Week of 2026-09-14

Good morning 👋🏻 Camelia here. It's AMERICANAFEST week, which means normal Nashville has been temporarily replaced by a version of itself with more lanyards and more Basement East showcases than any one person could reasonably attend.

The Time Jumpers kick things off Monday at 3rd and Lindsley, business as usual before the takeover begins. Tuesday's festival programming at 3rd and Lindsley alone is a lineup you'd normally build a whole newsletter around: Olivia Wolf, Aubrie Sellers, Amy Grant, Maggie Rose and Melissa Etheridge, and it's free. Meanwhile the Sex Pistols are at Marathon Music Works, which is either the most or least AMERICANAFEST-coded booking of the week depending on how you look at it.

Station Inn is running AMERICANAFEST showcases Wednesday through Saturday, and The Basement East has a run of them too, including Thursday's stacked bill of Abraham Alexander, Langhorne Slim, Shakey Graves and Houndmouth, and Friday's Wynonna Judd & Friends set with Avi Kaplan. Saturday brings a free one there as well, Eddie Slide and His Cowtown Dozen with Rosemary Fossee, Sweet Megg and Chuck Mead sitting in.

If you'd rather opt out of the festival entirely, Alison Krauss and Union Station are at the Ryman all four nights, Friday through Sunday, with ticket prices that quietly drop as the weekend goes on. Shaboozey headlines Ascend Amphitheater Friday. And if you're looking for something with zero festival wristband required, Tennessee Brew Works has music running most days of the week, low-key and cover-free as far as this list tells me.