There’s no part of me that believes that all your Nashville insight comes from reading We Own This Town – that’s just not part of our modus operandi. So, read these sites for a more well-rounded view of Nashville. This is but the tip of the iceberg.

Dixie Downturn is dedicated to surviving Nashville on the cheap. Authors Michelle and Lance do a great job of covering various To-Do’s around town – mixed with the occasional random observation thrown in for good measure. They’re on Twitter as well.. follow along.

I, admittedly, know very little about the modern `dance` scene. Fortunately, Vitalic Noise does a good job of covering that realm of ignorance for me. They tout themselves as a music blog, an advertising agency, an event promoter and an artist management company – quite a large bag of tricks. However, if you just keep an eye on the homepage and on Twitter, you’ll get the gist.

East Nashville With Love is a somewhat new entry in our realm of lifestyle blogs but it’s doing a damn fine job. Obviously, the focus of the site is on more East Nashville-centric happenings but the insights are general enough that even if you don’t reside on that particular side of the river you’ll be happy to be in the know. Lots of food deals, urban development insights, flea markets, worthwhile shops, etc. are to be found browsing here. Also on the tweets – for your convenience.

I have absolutely zero idea who runs this Nashville Shows blogspot but it is an absolutely priceless resource. Maybe I’m too out of the loop, or too old, or both but I haven’t a clue how people find out about house show bookings and know which smaller bands coming through town are worth spending any time with. Luckily, Nashville Shows has got all that covered. They don’t bother to list much of anything outside of the alternative venues and that is absolutely fine with me. Whoever runs that site deserves a beer or three.

Bandcamp + Facebook
If you’re in a band and you’re not using Bandcamp to digitally distribute your music, you’re probably either insanely ignorant or just not that bright. They take the lowest percentage of any distributor, give you phenomenal stats on who is downloading and a whole lot more. We’ve been over this, Bandcamp is great.. use it. The new news is that they’ve launched a Facebook App for their service so now you can easily embed your music right into your Facebook Fan Page by following approximately 3 steps (two if you prefer). Other services do already provide this sort of functionality but, let’s be honest, Bandcamp is going to tie it all together much nicer. Do it!

Tunecore Sale
As long as we’re talking about digital distribution it is worth mentioning that Tunecore – a service that gets your music into iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, etc. etc. – is running a special that allows you to distribute an album of your choice for $20 – as opposed to their regularly priced $50. Granted, it will probably increase next year when you want to renew but it’s a low barrier to entry now that should be heavily contemplated. Deal ends October 31st so get on it.

Square
If the following two criteria apply to you, pay attention. 1) You have, or have regular access to, an iPhone. 2) You are a touring band with even a single item of merchandise. Assuming both of those are true, you need to go procure a Square digital device. This has been mentioned on the Cream before but it bears repeating. This is the simplest and most affordable way to allow credit card transactions for your merchandise sales. Until technology is swollen with NFC, this is something every band needs because, lets be honest, carrying cash is becoming more and more a thing of the past.