Throughout history, there have always been innovators in the creative spaces… people tired of the way things are going and shake up the status quo. Music has long been a battleground for these disruptors, with artists using shock, spectacle, and off-the-wall self-expression to challenge what audiences expect from a live show. Few performers embody that […]
A couple of months ago, I was scrolling through Instagram stories when one of my friends (who also happens to be a music journalist) posted about a new band I’d never heard of before. The band was called The Barbarians of California and the song was “Bomb to a Knife Fight”. My first thought was […]
This past Wednesday, I experienced a miracle. I was looking down at my phone, browsing Instagram while waiting for a meeting to start, and I saw something I could hardly believe — Johnny Blue Skies (aka, Sturgill Simpson) was playing at the Cobra Nashville?! I clicked on their website to see if this was a […]
I walked into Bridgestone Arena genuinely excited this past week. For starters, it would be my first time seeing openers Nova Twins and, while I’ve had a few opportunities to catch their shows in the past, I’ve never made it, so I was thrilled to finally see them live on a big stage. Second, I […]
This past Friday night, I had the absolute pleasure of heading to one of the coolest music venues in the country. I’m talking, of course, about The Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee. The Caverns is a unique venue in that it is essentially a cave, converted into an amazing music space. When I arrived, the staff […]
If I am being honest, I had pretty low expectations this past Tuesday for Tech N9ne’s show at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, TN. It wasn’t that I thought the music would be bad; I certainly know Tech N9ne is amazing. I think it was more a combination of life burnout and the fact that […]
I’ve always held firm to the belief that if a band moves you, truly moves you, you owe it to yourself to see them more than once. Some artists just need to be witnessed repeatedly; each performance peels back a layer of something you didn’t know you needed. I feel like bands like Phish, The […]
I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t walk into Marathon Music Works on May 1st as an Ashnikko fan. I’d heard a couple of tracks floating around, enough to recognize the name, but I was there primarily as a photographer. I’d seen images of her online: the electric blue hair, the theatrical costuming, the almost […]
I’ll be upfront, I had a pretty good idea of what I was walking into Thursday night. I’d seen The Haunt once before — opening for The Hu — and, even in that supporting slot, they made an impression. But there’s a difference between watching a band open a show and watching a band headline, […]
If you know me at all, you know I’m basically a fixture at Nashville venues. Any given week, you’ll find me somewhere like the East Room, The Basement, Exit/In — wherever catching whoever’s playing. It’s just kind of what I do. I’ve seen a lot of bands. Which is exactly why it’s kind of a big […]
The year was 2017 and, in typical music-discovery fashion, I heard a really cool song come through my Spotify suggestions called “Matador” by a band called Model/Actriz. I saved it to my new music playlist and didn’t really think much about it beyond the fact that it was a really cool song. Flash forward to […]
Over my last five years here, Nashville has often felt like a giant pot of musical soup. The dominant flavors are familiar — country, pop, indie rock are the sounds that define the “Music City”. But every so often, an artist rises to the surface that makes you stop and listen, with a sound that’s […]
Few British rock bands have carved a transatlantic identity quite like Band of Skulls, the Southampton-born group that improbably broke into the United States mainstream before their own homeland ever knew what hit it. Needless to say, Top Shelf Music was very stoked to have an exclusive interview with the band as they prepared to […]
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is excited to confirm the return of its internationally celebrated camping festival, taking place this June 11th through the 14th, on the 700-acre Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, Tennessee — just 60 miles southeast of Nashville. Bonnaroo 2026 will once again deliver nonstop entertainment with a full roster of world-class performers […]
Nashville is a city that has never been short on storytellers, but the band MNERVA (comprised of duo Matt Wagner and Eric Vatima) is working hard to go against the typical grain. With From Beginning To End, they deliver a debut album that feels less like a collection of random songs and more like a […]
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