Takin A Walk Nashville Concert Calendar -Week of 11-17-25

Summary

Takin' a Walk Nashville Concert Calendar – Week of 11/17/25

Podcast: Takin' a Walk
Host: Buzz Knight (iHeartPodcasts)
Special Guest: Sarah Harrelson (Host, Takin’ a Walk Nashville)
Episode Date: November 18, 2025

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Overview

This episode provides a lively and informative rundown of Nashville’s dynamic live music and cultural events for the week of November 17th, 2025. Host Buzz Knight joins fellow podcaster Sarah Harrelson to highlight the biggest concerts, can’t-miss venues, the intersection of sports and music, and the unique flavor of Nashville as the holiday season approaches. The conversation blends practical recommendations, local stories, and a celebration of the city’s enduring music spirit.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Nashville’s Unstoppable Music Calendar

• Music Scene Year-Round: “Just because it's getting cold outside does not mean it's slowing down here.” — Sarah (01:26)
  • Despite the colder months, Nashville's live music schedule is in full swing across genres.

2. Concert Highlights for the Week

• Stephen Wilson Jr. at The Ryman (Nov 23 & 24)

  • “It’s gonna be his largest hometown headline to date at this venue.” — Sarah (01:43)
  • Genre blend: Indie rock with country elements; also notable songwriter for others (Caitlin Smith, Old Dominion, Brothers Osborne).
  • Unique artist background: former Golden Gloves boxer and research scientist. (02:14)
  • Stephen will also play with Shabuzzi at the CMA Awards (Nov 19).
  • “That’s pretty big. He must be a nervous wreck over that, I’m guessing.” — Buzz (02:59)
  • “Probably not... It's a piece of cake for him.” — Sarah and Buzz joking (03:05)

• CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena (Nov 19)

  • November is a peak time for artists to return home and attend.
  • “The females are kind of dominating this year... Ella Langley, Megan Maroney, and Lainey Wilson… most nominations with six each.” — Sarah (03:31)

• Christmas at Belmont (Nov 21 & 22, Fisher Center)

  • More than 600 students perform in a cherished holiday celebration.
  • “It really is magical.” — Sarah (04:46)
  • Sarah’s favorite as a Belmont alum.

3. Venues and Weekly Staples

• New Faces Night at The Basement (Every Tuesday, Nov 18)

  • A platform for emerging Nashville artists across genres.
  • “Not just country. I’ve heard rock. I’ve heard indie… always a great venue.” — Sarah (05:46)

• The Basement vs. The Basement East

  • “The original basement is literally underground...a fun vibe.” — Sarah (06:08)

• Rudy’s Jazz Room

  • “If people are in town and want to hear some jazz, Rudy’s Jazz Room is a great venue… great Cajun style menu.” — Sarah (09:54, 10:31)
  • “Very stripped back but very, you know, cool, intimate.” — Buzz (10:37)
  • Must-visit for those wanting a New Orleans vibe in Nashville.

4. Holiday Tourism and Lights

• Opry’s Holiday Highlight
  • “Opry does their Christmas classics, and then they have all of the Christmas lights up.” — Sarah (06:36)
  • Draws both locals and tourists.

5. Sports and Music – An Ongoing Intersection

• “Besides Titans games, we have Predators hockey always going on, so there’s always a band that will play during the halftime... someone famous [does] the national anthem… as well as our Nashville soccer team.” — Sarah (07:32)

• The new Titans stadium is under construction, set to open in 2027.

• Local Joke:

  • Q: “Do you know what the bird of Nashville is?” (08:26)
  • A: “It’s the crane.” — Sarah (08:31)
  • Lighthearted reference to constant city construction.

6. Personal Sports Loyalties

• Buzz jokes about being a fair-weather Patriots fan and Sarah reveals she roots for the Ravens due to her husband’s Baltimore roots, but prefers college football as a Knoxville native. (08:46–09:13)

7. Community Engagement

• “If you’ve got a gig you want us to talk about and a venue you want us to talk about, we’re happy to do that. We are an open book if it’s all about Nashville.” — Buzz (11:13)
• “Please let us know any shows you have coming up. I will keep my ear out as well.” — Sarah (11:30)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Nashville’s Female Artists:
  • “The females are kind of dominating this year.” — Sarah (03:31)
• Spirit of Nashville:
  • “Good sports, good music, good food. We have it all.” — Sarah (09:42)
• On Rudy’s Jazz Room:
  • “Gives you a little taste of New Orleans and Nashville.” — Sarah (11:09)
• Holiday Nostalgia:
  • “There's nothing like the holiday spirit, right?” — Buzz (05:03)
• Encouragement to Listeners:
  • “If someone hasn't been to Rudy's and if you've been to Nashville, you must go.” — Buzz (11:01)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:56: Start of concert calendar discussion
• 01:43: Stephen Wilson Jr. at The Ryman
• 03:24: CMA Awards preview & female nominees
• 04:19: Christmas at Belmont & event description
• 05:12: New Faces Night & The Basement venues
• 06:36: Opry’s Christmas lights and holiday tourism
• 07:32: How sports teams integrate music into events
• 08:26: Nashville’s construction and “the crane” joke
• 09:42: The spirit and community of Nashville
• 09:54: Rudy’s Jazz Room recommendation
• 11:13: Invitation to community to share local gigs

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Conclusion

Buzz Knight and Sarah Harrelson offer a snapshot of why Nashville remains “Music City” year-round – with renowned headliners, nurturing venues for new talent, a blending of music and sports, classic holiday events, and a constant invitation for locals and visitors to participate. The episode captures not just the week’s music schedule, but the city’s sense of camaraderie, celebration, and musical discovery.

Transcript

[Buzz Knight]

This is an iHeart podcast, Limu Keymoo and Doug.

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Here we have the Limu emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[Liberty Mutual Announcer]

Cut the camera. They see us.

[Buzz Knight]

Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts. Taking a Walk Nashville. Well, hi, my name is Buzz Knight. I host this podcast called the Taking a Walk Podcast. And my goodness, I am with someone who hosts a podcast that's called Taking a Walk Nashville. Hi, Sarah Harrelson. Thanks for having me on your show.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Hi, Buzz. Thank you for being on Taking a Walk Nashville today.

[Buzz Knight]

Yes, we are able to get together here by the beauty of virtuality. I'm outside of Boston, you're outside of Nashville. And we're going to talk about what's going on in the unbelievable music scene around Nashville. And we're going to take a look at the week of November 17th, and I'm pretty certain there's a fair amount of stuff going on with all different genres of music. Would you agree, Sarah?

[Sarah Harrelson]

Of course, yeah. As I mentioned on the last concert calendar, there's always so many events happening in Nashville, and just because it's getting cold outside does not mean it's slowing down here. And there's so much on the lineup for November 17th. We have Stephen Wilson Jr. At the Ryman on the 23rd. I think that'll be a great concert because it's gonna be his largest hometown headline to date at this ven.

[Buzz Knight]

Now, tell me what you know about Stephen. We've tried to get him on Taking a Walk a couple times through his. His people, and he's like a lot of artists. Obviously, he's on the road a lot. But for Stephen, this is a bit of a homecoming, right?

[Sarah Harrelson]

It is, yeah. He has such a great story. I would love to have him on Taking a Walk Nashville. His own music is kind of a blend of indie rock and country, but he's also written quite a few songs for a variety of artists, like Caitlin Smith, Old Dominion, Brothers Osborne. The list goes on and on. But his journey, I think, is very unique. He was a Golden Gloves boxer and then later a research scientist, and now he's doing music, so he's done it all. And in addition to performing at The Ryman on November 23rd and 24th, he's also going to be performing with Shabuzzi at the CMA. Many awards on the 19th.

[Buzz Knight]

Well, that's pretty big. He must be a nervous wreck over that, I'm guessing. Yeah, probably not. I mean, come on. He's.

[Sarah Harrelson]

He's.

[Buzz Knight]

It's a piece of cake for him. But now, is it fair to say this time around, Nashville is when a lot of the artists, you know, are coming back home? They're coming off the long road, but they're still doing select dates, kind of celebrating the holidays, right?

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yes. If the artist is not on, like, a holiday tour, usually they're back here in Nashville, maybe performing at different events in Nashville. And that's definitely why CMA hosts their awards in November, because a lot of artists are off tour and able to be at the award show. And that's happening on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at Bridgestone Arena. I think it's gonna be another great award show. The females are kind of dominating this year. In Nomin, we have Ella Langley, Megan Maroney, and Lainey Wilson. They've received the most nominations this year with six each.

[Buzz Knight]

Yay. Yay. Pro. Pro ladies. Yes. Yeah. So Stephen Wilson at the Ryman. That's. That's. Is that what you think? Maybe Is the. The big event of the week, or are there some others?

[Sarah Harrelson]

Definitely. Stephen Wilson at the Ryman. And then, of course, the CMA Awards. We also have going on Christmas at Belmont. That was one of my favorite events to attend when I was at Belmont. That's gonna be on November 21st and 22nd at the Fisher center for the Performing Arts. That's their new performing arts center. It's so beautiful. If no one has been there before. And more than 600 Belmont students will perform Christmas and holiday music, and it really is magical.

[Buzz Knight]

Oh, my God. Have you been to that one before you. You go?

[Sarah Harrelson]

I have, yeah. Especially when I attended Belmont. I went pretty much every year.

[Buzz Knight]

There's nothing like the holiday spirit, right?

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah.

[Buzz Knight]

And what are some of the other venues that might be popping up for that week?

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah. So we talked about country music, holiday music, but we're not limited to that In Nashville. We have New Faces Night. That happens every Tuesday at the original basement on 8th Avenue. That's happening November 18th at 8pm New Faces Night always features different artists in Nashville. I think they get like a 30 minute set each. Usually. A lot of. I've heard so many different genres when I've been to New Faces Night. Not just country. I've heard rock. I've heard indie. So it's always a great venue and night to see different kinds of Music.

[Buzz Knight]

Now is the basement where on our earlier episode of the concert calendar where Thomas Dolby was appearing. Do I have that correct? Or was he at another venue?

[Sarah Harrelson]

That was the Basement east and East Nashville. So that's a lot bigger than the original basement. The original basement is literally underground and kind of a basement area. It's a lot smaller, but it's a. It's a fun vibe.

[Buzz Knight]

And does Nashville get crazy? Besides the locals around the holidays, is there a lot of tourism still going on this. This time of year?

[Sarah Harrelson]

Absolutely. Especially over at the Opry. Opry does their Christmas classics, and then they have all of the Christmas lights up. So it's a popular time for tourists to come see all of the lights at Opry and enjoy the holiday fun over there.

[Buzz Knight]

And I want to ask you, so what happens with the intersection of. Of sports and music in Nashville? Obviously, you have a football team. I don't know if you're a fan of that football team or not. You're allowed to not be, because I know you probably have other fan affinity on the sports, I'm guessing, but maybe not. But. So what I'm asking is, when the football team is in full force, do artists typically play at these games at halftime? What goes on?

[Sarah Harrelson]

Oh, yeah, all the time. Especially since we're in Music City. Besides Titans games, we have Predators hockey always going on, so there's always a band that will play during the halftime at Titans or the Preds game. There's always someone famous who usually does the national anthem at both games, too, as well as our Nashville soccer team. There's always music going on over there. So sports and music always happening here in Nashville. And the new Titan stadium is actually being built right now, and that's expected to open in 2027.

[Buzz Knight]

Wait, there's construction in Nashville happening? I can't believe it. Yeah, every time I go there, I'm like, there's more buildings that are being put up. My God.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Well, do you know what the bird of Nashville is?

[Buzz Knight]

No.

[Sarah Harrelson]

It's the crane.

[Buzz Knight]

Oh. I fell for it. It's been. It's been a day, and I fell for that one. And. And I'm so happy that I did. I didn't say the word Titans. I hope you noticed that I was kind of holding back on that. Now, look, partially because I live outside of Boston, and you might think I'm a loyal Patriots fan, and right now I'm going to jump on the bandwagon. I'm a fair weather Patriots fan, so they're on a roll. So I Say, go Patriots, go. Mike Vabril, he was your former coach and that's why I was being reluctant to say the word Titans.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Well, I wish we could have Mike Ray Bull back. I hope the Titans can do better. I'm originally from Knoxville, so more of a college football fan. But my husband is from Baltimore, so we cheer for the Ravens usually.

[Buzz Knight]

Oh, okay. See now, full disclosure, that's okay. I mean, you know, we could be fair weather and as long as. As long as it's good. Good fortune, good music, good community. That's what it's all about, right?

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah, absolutely. Good sports, good music, good food. We have it all.

[Buzz Knight]

Anything else you want to talk about in terms of music around there or you think this one is just about a rap?

[Sarah Harrelson]

Well, we talked about holiday music, rock music, country music, but if people are in town and want to hear some jazz, Rudy's Jazz Room is a great venue for that. It's open six nights a week featuring different jazz groups. They have hot club, Gypsy jazz Thursday. Every Thursday they have jazz, swing music and they have really good food to a great Cajun style menu.

[Buzz Knight]

So, Sarah Harrelson, you've been there then? Is that what you're telling me? You love that place?

[Sarah Harrelson]

I have great music, great food. I think it's a must for anyone visiting.

[Buzz Knight]

I love that place, too. I. I hadn't heard about it and one of the locals, when I was at a restaurant, actually, they said, oh, Julie over there sings at. At Rudy's. You should go check that place out. So I was like, okay, I'm going tonight. So I went to Rudy's. I love the vibe. Very stripped back but very, you know, cool, intimate. And if someone hasn't been to Rudy's and if you've been to Nashville, you must go.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah. Gives you a little taste of New Orleans and Nashville.

[Buzz Knight]

So we're going to do our reach out to anybody who's listening in the music community. If you've got a gig you want us to talk about and a venue you want us to talk about, we're happy to do that. We are an open book if it's all about Nashville. Yeah.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Please let us know any shows you have coming up. I will keep my ear out as well.

[Buzz Knight]

All right, well, this is a wrap. It's a concert calendar for the week of November 17th. And Sarah Harrelson, thanks for letting me poke my head into taking a walk. Nashville.

[Sarah Harrelson]

Yeah, thanks for coming on, Buzz.

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[Buzz Knight]

This is an iHEART podcast.