We Own This Town

A Nashville Christmas 2025

Michael Eades | Posted Tue December 23, 2025

We’ve been covering holiday music since the very early days of the site – at least 2008 if our search is to be trusted! Our first official compilation of local holiday music was on the We Own This Town Music episode Volume 58 from 2012. Ever since then, we’ve made an effort to put together some local holiday tunes for your enjoyment. Shockingly, 2025 is no different!

Well, okay, it’s a little different. Instead of a conveniently packaged podcast, we’ve got a Christmas Playlist! Tap that first track and let the holiday party begin!

The playlist is comprised entirely of songs available on Bandcamp. If you’re feeling jolly, be sure to tap on through and support those artists directly for their enjoyable contributions. This one is as eclectic as anything we’ve ever put together before so there’s sure to be something in there for everybody.

If you find yourself in need of more local holiday music, we have got you covered. In abundance! Here’s the full archive:

2024 Holiday Special Extravaganza

2022 Holiday Special Extravaganza

2021 Holiday Special Extravaganza

2020 Holiday Special Extravaganza

2019 Holiday Special Extravaganza

Volume 123 (2018)

Volume 72 (2015)

Volume 58 (2012)

If your appetite for local holiday tunes still isn’t satiated! I’ve got great news for you.. there’s still plenty of delightful local holiday music out there to enjoy! Start exploring!

Ectopic Pants & A Plane of Babies

Joy Todd | Posted Mon December 22, 2025 from Momcult

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The girls sit down with their first official guest of Season 5, Randa Newman! We delve into Randa’s background, including her adoption from South Korea to a family in Kentucky and she shares her personal journey through an ectopic pregnancy, IVF, and the challenges of balancing motherhood with career. Join us!

About our guest: Randa Newman is a producer, actor, and genetic counselor. Born in Seoul and adopted into a family of Eastern Kentucky Appalachians at three months old, she brings a unique perspective to both science and storytelling. She is the co-founder of Ranch Vovo, a narrative film production company based in East Nashville. Randa has produced several films and served as executive producer on the TV pilot Morse Code, which earned multiple awards on the film festival circuit. In 2025, she made her directorial debut with the critically acclaimed short film I’m a Winner (written by Joy Todd), which won the Audience Choice Award at Nashville Film Festival. Her on-screen credits include 911 Nashville (ABC), Sketch (starring Tony Hale), Young Rock (NBC), Walker (CW), and The WASP, in which she portrayed WWII pilot Hazel Ying Lee.

Randa lives in East Nashville with her husband, Korby, and their daughter, Zuzu.

Follow Momcult on Instagram @momcultpodcast.

WORK – THX

Michael Eades | Posted Thu December 18, 2025

Imagine you and your coworkers collaborated once a year to make an album of original songs and cover, then donated all of the proceeds to charity. That’s WORK. They are a collective of musicians, artists, creators and coworkers that all work together at Manuel Zeitlin Architects (MZA) and Zeitgeist Gallery. Together they’ve created collaborative albums since 2017 and benefitted the likes of YEAH!, Nashville Food Project, Daybreak Arts, and many more. Unsurprisingly, the variety of styles from each release is always compelling and worth a listen.

You may not know a lot of architects in town but with Manuel Zeitlin, you probably do! Know Turnip Truck? Henrietta Red? Pinewood Social? Fenwicks 300? Catbird Seat? The Gulch!? That’s all MZA. Zeitlin’s portfolio is vast and impressive. I mention this because Manuel Zeitlin, the MZA’s namesake, has announced his retirement.

Fittingly, the collective coworkers at WORK wanted to pay tribute and show their appreciation for their founder. What better way to do that than en EP of Neil Young covers? Five tracks of excellently executed songs that include a nice range of Young’s highlights.*

Many thanks to Manuel Zeitlin for his decades long career and his (and his studio’s) impact on Nashville. Additionally, many thanks to WORK for consistently coming together to show that being coworkers can be fun, unifying and beneficial to the community. Truly, a heart of gold all around.

* nothing from the electronic Trans album – maybe next year!?

SEASON FINALE: Biting into New Yams: Our Ideal Year of Holidays

Who's Gonna Be There? | Posted Thu December 11, 2025 from Who's Gonna Be There?

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Why do holidays matter? In the season finale, our hosts share their ideal year of holidays: some ancient, some sacrilegious, and some downright pornographic. Considering sociologist Amitai Etzioni’s scholarship around holidays, Blake and Kashif decide to keep, tweak, or trash celebrations that occupy the American calendar year. What the heck is up with Groundhog Day? A tough day to be ugly in Ancient Greece. TLC’s Trading Spaces–Ancient Roman Edition. DOGEing the hell out of American war holidays. They close with the last Game of the season.

• Amitai Etzioni
• Kwanzaa
• Saturnalia
• Iyanla Fix My Life Episode
• Hiring Day

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About the show:
A culture podcast by two insufferable queer introverts in the South who really need to know who’s gonna be there before they commit to anything.

Instagram: @whosgonnabetherepod
TikTok: @whosgonnabetherepod

We Are Sounds in the Afterlife: On Ambient Music w/ JayVe Montgomery

Who's Gonna Be There? | Posted Fri November 28, 2025 from Who's Gonna Be There?

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Ambient music—what is it, what is it not? Hosts Blake and Kashif attempt to define the music that is so much a part of our professional and personal lives, even when we don’t realize it. Beginning in the 20th century, they trace the genre’s journey from dinner music for the upper echelon to the ‘on-hold’ jingle at your local doctor’s office. Just how many subgenres of ambient/experimental music are there? Why are ambient titles so usual? Reflections on William Basinski’s The Disintegration Loops. An interview with JayVe Montgomery about sound and existence, his newest project: Lake Black Town, and the need for more Black ambient artists.

• JayVe’s socials: Instagram | Website
• Lake Black Town
• only forced labor can make america great again!
• Lake Lanier
• The N-Word of God
• Portrait Pallas at Ambient Evening (1.16.25)
• The Disintegration Loops
• William Basinski on Making TDL
• Brian Eno
• Black Ambient Artist: Laraaji
• Stars of the Lid
• Pop Ambient 2006 (Iceblink)
• Pop Ambient 2003 (Express Yourself)

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About the show:
A culture podcast by two insufferable queer introverts in the South who really need to know who’s gonna be there before they commit to anything.

Instagram: @whosgonnabetherepod
TikTok: @whosgonnabetherepod

One Episode, Two Births

Joy Todd | Posted Mon November 24, 2025 from Momcult

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Joy and Sarah both had crazy weeks and decided to hit record on their first hang – post baby. Joy gets to meet and hold Lady while Sarah shares her birth story, which she doesn’t really want you to know the details about because it was all pretty easy. So don’t tell anyone else. :)

Follow Momcult on Instagram @momcultpodcast.

Welcome to Dorinda’s: On Coffee Shops as Third Spaces

Who's Gonna Be There? | Posted Thu November 13, 2025 from Who's Gonna Be There?

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In the depths of a lonliness epidemic, what is the importance of coffee shops and third spaces? Our resident coffee shop connoisseurs break down Ray Oldenburg’s third space theory and its obsession with homosexuality. They look at how third wave coffee shops function in their respective communities. How can you tell if a coffee shop will be good based on the name? Why Joe, Co., and Roast can be a dead giveaway of a burnt latte. Baristas and how they are principal agents in the fight against loneliness.

• Ray Oldenburg
• The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community by Ray Oldenburg
• Third Wave Coffee

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About the show:
A culture podcast by two insufferable queer introverts in the South who really need to know who’s gonna be there before they commit to anything.

Instagram: @whosgonnabetherepod
TikTok: @whosgonnabetherepod

Sayryn – “Burning Field”

Michael Eades | Posted Thu November 13, 2025

Last we heard from Sayryn, they had released their album Cautionary Tales. Ten songs from the duo of Saya Santaquilani and Bryn Colodny. Acoustic driven performances driving folk inspired murder ballads. Sparse, sharp songs with percolating tension and plenty of soaring harmonies.

With the release of the new single “Burning Field,” the pair evolves their sparse arrangements into a slow burn that unfurls into a weighty yearning. According to the band’s notes, the song was inspired by the phrase “bird in the burning field” – a reference to the relentless tenacity of the female Japanese green pheasant, a bird renowned for defending it’s eggs even in the face of an encroaching fire. The track’s lyrics pay direct homage to that devotion of motherhood (may we all be so lucky) while the arrangement itself cleverly evokes the feeling of an oncoming wrath. Santaquilani and Colodny’s harmonies continue to weave together in a haunting manner, downright medieval in fact. Three minutes in, the song explodes into a fuller sound, unleashing a longing melancholy. That may not be a feeling you’d think could be unleashed but “Burning Field” is proof that not only is it possible but Sayryn is authentically expressing it.

While it’s just one track, “Burning Field” serves as an assurance that Sayryn is continuing to evolve their work. Their recent set at Spooky Ghoul Fest was minimal instrumentation yet entirely captivating. Hopefully that recent performance and this single are signs hinting at a larger body of work coming soon. I’m ready for more sharp, folk inspired, harmony laden tales from these bards.

2025 Halloween Spectacular

Michael Eades | Posted Fri October 31, 2025 from WOTT Music

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Back due to unpopular demand, it’s horror host Michael Bleeds and another spooky extravaganza of local spooky songs. As past year’s rituals have demonstrated, our journey begins creepy and delightful but we descend into proper creepy, full-on.

This edition of the show has many favorites from past years and plenty of brand new classics. Michael Bleeds keeps it well balanced. When you’re done with this one, be sure to revisit the archives from 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and the first from 2017.

Click here for full episode notes

Brandy McMaxwell — “Evil The Song”

The Spirit League — “Scare Easy”

Iven — “The Reaper Is A Scary Guy”

Bad Luck Mattress — “Mayhem Dong”

Boo Dudes — “Skeleton Dog”

DARK DAZE MVSIC — “Cycle of the Wolf”

The Phantoms Of Saturn — “The Black Cat”

MALCO — “Boo Dudes – Shes So Skeletal MALCO Remix”

Blavery — “Vampire Slayer Stakes and Crosses”

Shaboi — “Dr Jekyll and Ms Hideous”

Eric Slick — “Dig Through The Ditches Burn Through The Witches”

Coley Kennedy — “Just Like Kiss Halloween 83”

Joe Zempel — “Cedar Womb”

Bats — “I Put A Spell On You”

Fetching Pails — “The Witching Hour”

Petty — “Dracula ”

B L O O P R — “halloween party”

V To Z — “The Darkness Of Us All”

Sean Parrott — “They Were Hunted”

Makeup And Vanity Set — “Black Phillip The Witch”

Haze Anderson — “The Thing”

Stuffed Spider — “Monster Makeup”

MALCO — “Castle Arachnid”

Children Of The Night — “Adrift At Dark”

The Spirit League — “One Last Dance”

Black Moon Mother — “Watch It Burn”

Soot — “Fire Ants”

Total Wife — “Not”

German Error Message — “Lilt”

SONGS OF LLORE — “Cicadas Frogs Racing Cars”

Stuffed Spider — “Enfield Pattern” (excerpt)

‘Read Me, Daddy’ w/ psychic Logan Taylor

Who's Gonna Be There? | Posted Thu October 30, 2025 from Who's Gonna Be There?

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Storyteller and medium Logan Taylor vists the pod to talk ghosts, spirits, and how to hone the gift of seeing. Featured on the popular Kristen Stewart series, Living for the Dead, Logan talks about coming out as both queer and a psychic in rural Tennessee. What happens after we die? What’s it like to date a psychic? Episode includes a tribute to a dearly departed rider of cowboys.

• Logan Taylor’s socials: Instagram | TikTok
• Logan’s reality series: 11:11 UNSCRIPTED TV
• Living for the Dead
• Roz Hernandez
• Dust II Onyx: a melanated tarot deck by Courtney Alexander

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About the show:
A culture podcast by two insufferable queer introverts in the South who really need to know who’s gonna be there before they commit to anything.

Instagram: @whosgonnabetherepod
TikTok: @whosgonnabetherepod

Take a Look, They’re Banning Books

Who's Gonna Be There? | Posted Thu October 16, 2025 from Who's Gonna Be There?

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1982 was quite a year for books, censorship, and the freedom to read. That year, the Supreme Court heard Board of Ed v. Pico, Banned Books Week was founded, and Reading Rainbow was in development. In this episode, Blake and Kashif examine the state of books bans in the US. Kashif unpacks activist librarianship and the symbolic firing of Carla Hayden. Blake explores Reading Rainbow in light of the Butterfly in the Sky documentary. The boys talk their shared love of reading and how the show fostered imagination. They share their favorite children’s books.

• Banned Books Week Data
• Judith Krug | Carla Hayden | Virginia Lacy Jones | EJ Josey
• Report Censorship to the American Library Association
• Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico
• Mychal Threets | LeVar Burton
• Reading Rainbow Docu: Butterfly in the Sky
• Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
• Rainbow Goblins by Ul de Rico

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About the show:
A culture podcast by two insufferable queer introverts in the South who really need to know who’s gonna be there before they commit to anything.

Instagram: @whosgonnabetherepod
TikTok: @whosgonnabetherepod

Andrew Goodman & The Salt Cedars

Who's Gonna Be There? | Posted Thu October 2, 2025 from Who's Gonna Be There?

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Picture yourself eavesdropping on a typical coffee shop conversation between Blake and Kashif. In this bonus episode, they discuss civil rights activists Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Freedom Summer. Listen as they find the bridge between the invasive Salt Cedar, the Sand Creek Massacre and Native American mascots. What happens when normal people go…good? What does it mean to uproot traditions that shouldn’t have been there in the first place?

Show Notes:
• James Chaney | Andrew Goodman | Michael Schwerner
• The Andrew Goodman Foundation
• Tamarix ramosissima
• Lamar, Colorado
• The Savage Mascot
• Bill to Prohibit American Indian Mascots (SB21-116)

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About the show:
A culture podcast by two insufferable queer introverts in the South who really need to know who’s gonna be there before they commit to anything.

Instagram: @whosgonnabetherepod
TikTok: @whosgonnabetherepod