Rusty here, dropping you a little local Nashville news for the joint Record Store / Earth Day Celebration. It’s not often you can officially support your local independent record store and support the environment… so I was all over this one.

I spent the day cruising the town with my good friend and producer-extraordinaire Ian Fitchuk and we managed to cover a lot of ground.

Here are some photos, and more writing below…

And here are some random notes / encounters:

– Jeremy Lister playing at Centennial Park for the Nashville Earth Day celebration… the park was packed. Nashville might be a little behind on being green (ie: no curbside glass recycling in East Nashville), but this was a solid showing and very encouraging to see how big this event has become. Also, Lister put on an amazing show… and the music translated to the crowd… as you can see with the uni-dread dude dancing to the music. 

-I ran into some great friends and artists… Producer/Engineer Justin Loucks, indie pop gurus Madi Diaz & Kyle Ryan, free spirited adventurer Calais Cervetti, Sarah from Hue… Nashville newest shoe/swimwear/tanning boutique, guitarist Neal Dahlgren… and many others!

– Learned about some  eco-friendly Tennessee companies and organizations. One of interest, was the Cumberland River Compact, a fantastic organization that helps to improve water quality in the Cumberland River. Also, I was impressed by MEDS, an organization that collects left-over prescription drugs and disposes of them properly, keeping them away from our drinking water and polluting our environment.

After the Earth Day festivities, Ian and I decided to continue on and celebrate Record Store Day… a day dedicated to celebrating the unique culture of over 700 independently-owned record stores across the country.

– Landed at the epicenter of record stores in Nashville: Grimey’s New and Pre-Loved Music. Mike Grimes has put so much into the music scene in Nashville, and it really is ground-zero for music culture. Everyone has played his adjoining club, The Basement, ranging from the Black Keys, to Ben Kweller, to Metallica.  Mike Grimes has created an institution; an iconic store that anchors the Nashville music scene.

– Grimey’s was packed out from the parking lot to the top floor. Live music happened throughout the day… including great shows from the Avett Brothers, Black Joe Lewis, and MuteMath. Barbecue was served, the local favorite Yazoo brewery was on tap, and Nashville’s own vinyl producer United Record Pressing was in attendance as well. If this doesn’t make a Nashvillian proud… I don’t know what will. What a day, and what dedicated people to the music scene in this city.

– Headed to Third Man Records… Jack White’s (the White Stripes, obviously) new downtown record label / studio / merch store… a space dedicated to White’s label and all his side projects. Jack happened to be there and mentioned he’s been looking for a place for years and they finally found this one in the past year. It’s also conveniently located next to United Record Pressing… so the vinyl is literally pressed across the street. Jack seemed excited about the new venture… and it was great to see him plant this studio/label in Nashville… a fantastic addition the ever-growing rock & roll music scene in town.

Hope you enjoyed the report…

Photos / Writing by Rusty Ralston. 

Rusty Ralston is a freelance photographer and writer based in Nashville, TN. You can view his photography site here.