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USA Today
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Ed Sheeran, Noah Kahan play intimate concert at a Nashville dive bar
Ed Sheeran, Noah Kahan play intimate concert at a Nashville dive bar Show Caption Hide Caption Ed Sheeran, Noah Kahan perform impromptu set at Nashville's Santa's Pub Nashville-favored global folk-pop stars Ed Sheeran, Noah Kahan performed an impromptu private set at Nashville's Santa's Pub on April 22, 2025. Folk-pop superstars Noah Kahan and Ed Sheeran played a show for an unusually small crowd on April 22. In a surprise team-up, the pair performed for about 100 people at a dive bar. Sheeran, who has sold about 200 million singles in the past dozen years, joined Kahan, his friend of the past seven years, for a set that included hits like "Dial Drunk" and "Stick Season." "We're going to play songs until someone gives up," said Sheeran as the impromptu, but invite-only event began at Santa's Pub in Nashville, Tennessee. "It's going to feel like a freestyle battle for depressed people," Kahan joked. "I'm the Jewish Ed Sheeran." "I'm the Catholic Noah Kahan," Sheeran quipped. Ed Sheeran is the hit of Coachella for sheer talent Inside Noah Kahan, Ed Sheeran's intimate Santa's Pub performance Santa's Pub is the kind of cash-only, single-serve cans or bottles, no-liquor-available type of dive bar, that's rare in areas near downtown Nashville of late. It's where $100 can buy a drink for everyone living on a nearby neighborhood block. By tradition's standards, this wasn't exactly country music. It was "Cheers," but the whole world — and not just bar patrons — knew the names of two people occasionally stomping their feet on the floor for rhythmic emphasis, but primarily, rather quietly, playing some of the saddest, most healing songs of the past decade on their guitars. Masters golf ad prompts outrage over Noah Kahan's 'Georgia on My Mind' cover: Here's why Ed Sheeran's joyous, bar and festival-hopping world tour Sheeran is preparing to drop a new album entitled "Play," which he largely recorded with a dozen musicians in Goa, on India's southwestern coast. No release date has been revealed. As part of the promotion, he's bar-hopped across the country for small shows in cities including Boston, Los Angeles, and New York as well as a headlining set at Coachella. Stops have seen him appear with everyone from Megan Moroney and songwriter Amy Allen in Nashville, to Post Malone, Shaboozey and pop star Alex Warren at Coachella. Not content with that, he's also performed for pink-hatted bachelorettes at Tootsie's in Nashville's Lower Broadway neighborhood. In this cycle of his career, sitting across from Kahan and providing a bittersweet paradise by the dive bar neon lights is par for the course. "Even outside of playing at the Ryman or somewhere, these crowds make four-part harmonies (feel almost) automatic when you perform in Nashville," Sheeran whispered to Kahan after playing the first verse and chorus of his breakout hit "The A Team." "Yeah, man, Belmont students are all like, 'My moment is right now,'" joked Kahan in response. Kahan and Sheeran, the perfect pair Kahan is a superfan of Sheeran as much as he is a friend. As he performed several songs, which he described as chronicling a troubled relationship with his father, the clearness of a star able to tap into and concisely express his soul's rawest potency became clear. Sheeran also has that quality in spades. As Sheeran performed the decade-old "I'm A Mess," Kahan gazed on, stunned that he wrote the song while standing in a spare shower in his home with superb acoustics. "You're... lathering yourself to that — I can't take a shower anymore," he joked. When Kahan sang a new song, "Porchlight," which again dips into fraught family dynamics, Sheeran smiled, occasionally strumming along as a backing player. Over the past dozen years, notably during a nine-month stint in 2013 when he lived in Nashville, Sheeran has drunk many a night away at Santa's Pub. Thus, more than any festival or stadium stage, it's where he felt it appropriate to create an evening that was equal parts a night at a Scottish pub and a melding of two super-star talents. Sheeran and Kahan kicked back bottles of Modelo and played A-sides, B-sides and new material, clearly enjoying themselves, the crowd and each others company most of all.
The Independent
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
From foodies to Swifties: America's music city is the perfect holiday break
Stepping into the Grand Ole Opry – a must-visit on any country music fan's bucket list – the atmosphere is electric. The venue, where a live radio show is broadcast every week, is one of the top performance destinations in Nashville – if not the world. Watching a show was one of my main motivations for planning a trip to this legendary city in Tennessee. Ahead of the performance, I settle into the Circle Room as part of a VIP experience limited to just 100 guests per night. I then watch Bill Anderson and American Idol star Lauren Alaina set the crowd alight, with audience members holding each other as they dance in the aisles. For decades, Nashville has been the pulsing heart of America's live music scene and some of the greatest in the business have made their name here. With more than 30 free-entry bars playing live music, Lower Broadway is the centre of the city's nightlife. Revellers in cowboy hats run from bar to bar singing along to Dolly Parton and drinking a beer called Pabst Blue Ribbon, with many artists happy to accept drinks in lieu of cash tips. While there are several stand-out bars – including Tootsie's and The Stage – the best, hands down, is Robert's. Serving the 'recession special' – a fried bologna sandwich, crisps, and a can of beer – for just $6/£5, it's the perfect place to end the night. Nashville has been home to some of America's most recognisable stars, many of whom feature in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The expansive venue is packed with country music memorabilia, including guitars, stage outfits and gold albums. I also take a tour of the Historic RCA Studio B, the recording studio that was once home to Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and the Everly Brothers. Our enthusiastic tour guide points to the spot where Elvis stood when he recorded scores of his most famous songs, including Heartbreak Hotel. I top the morning off with a trip to the National Museum of African American Music, where interactive exhibits run through the history of black music in the US, and there's an opportunity to record your own remix in a mini studio booth. Contemporary A-listers like Reese Witherspoon, Taylor Swift, and Jack White from the White Stripes have also left their own mark on the city. Swift wrote some of her early hits while sitting on a bench at Centennial Park, now a popular hang-out for her fans. White, meanwhile, has set up a recording studio, Third Man Records, as well as the Blue Room – one of the hottest new music venues in town. The singer's nephew, Ben Blackwell, gives me a tour of the studio, including the famous 1947 Voice-o-Graph recording booth used by the likes of Neil Young. The booth, which resembles an old phone box, records up to two minutes of audio before dispensing a one-of-a-kind six-inch phonograph. The only thing in Nashville as good as the music is the food. Hattie B's Hot Chicken joint would give the best south London chicken shops a run for their money, while Biscuit Love serves southern-style biscuits (a cross between a nsausage roll and a scone) doused in gravy. However, the finest food, in my opinion, is served at Bad Idea, a Laotian inspired restaurant on the hip side of town in East Nashville. Featuring dishes such as truffled potato dumpling and New Zealand rack of lamb, and with a wine list bursting at the seams, it's the ideal spot to settle in for the evening. Prices range from between £12 to £20 for small plates and £35 to £75 for mains. With so much dining and drinking to juggle, I stay at the W Hotel, perfectly placed in the centre of Nashville and within stumbling-home distance of Broadway's bars. Rooms are sleek and spacious, with stunning views of the bright city lights. It also features the city's largest hotel pool area, running along the outside of the hotel – ideal for a hangover-curing swim each morning. The Ryman Auditorium – the former home of the Grand Ole Opry – feels like a fitting final stop on my trip. Founded as the site of a revivalist church, over the years it slowly morphed into a world-famous music venue, hosting performances from Hank Williams, Elvis, and Johnny Cash. As I discover during my brief visit, in Nashville every activity has its own soundtrack. From day to night, tunes blast from bars, cafes and on street corners – literally pure music to my ears. How to plan your trip
