Songs On Tap at Tennessee Brew Works

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – September 2, 2019 – Tennessee Brew Works, an independent craft brewery located at 809 Ewing Avenue in Nashville, will host Leonard Cohen’s Birthday—A Tennessee Waltz on Saturday, Sept. 21 as an opening to their SONGS ON TAP concert series. This tribute event will celebrate the world-renowned novelist, poet, and singer/songwriter who inspired generations of writers, musicians, and artists—the late Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) on his birthday.

SONGS ON TAP is a semi-regular, ticketed concert series hosted by Tennessee Brew Works; integrating the quality of their beer with the uncommon caliber of talent found here in Music City. 

By staging performances in the brewery, among the fermentation tanks and barrels, SONGS ON TAP offers a transcendent musical experience that is both reverent and relaxed.                                                            

This tribute honors the memory of Mr. Cohen by collaborating with FUEL OUR FIRE, a non-profit organization built on the belief that Music and Art have the power to transform and heal trauma. FUEL OUR FIRE, is a nonprofit organization founded by local musicians and activists—sister’s, Phoebe and Stephanie Hunt. With help from their partners, FUEL OUR FIRE seeks to expand the capacity and diversity of Nashville’s music and arts scene by collaborating with Tennessee Brew Works’ SONGS ON TAP concerts series.

In developing programming for this tribute, Tennessee Brew Works’ SONGS ON TAP has worked closely with Julie Christensen—local performer, songwriter, backing vocalist and friend to Mr. Cohen—to curate a line-up that showcases prominent, local songwriters including: Kira Small, Mark Huff, Amelia White, Jon Byrd, LUELLA, Ben de la Cour, Anne McCue, Amy Blaschke, Brett Ryan Stewart—and the line-up continues on, with additional special guests as yet to be announced. 

Remembering her friend, Julie Christensen says, “Leonard’s birthday falls near the autumnal equinox in our hemisphere, when days and nights are the same length. His music is often called dark, but I always found the music, and the man, light and dark in equal measure. Maybe it’s the deep sound of his voice that seems dark to some. I’m so excited to help bring his songs to both new and veteran listeners of Cohen. By giving the songs to singers whose voices I know and admire to interpret, we’ll all get to experience the light and night in celebration of a bonafide inhabitant of the Tower of Song." 

For decades, Leonard Cohen contributed pensive, urgent reflections on the human condition. Cohen teased out a startlingly inventive and singular language, depicting both an exalted spirituality and an earthly sensuality. By interweaving the sacred and the profane, Cohen has become an icon of the poetic arts—seared into the collective consciousness of many global generations.

While recording the album Songs from a Room, Leonard Cohen lived in Leiper’s Fork just south of Nashville. Producer Bob Johnston (Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Simon and Garfunkel) recorded the album in his studio off 16th Avenue—Music Row. It was 1968. This second album of Cohen’s would come to be regarded for its stripped-down approach, and emphasis on minimalism. Songs from a Room centerpieces a naked intimacy and fearless emotional honesty, marshaling Cohen’s contribution to contemporary songwriting. Songwriters in Nashville today still touchstone the key elements of this album—heralding his approach to minimalism and unswerving integrity to the song.

Tickets for this exclusive event on Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. start at $20 and can be purchased on Tennessee Brew Works’ website, here. By purchasing tickets now, concert goers will save on the price of their advance ticket—as a special guest announcement on August 31 will increase ticket prices. 

For more information on Tennessee Brew Works, the SONGS ON TAP concert series, or the partnership with FUEL OUR FIRE, visit www.tnbrew.com/songsontap.

Date: September 21, 2019 8:00 PM

Location: Tennessee Brew Works | Nashville