As the new year is already in full swing, resolutions have already been broken, and I can’t stop thinking about some of the best live music experiences of my life from 2023. I made it a goal to see as much live music as possible, and it definitely was worth it. I saw 20 different shows in 2023 which is unreal! There are almost too many to remember, but here are some of the most memorable moments of the year.

Lunar Vacation

A mix of dreamy-indie, psychedelia, and bedroom-pop, Lunar Vacation created a majestic cloud like atmosphere at the Basement East. My best friend Kate out in San Diego sent me their album “Inside
Every Fig is a Dead Wasp” a few years ago, and we’ve been obsessed ever since.

I came to find out later the rock band is from Atlanta, Georgia, and went to high school with some of my best friends where the band was formed. They call their music “pool rock” since the members used to listen to a lot of surf rock, but there weren’t any beaches by them – only pools. Before attending their show, I got to meet band member / songwriter / vocalist / guitarist Maggie Geeslin. Lunar Vacation’s tunes at the show made me feel how it felt to be in California for the first time. Repasky’s light and dreamy vocals, mesmerizing guitar melodies and floating synth lines put a spell on the crowd.

Caroline Rose

My great friend SJ and I saw Caroline Rose at the Brooklyn Bowl. The indie rock artist toured her 2023 album “The Art of Forgetting”. Rose, who spends most her time in Austin, Texas, wrote the masterpiece during their 7 months in Burlington, Vermont during the pandemic lockdown. After going through a tough breakup, Rose’s sound engineer Jon Januhowski invited them to crash on his couch in New England. Known normally for leaning into their theater-kid background, taking on Caroline-like personas, this time Rose’s album is uncharacteristically self reflective. What made the show so unique was that during, the singer was separated from their bandmates by a scrim that cast their silhouettes against bright colors, creating a kind of Pop Art tableau. If Spotify Wrapped can tell by my music taste that I’d love Burlington, Vermont, Caroline Rose is living proof.

Grace Bowers

On March 20, I got the chance to see 17-year-old Grace Bowers perform at Nashville is Dead at 3rd and Lindsley, the Grateful Dead tribute concert. When I saw Bowers she was just 16 shredding with unprecedented talent alongside her older male stage mates. Host Mike Mizwinski announced to the crowd Bowers had just gotten her drivers license right before the show. The response brought some of the loudest cheers of the night.

What you need to know is that Grace Bowers is the guitar mastermind woman in music you need to watch out for. Bowers rose to fame from making guitar videos on the internet go viral, and moved to Nashville during the pandemic where she’s kickstarted her music career. Bowers is harolded for being so good at such a young age, and also being a girl, both of which she sees as an advantage and disadvantage. She joined Lainey Wilson for Nashville’s New Years Eve Bash, and Bowers is slated to go into the studio in February with John Osborne of the Brothers Osborne to record her first EP with her band Grace Bowers and the Hodge Podge. Read more about Grace Bowers in my blog coming soon.

Free Shows

The most impactful shows out of 2023 had to be the ones where I won tickets from Lightning 100, my favorite radio station. In addition to Bully and Ilsey, I got to see The Brook and the Bluff, and the one and only legend Brittany Howard.

The Brook and the Bluff

Birmingham born Nashville based band The Brook and the Bluff grooved the house down at the Brooklyn Bowl. Their most recent album Bluebeard is a beautiful fusion of soul, indie-folk, jazz, Americana, and pop. My favorite Bluebeard song is Long Limbs.

Lead singer Joseph Settine led the band dancing the night away with smooth moves on the mic. His soul is in the music and it is clear to see.

The Brook and the Bluff show introduced me to their opener Bendigo Fletcher. Louisville, Kentucky based folk-rock with tinges of psychedelia, Bendigo Fletcher shapeshifts on an axis between folk, alternative, country, and soul. I already bought tickets to Bendigo Fletcher at the Basement East on March 21, and you should too!

Bendigo Fletcher has captivated crowds on tour with the likes of Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Mt. Joy, Nathaniel Ratcliff, Raylond Baxter, and Shakey Graves. As Music Connection puts it, their “alt-rock, country-flecked folk-rock soaked in LSD” is music for good times and bad, and promises to leave us a little more elated.

Brittany Howard

Britany Howard, the frontwoman of the rock band Alabama Shakes, which is on a break at the moment, performed at the Ryman touring her second solo album “What Now” on November 7, 2023. The 16-time Grammy nominee and five-time winner (including solo and band nods) has shared the stage with Paul McCartney and Elton John. With the release of Alabama Shakes debut album Boys & Girls in 2012, Howard went from bagging groceries and delivering mail, to playing their song at the Grammys, and jamming with Prince.

The rural Alabama native turned East Nashville resident recorded and produced “What Now” right here at Nashville studio the Sound Emporium, with additional parts laid down across town at RCA Studio A. Even through a tumultuous breakup, Howard’s creative juices are flowing through her new music into the explorative unknown. Meditative crystal sound bowls coexist with scattershot rock’n’roll, acid funk, house music, Memphis soul and free jazz trumpet. Cardboard boxes, a plate of forks and an empty water jug all served as instruments on What Now, which Howard co-produced with her longtime collaborator Shawn Everett, percussion provided by the jazz drummer Nate Smith.

Crossing a check off my bucket list, I left the Ryman speechless with her new songs on a loop in my head. Her eye-catching gowns and spiritual presence is one I’ve anticipated my whole life. Watch out for my upcoming blog on Brittany Howard, as her new album releases on February 2.

Lauren Watkins

I got to see my longtime friend Lauren Watkins play at CMA fest as well as at her acoustic show at Springwater Supper Club and Lounge on Halloween night! Read my blog Boogie with Lauren for more on her CMA Fest performance. At “Heartbreak Supper Club”, Lauren surprised the crowd with the best Cher costume I’d ever seen.

Her sister and singer-songwriter Caroline Watkins dressed as Priscilla Presley & they sang a new song together called “Gatlinburg”.

Shortly after, Lauren and her band rocked the house down so hard they blew the electricity at the historic dive bar! What happened next was what made the night so beautiful. Lauren was determined to keep playing in the dark with the light of some iPhones. She brought special guest and great friend Carter Faith to the side of the stage where they sang their brand new song Cowboys on Music Row.

Angel Olsen

I got to see Angel Olsen from the highest balcony you can stand on at the Brooklyn Bowl, and her singing was so beautiful someone proposed in the front row during “Cosmic Love”. She had friendliest stage presence, and she knew it too, as she admitted she was talking too much but her audience couldn’t get enough of it. Singing songs old, new, and unreleased, Olsen’s humanity on stage in between songs was like a breath of fresh air. On her most recent album “Big Time”, Olsen taps into her Country influnces on a warm, self-assured album whose fluid narration unites love and grief, past and present. Angel’s story is wild. In 2021 her adoptive mother and father died 2 months apart, shortly after she realized and told them she was gay. “Big Time,” Olsen’s sixth studio album, was written in Topanga, California, a few weeks after her mother’s funeral.

“If you can turn something that has been really disappointing and scary and weird in your life into something that sounds like a Dolly Parton song, and you sing it with a little wink, there’s nothing better than that feeling”.

The New Yorker

I am still in disbelief I got to see 20 shows this past year. My goal led me to discovering different types of venues, fun ways to win tickets, and keeping up with who was coming to play in my back yard. There’s much magic in Nashville’s live music, you just gotta find it! Cheers.