Early shows at the Bluebird usually feature the best up and coming songwriters (and the occasional hit writer). They may not have a lot of hits yet, but you will see a great show.



There are 20 tables and 10 bar seats available for reservation. Pew Seats for these shows are not reserved in advance. These seats are available on a first come/ first served basis when doors open..



Caitlin Rose : Exploring your emotions can make for a good song, but it's shining light on those which plague us all that builds the backbone of the truly great ones. Coupled with tireless melodies that seep into the small spaces between your bones; it's the kind of music that brings on little movements when life has gotten too stiff. This is what Caitlin Rose does best. Her lyrics -- visceral, illustrative, witty and wry -- are pieces of stories that examine matters of the heart through a unique lens that makes us all see a bit more clearly: from the loneliness of relationships, to palpable dissolving human connectivity, to the loss of love with none of the melodrama. At her core, Nashville's Rose is a storyteller and a song-crafter who is more interested in what's being produced than how it helps her along the way.



Though much of her acclaimed debut "Own Side Now" was personally-inspired, what stood out most was its ability to paint a picture and tell a near-cinematic story, from the simultaneous last puffs of both cigarette and relationship, to the delightfully seedy characters pocketed in a coin-toss on the streets of New York City. With her follow-up, "The Stand-In," Rose seems more interested in telling tales than spilling confessionals. "It feels more compelling to live through a song than it did having already lived it," she says. "The Stand-In" is a journey down a road she's always wanted to take: the path of the story-song. One track, "Pink Champagne," inspired by a Joan Didion short essay, accounts for the desperate, short-lived passions of a Vegas wedding. The emotions stem from both protagonists, but are dissected and recounted by the watchful eye of the chapel or some honest observer from within. This collection of songs seems bent on investigating relationships from different perspectives; male and female, young and old, left and leaving, but they all tackle the bitter farewells, romantic misunderstandings and endless responsibilities in life. Using fibers of her fringe country roots and the bold musical capabilities of fellow producers/co-writers, Jordan Lehning and Skylar Wilson (Justin Townes Earle), "The Stand-In" seamlessly melds pedal steel guitar with restless pop beats, creating lush instrumentals that build on the more spare construction of "Own Side Now." "These songs are all based in sentiment. We wrote the stories to convey a feeling." The result is infinitely more universal.

The Kernal : Tapping in to Country music’s long-time standard of story-telling, The Kernal uses southern music influences, from jazz to honky tonk, to access a sound both unique and universal. The single "Green, Green Sky", following his debut FAREWELLHELLO, cut live at the Ardent Studios in Memphis and produced by Jeff Powell (Bob Dylan, Big Star, Centromatic, etc.,) is a tale of wanderlust and misguided ways set against the backdrop of a honky tonk rhythm and classic country vocal. The south flies through The Kernal’s lyrics, adding authenticity to the feel of the music, “But the tit for tat teaspoon's stirring round the night moon/ Sir, that ain't no summer breeze.” Based in Jackson, TN, The Kernal & His New Strangers call the Downtown Tavern home and from that halfway point between two Tennessee music mecca’s, tour the country with their home-grown brand of Southern mystique. Tied deeply to the legacy of the wandering musician and the historic Grand Ole Opry, the Kernal, a southern gentleman with an old soul and youthful ambition, found his sound and showmanship in the greats of the classic Country music scene like Del Reeves. “My dad,” The Kernal reminisces, explaining the impetus of the band, “met Sleepy LaBeef at Limebaugh's Restaurant in Nashville. Lonzo & Oscar were looking for a drummer and he asked my dad if he could play a shuffle beat on the table. He did and he left for a 10-day run the next day. It worked out because soon he was playing with Sleepy.” From there, his father found his way to The Kendalls, and eventually to the legendary Del Reeves, with whom he would play until Reeves' death in 2007. His father died in September of the same year and the seed was planted. This legacy of the old country music way, of rock and roll on the fly, was not lost on the Kernal, and he took it as starting point from which to build his own contribution to the cannon of southern music. "Tennesse Sun", the b-side to Green, Green Sky, is a love gone wrong song in the vein of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, with a chorus best sung with a whisky in one hand and the other around your friends, “I’m lettin’ go of everything I don’t need on my way down.” It is by no means a simple drinking song, with thoughtful couplets like this moment of heart-filled reflection, “I know time can be a healer and sometimes I’ll wanna feel her too/ But the hand of the dealer decides what he’s gonna do,” The Kernal lets you feel your way through the song as he did when he wrote it. “It’s about old fabrics on new skin, and seeing how they get along, the frontman explains; the chemistry of tension with the old guard and the young gun, but with the respect and love that can only come from the South itself.