelson's Green Brier Distillery to the show this week! Between a writer and a distillery owner, hopefully one of these guests will bring some bourbon for us...

05/12/2016

America Has Never Been So Ripe for Tyranny

Long but excellent read by New York Magazine and Andrew Sullivan.

That’s what’s scariest about Donald Trump.

05/11/2016

The East Nashvillian | Articles

Developer isn't always a dirty word.

In the spring of 2006, Dan Heller was working at the corner of Riverside Drive and McGavock Pike in Inglewood. The property had once been a grocery market, but had become a neighborhood eyesore, a place where drug deals went down and shady characters congregated. From the window of his home across t...