At the center of the Nashville scene are endless house shows. There’s always someone’s house or backyard to be ushered into on the weekends. An example of these “live music venues’ ‘ is Sigler House located in between Music Row and the Gulch. On Thursday, June 23rd I had the privilege of being packed into a humid basement with other college students and maybe a handful of Nashville natives. In all there were probably about a hundred people who came and went throughout the evening.

The first artist was Ergo Bria, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Atlanta, Georgia. This punk influenced alternative artist has melodramatic feelings she’s just gotta get out. Her lyrics have themes of racism, mental health, politics and heartbreak. After watching her set I would have never guessed that she has a background in classical violin and piano. If you like Mannequin Pussy, Bikini Kill or Paramore you’re gonna love her. She’s caught the attention of many Belmont students after she was featured in the annual pop/rock showcase. Now that she’s located in Nashville, Tennessee you can catch her band live or if you can’t make it down to the Athens of the south you can stream her music on Spotify.

The second band to perform was Sweet Pill, a band from Philadelphia. In the midst of a Summer tour they made a stop at Sigler House on their way to Asheville NC. This emo band is on the edge of pop and hardcore. Lead vocalist Zayna Youssef gave a stellar performance with effortless belting and occasional screaming. When I asked Zayna how she’d describe their sound she said “a lot of people say it’s nostalgic with old school emo roots but a new wave twist with math pop sounds”. They had a number of a-typical song structures performed with an impressive level of skill. If you like alternative and emo rock check out their newly released album titled Where the Heart Is.

The third band to play was Nitefire, an indie pop band that came all the way from Los Angeles, California in a RV. They were just in Nashville for the night, and their next stop was New York. They are known in the LA scene for their DIY shows. Luke White and Nico Geyer pride themselves on being old fashioned in the digital age with many 90’s influences including Blur and Garbage. The two indie boys behind the band combine indie rock and brit-pop while still creating an alternative sound.

The final artist to perform was Jos, artist name “nickname jos.” Jos is involved in many projects in the Nashville indie scene, either as a supporting band member or producer/audio engineer. It’s great to see him perform for his own personal project. His musical is constantly changing, in part because of his collaboration with so many artists in the Nashville area. His music could be considered alt-pop, indie-pop or DIY music, but every song on his album “halcyon” is completely different. I would say overall he makes “feel-good” mid tempo songs, with electronic drum beats and swirly guitar.

Overall this show was full of genre bending bands, indie kids and Belmont darlings. It was great to see a show with so many different styles of music. There was something there for everyone. Whether you came for one band or stayed for the whole thing or didn’t watch the music at all, I think everyone had a great time.