Murfreesboro’s House Shows Spotlight Local Bands

By  Daniel Baumli

          MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Murfreesboro, Tenn., is home to Middle Tennessee State University, whose prominent Recording Industry Department and close proximity to Nashville has sparked a lively house show scene in the college town.

            MTSU has a nationally recognized recording industry program with state-of-the-art equipment available for students.  The program is broken up into three different areas of focus: Audio Production, Music Business, and Commercial Songwriting.  Because of this program, MTSU has become a beacon for young people wanting to work in the music industry, especially in Nashville.

            The idea for house shows in Murfreesboro was no doubt inspired by the house show scene in Nashville, but the two scenes are fairly different from each other.  Nashville’s house show scene was developed by high school students who wanted to play shows but did not meet the age requirements of Nashville’s nightclub venues.  Murfreesboro’s scene began as a way to promote bands in Murfreesboro while throwing some partying into the mix.

            Promotion for the shows is almost exclusively on Facebook.  To spread the word, hosts of the shows and band members send out Facebook event invites to their Facebook friends, who then share the event page with their friends.  Many of the houses have nicknames such as The Kitchen on Minerva Drive, Avalon on Ewing Boulevard, and Eisenhouser on Twin Oaks Drive that are provided rather than the physical address, although some hosts do list the addresses.  Each house enforces its own rules in an effort to keep the shows from being shut down by police.

The Acorn People playing a house
 show at Forman's Basement

            “I usually post a public event page at first that has the address on it,” said Quinten Thornton, drummer for the band The Acorn People and host of many popular house shows at his home on Minerva Drive.  “Then once the event is just a few weeks away, I will make a private page that is invite only and invite all of my friends.  The public page can potentially inform police ahead of time about the party, and the police in Murfreesboro are usually willing to work with us.  The private page does a good job of keeping out people who are just looking for a rowdy party.”

            Andrew Pigue, the front-man of Murfreesboro’s four-piece drone band Mothyards, offered his perspective on what it’s like to play house shows. 

Mothyards playing a house
show at UTC-06

     “Well, we’ve played two shows now,” Pigue said when asked about his first experience in the house show scene.  “Our first show was a Halloween house show at UTC-06 off of Highland Drive.  It was great. The atmosphere was perfect for our sound, and people really seemed to embrace our sound.  If you’re making any music in Murfreesboro and you want people to experience your music live, then a house show is a good place to start.”

            There are many different bands with varying styles of music being played at these shows.  Some of the bands that frequently play house shows are The Acorn People, Young Wolves, Oh Grandpa, The Water Fight, Sheep Shifter, Tomato Face and Chasing Lights.

            The people who generally attend these shows are there for the music and the social interaction.  There is no age restriction for the shows, though due to the party nature, children are not permitted at most shows.  The shows are especially popular to students and Murfreesboro residents who like rock, punk, or even experimental drone music. 

            For more information about the house show scene, there is a Facebook group page called the "Murfreesboro House Show Alliance".  Simply type "Murfreesboro House Show Alliance" into Facebook’s search bar and request to join the page.

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