For weeks now, teasers have been dropping over on Instagram for Behind the Sounds; an enigmatic new show being touted by the likes of AC Noel, Kadeem Phillips, Chuck Indigo, Jamiah, Milly Roze, Jay Monie, Brian Brown and Maya Fiasco… all before the first episode even debuted. In short, lots of hype from notable folks for the upcoming endeavor.

Fortunately, the wait is now over and the first episode is available on YouTube and streaming as a podcast. However you take your media, it’s there. Host Maya Fiasco sits down with Namir Blade to discuss his history of music making and partake in special live performances of “Stay” (from Aphelion’s Traveling Circus), “Angel”, and “The 28 Year Theory.” The entire episode is just under 30 minutes, hitting a real sweet spot of enjoyable content without pressing the attention span too hard.

Future episodes of the show will likely involve some of the names involved with hyping the series before it dropped. Maybe we’ll get an hour long chat with Brian Brown? Maybe Gee Slab will pop in and discuss how he chooses his beats? Maybe (hopefully) Daisha McBride will spin a tale or two. The possibilities are endless but the only way to know is to subscribe and keep up. Follow @watch.bts over on Instagram so you don’t miss out.

On June 17, from midnight to midnight Pacific Time, we’ll hold our third annual Juneteenth fundraiser, where we donate 100% of our share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to support their ongoing efforts to promote racial justice through litigation, advocacy, and public education.

So, during the entirety of June 17th, you can (and should) purchase from Bandcamp. You’ll be supporting artists and be supporting the NAACP Legal Defense Fund – which is an unbelievable resource for defending Black people in America.

If you’re looking to participate in this fundraiser, we highly suggest steering yourself over to the #Nashville tag for some broad discovery or check out this curated list of selections. It’s also embedded below (and it scrolls, so scroll it).

It can’t be stated enough that this is an opportunity to support artists (local artists, even) and contribute to an enormously powerful legal defense fund. You gotta do it, so go do it!

Back in the mid-90s, there was a little record shop nestled on Church Ave called Lucy’s Record Shop that hosted all-ages shows, DIY events and sold plenty of under-the-radar releases from bands far and wide. If you’re following our Lucy’s Record Shop Podcast or have heard the Nashville Demystified episode about the space, you already know. What you might not know, is that one attendee of that beloved space was Stacy Goldate, a budding filmmaker at the time that realized the community around them was a special moment in time to be captured. That inspiration eventually became the documentary Lucy Barks!

The official synopsis for the 45-minute film provides quality insight into the importance of capturing this era of Nashville:

In the mid-90s, Nashville’s music scene sustained under the weight of country, singer-songwriter, and Christian contemporary music with very few options for anyone under 21 who preferred punk, grunge, and indie rock. That was, until a little record shop with the mantra “no racist, sexist, or homophobic shit tolerated” appeared on the scene. Lucy Barks! chronicles the heyday of Lucy’s Record Shop, the all-ages music venue that put Nashville on the touring map for bands like Bikini Kill, Cat Power, and Brainiac and became a flashpoint for a growing alternative music and art scene of its own.

Beyond that, Lucy’s founder Mary Mancini points out that there are very few documents that capture the physical space of the shop and even fewer still that capture the attendees and the bands that played there. It is, in short, an enlightening slice of an influence time in Nashville that existed before smart phones, digital cameras and certainly before social media.

The documentary has never been available digitally in high resolution until now. Goldate has sourced the original footage and made it available to purchase or rent, with all proceeds going to Oasis Center and Nashville Launch Pad; both orgs who function within the mantra of Lucy’s Record Shop; “No racist, sexist or homophobic shit tolerated.”

Treat yourself to a historical document of Nashville that set the groundwork for the culture and music scene that we’re still seeing the effects of today. Bonus, watching the film also contributes to some incredible organizations. Win Win.