by Lux Darling

If you haven’t been to a Ryman 2 house show yet you’re missing out on a great small DIY venue experience in Nashville. There is always a cool line up of band’s of all different types of music. Ryman 2 is in a basement and it’s a cool place to hang out for a live show with your friends. There is usually some sort of video installation created by Sean Booz projecting vibrant moving images across the wall behind the band’s as they perform. Ryman 2 is run by an amazing group of friends Sean, Ash, Luna and others. 

Candynavia opened first with interesting Indie Pop music and experimental instruments such as ; talking toys, a Hello Kitty guitar and sound machine. During one song she gave the audience Tamborine’s and Shakers to play along with the song. 

Sequela is from Portland, Maine. I never heard of these guy’s before but when they performed they where so good they amazed me! The music is heavy Shoegaze mixed with an Indie Rock chill vibe. The band consists of 2 guitarists, drums, bass, keys and a cellist. The band members switch between lead and harmony vocals. I enjoyed the sound of the cello layered over the music a lot. Some of their songs kind of remind me of this early 2000’s band called EE who also used cello. I really liked one of their fast songs that was up-tempo called CVS. They do not have that much recorded music on any streaming platforms at this time but I hope there will be more music released soon. I will definitely see them again when they return to Nashville again in the future!

Clifford is a Post-Punk band from Boston. This was the first time that I had heard of them. They are a four-piece band made up of ; lead singer, guitarist, bassist and drummer that formed in 2019. They have a strong stage presence and the music is high energy with fast drums and complex guitar riffs. They also have a gentle sound on some songs with a Folk-emo feel about them.

Make Yourself At Home put on a great show at Ryman 2! Billy, the lead singer / guitarist played some new material that I really liked. The songs have evolved from melancholic Slowcore to more ethereal Shoegaze. He had Ash, the singer for local Shoegaze band, Total Wife, join him and the band as a special guest vocalist on one song. They also played a song called Blue Apollo that was released on March 1st that I really enjoyed. The song starts with a cool guitar riff and then when it kicks in, it builds to a heavy sound with drums, bass and guitars. At one point during the song, he dramatically yells out “Blue Apollo!” a few times as the music escalates. The show ended with a slower, melodic song with Billy on acoustic guitar. The bass and drums slowly join in with a driving rhythm which was my favorite part. Towards the end of the song, Billy’s guitar amp cut out and stopped working. He tried to pick up his other guitar and plug it in which still didn’t work. Despite that, the set was still great! 

DJ Hami / Husam was the last performance of the night. His music is House-EDM. He used pleasant vocal samples over beats and synthesized melodies. People were enjoying the mixes and moving to the beats. 

During the DJ set, everyone was dancing and at one point began to circle and worship a George Harrison Beatles collectors card that I had pulled out of my pocket and put on the floor.