New Faces Night feat.

The Read

The dead stretch between Christmas and New Year's is when Nashville's calendar thins out to almost nothing, which makes a standing writers night unusually valuable. Several performers, short sets, unfamiliar material, no seasonal theme to hide behind. December 29th audiences are small and attentive — a good night to hear someone try the song they were not sure about. The Basement is a low, dark room under a record store, with a stage barely raised off the floor. Seven o'clock, out early, nothing at stake. If you are looking for a reason to leave the house during the least eventful week of the year, this is a cheap and reliably interesting one.

The Room

The Basement

1604 8th Ave S

The smaller, original Basement — a low-ceiling room under what used to be Grimey's on 8th Avenue, where songwriter, roots, and rock bills feel thirty feet from the stage.