https://youtu.be/-mRfBoYu4SM

The Vickie Vaughn Band took the stage next to showcase some of the songs on her new EP, “Travel On,” which was released in November. The hard-thumpin’, always-jumpin’ Vaughn put on her usual energetic show – and that despite rubbed-raw fingers from a lengthy New Year’s Eve show. Vaughn, the 2025 IBMA Bass Player of the Year, always brings joy and enthusiasm to the stage and is always gracious to her fans afterward. Here’s an example of Vaughn’s work on a cover of “Liza Jane”:

https://youtu.be/N8IG64a5Ik0

If you have a chance to catch any of these young women, you’ll be treated to some impressive play and amazing pipes. Complete sets from Denton and Vaughn are available online.

The sibling rock/country band of Daves Highway brought their always impressive harmonies there on Tuesday night.

https://youtu.be/VufWnN_gg3c?si=ZgCebNjBQ8C9s8je

They played several songs from their 2025 EP “If You Asked Me,” including “Astrovan” and “Happy To Be Sad.”

https://youtu.be/zzxhoXDfoYE?si=VnSNOJ9dGK43NAz7

This soulful group Mississippians is always worth catching -- and perhaps a spot on your playlists, as well.

This particular gig focused more on the bluesy side of her repertoire. The Italian-born singer-songwriter slips comfortably between that blues into more alt-country sounding tunes like “You Ain’t Special” or a cover of “Waymore’s Blues.”

Vane has strong ties to London, having lived there while playing in Camden and at the Half Moon. But Nashville is her home these days and she’ll be touring much of this spring with country crooner Brennan Leigh.

Check out Vane’s smooth guitar work in “Getting High In Hotel Rooms”:

https://youtu.be/vhgxiu8TaXk?si=Atd8lkBmuwN1VpJk

The audience got a warm-up from Canadian songbird Noeline Hofmann kicking off her first ever full set in the Mother Church with her rollicking “Lightning in July.” Her Purple Gas Tour promoted some new material, including a cover of Guy Clark’s “Dublin Blues” she added to her repertoire on a trip to that city earlier in 2025.

And the show was kicked off by a short set from the Brudi Brothers, who included their newly released “Serpent Lullaby.” The whistling tune of “Me More Cowboy Than You” is an amusing tune about country cosplay. 

On the whole, the show was great. And the Ryman is one of those places where visitors to Nashville need to see a show, if they can.

Now, the caveats.

My seats were in the second row from the stage (Section 3, Row BB). You want a view? You want close-up pictures of the artists? You cannot beat those seats. They’re spendy, but worth the price – for those purposes.

The acoustics down front in the Ryman were not great. Several people around me complained. A few left padded folding chairs and moved to the BACK of the old building into unpadded church pews.

Being farther back may not be the answer. Ticket buyers should know that those views are not necessarily unobstructed, so that’s a potential drawback. Sometimes, fans crane their neck to see around support posts in that area. But the sound in the center rows there is good.

So where should you buy tickets? I think the answer is the balcony, as close to in line with the sound board as possible – always the right answer. So upper level and close to center seems to be the best option for acoustics.

There’s a reason that the Grand Ole Opry moved to a new building – and it’s not just 2,000 more seats.

Ellie (guitar and keyboards), Powell (banjo and mandolin), and Ellie (lead vocals) bring angelic harmonies to a variety of music that will touch hearts and rock the room.

On Thursday night the Castellows (pronounced cast-ell-ahs) played as the headline act for the first time in their new home town of Nashville at the iconic Brooklyn Bowl. The hour-plus show was a rousing success. The downtown music venue (capacity 1,200) was three-quarters full and fully engaged. The trio adds four men to round out the Homecoming Tour band (who oddly weren’t introduced) and can rock a room. Their set was tight and their song transitions so quick and seamless that the audience didn’t have time to finish applauding before they were roaring into another tune. It was impressive.

While their music gets U.S. airplay on both country and Americana stations, they fit comfortably in either genre. The titles for songs “Miss America” and “Heartland”  are cleverly written misdirections  and worth a listen. Perhaps their most famous tune is “Sober Sundays,” a collaboration with  Wyatt Flores. But another collab, “Place They Call Home,” brought the house down when Flatland Cavalry’s Cleto Cordero took the stage as a counter to the young women’s heavenly harmonies.

The Castellows are scheduled to play a March 6, 2026, show at Rum Runners in London. Catch them now before they start headlining much bigger venues.