Nashville Mayor rescues Station Inn livestreams

If you follow the restrictions and cancelations related to the spread of the corona virus in the US, you already know that things change very quickly in an environment like this. But we have an uplifting story to share about the vitality of live music, how much it means to people facing a crisis, and how Nashville continues to earn its Music City nickname.

Since closings were announced last week, The Station Inn responded by continuing to hold shows on stage, sans audience, in order to keep the music playing, while still complying with government restrictions in Tennessee. These shows were live-streamed each night on Facebook at no charge, including requests to make donations to a GoFundMe page to assist musicians suffering from the effects of the closures.

But then on Sunday, Nashville’s Mayor John Cooper issued an order that required all non-essential businesses to close for the next 14 days. So it seemed there would be no more bluegrass streams from the Station. There was much disappointment on all sides.

It seems, however, that the Mayor was informed of the many venues offering similar live music streams online, and he has since released this statement.

“Nashville is known for the live music scene and while our current circumstances are keeping us off Broadway, we are still the same Music City. From their homes to yours, Nashville artists and local music venues are livestreaming concerts so you can still feel the music – safely at home.”

Heartened by this information, Station Inn TV Marketing Director Jeff Brown contacted the Mayor’s office to ensure that it was, indeed, within his virus prevention guidelines to continue their nightly shows to an empty house, but an eager online audience. 

They confirmed that it was, so the streams will go on!

The shows will be available on the Station Inn Facebook page each evening starting at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) via Facebook Live.

Unfortunately the big CD release concert with Appalachian Road Show tomorrow night must be postponed, as they made other plans in response to the Mayor’s initial closings announcement. It will be rescheduled soon, and will be held as originally planned as a fundraiser for Hands On Nashville and their tornado relief efforts.

All other scheduled live streams from Station Inn will go on, starting each night at roughly 8:00 p.m. We will co-stream them on our Facebook page as well.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.