What could the future of live music look like in Nashville? It may be too soon to tell

The pews at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium remain empty. 

A sold out audience last sat in the age-old seats — stiff-backed survivors of wartime, natural disasters and a Great Depression — more than two months ago, for a night of songs with country singer Scotty McCreery. 

It would be one of the last capacity events in Nashville before a global pandemic caused virtually all concert promoters and venue owners to slam the breaks on live entertainment. Arenas, theaters, rock clubs and concert halls fell silent in mid-March, shuttering indefinitely as spring turns into summer. 

Now, as city officials begin a four-phase plan to reopen Nashville, when could concert-goers fill Ryman pews and club floors again? And what safety measures could be in place when they do? 

For most entertainment leaders, those answers are yet to be determined. 

“We’ve got a minute to go,” said Ray Waddell, president of media and conferences for Oak View Group, parent company of music trade publication Pollstar. “We gotta open restaurants first. Places where you can get your haircut.” 

What can venues do? 

Per the city's four-phase reopening model, restaurants and bars serving food could host two musicians performing on stage during phase two, which began in late May. Small entertainment venues can open at limited capacity during phase three, which may arrive next month at the earliest, according to city plans. The phases could stall or regress if health data refuses to stabilize. 

If venues could open by city standards, those involved — artists, agents, promoters and venue owners — still need to feel comfortable hosting a show. Theoretically, shows would start with local talent; major tours are likely to stay halted as each city combats COVID-19 differently. 

Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, a new 1,500-person club and bowling alley in Germantown, hosted live music in mid-May with an audience-free live stream featuring Jason Isbell. Venue manager Sara Barnett said she sees the venue starting with virtual concerts before potentially graduating to small, socially-distanced audiences. 

If a venue reopens, management could aid health safety by multiple methods: contactless temperature checks for employees and attendees; cashless transactions; hand sanitizer stations; prohibiting large backpacks; and staggering entrance times to avoid lines outside the venue. 

“Right now, the priority is just the health of the community,” Barnett said. Brooklyn Bowl Nashville postponed a grand opening due to the Nashville tornadoes and COVID-19.

“We know (that) live music is gonna change. We’re gonna try to plan ahead to make sure our guests and artists are safe.” 

For some venues, opening at limited capacity may not be initially profitable. But it’s worth a shot, said JT Gray, longtime owner of bluegrass hall Station Inn. 

“I think we can survive,” Gray said. “I don’t know that we would start making money, so to speak, right away. I think it would be worth opening a shot and seeing how it goes.”  

Still, many independent venues need aid to withstand the devastating financial impact of COVID-19. Last month, Station Inn, Exit/In, Marathon Music Works, Mercy Lounge and other local clubs joined the National Independent Venue Association, a lobbying effort to secure federal aid. 

Facing increasing competition from industry giants Live Nation and AEG, a global pandemic could “be the straw that broke the camel's back,” said Exit/In co-owner Chris Cobb. 

“We were the first to close,” Cobb told The Tennessean in April. “We're going to be among the last to open, and we're cornerstones of communities all across the globe."

Follow sports 

Many large-scale tours and festivals — Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney and CMA Fest among them — folded for the 2020, with plans to return next year. 

When could major festivals and touring events return? Keep an eye on sports, Waddell said. If leadership at the NFL and NCAA football can safely allow fans into stadiums in major cities, major tours could follow. 

“Sports is gonna play the lead role hare,” Waddell said “What sports does, live entertainment will follow.” 

Bridgestone Arena would be among the last venues to open under the city’s plan; David Kells, Nashville Predators senior VP for marketing and entertainment, said most Bridgestone concerts needs to reach at least 80 percent capacity for the venue to turn a profit. 

“Made for TV events that don’t need large crowds”  could lead the way in entertainment, Kells said.  

“The environment needs to be right for Middle Tennessee and for Bridgestone Arena. The environment needs to be right for the event — all sides working together to make sure the fans can come out and be safe.” 

Pay-per-view shows? Drive-in concerts? 

A walk-not-run approach to slowly reopening Nashville gives some an opportunity to experiment with traditional concert experiences. 

For example, “Concert In Your Car,” a socially distanced live music series in Texas, could expand to new cities if successful, said George Couri, founder and partner of Triple 8, the music management company curating this new series. 

Patrons experience “Concert In Your Car” via jumbo screens and FM transmitters, similar to a drive-in movie. Attendees can only leave their car to use the restroom, which gets cleaned between each use.

In Texas, promoters worked with local and state leadership to book area talent for hour-long acoustic sets. A capacity show holds 400 cars in a parking lot built for 1,000 vehicles.

With approval from health and civic officials, a similar event could launch in Nashville, Couri said. 

“There (are) so many artists that are just here already … this could be done,” he said. “We could just pick the right location for it.” 

And high-quality virtual concerts — like the donation-led Isbell show at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville or similar live streams — may occupy stages before venues welcome audiences. 

The Ryman might initially open for audience-free pay-per-views filming, said Scott Bailey, president of Opry Entertainment Group. A new concert landscape creates opportunity to "satisfy the demand when you can't pay it off in the physical venue." 

“(We want) to give an outlet for consumers to be able to watch their favorite artists without physically having to be at the venue itself,” Bailey said. “We’re trying to be creative from a technological standpoint as well as a consumer standpoint. 

“Because, from what we can tell, there’s not going to be a lot of people touring.” 

Tennessean reporter Dave Paulson contributed to this story.