DRKMTTR Fest 2025 is happening this weekend at the small club on Dickerson Pike, celebrating 10 years of the local, all-ages music venue that has built a community in the underground music and arts scene in Nashville. The event will feature live music from local artists including Venus & The Flytraps and Soccer Mommy plus Nashville vendors. For What Where When-sday this week, a few DRKMTTR Fest participants and fans of the space tell us how important the DIY venue has been for them.
“I was able to start it in the year 2015 in a small house because I knew that there was a huge gap in venues in town that prioritized not only having shows that people of all ages could attend, but prioritized giving a voice to those who normally are silenced. Marginalized groups such as women, people of color, LGBTQ folks,” said Kathryn Edwards, co-founder and operations manager at DRKMTTR. (Note that Edwards is also a weekend host at WNXP.) “DRKMTTR has been very important to me for the last 10 years because we have been able to create a community space that many people feel is a safe space.”
Jacob McKeel, who manages the Dead End Records shop in Germantown, said, “DRKMTTR has always been a place that felt like a core part of the real DIY that make this town thrive. Because of DRKMTTR, we have a place where people can see local performances. A safe place where people under 21 can relax and enjoy themselves, and a place where sobriety isn’t out of place.” He continues, “Every time I go there, I see people that I know and love and it’s really hard to be strangers for a very long time. Everything they do and every message they put out is positive and inclusive, and is the kind of Nashville that I want be a part of.”
“I moved to Nashville in like 2010 right after the floods,” said Diana Zadlo, chef and owner of That’s It! Pop-Ups. “It was such a welcoming space and something very familiar to me because I moved from Philadelphia from a really big bustling punk and metal scene. I hadn’t quite found that yet when I moved to Nashville until I found DRKMTTR. They’re creating community in a place that needs it. Having people continue to push forward to create safe places, to keep us thinking about community and about our neighbors and our colleagues.”
Zadlo raves about the support of DRKMTTR: “For me personally, they’ve always been a big supporter of anything I’ve wanted to do when it comes to food. I have been a music photographer, tour manager, merch manager for a long time as well, and supporting the bands that I’m with. They’ve even let me do a pop-up corn dog night on a 4th of July, or help them clean out the new kitchen when they first open, to make a tiny little menu of vegan burritos. They want to see success from everyone involved, and they want to continue to foster that. I can’t wait to sling some shaved ice to everybody and listen to great music.”
Additional event opportunities in the next week:
Thursday night (Oct 16), WNXP Presents Sir Chloe at Brooklyn Bowl, Infinity Song performs Cannery Hall’s the Mil, and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit begin their residency at the Ryman. Friday night (Oct 17) Destroyer performs at the Basement East and Saturday night (Oct 18) Lera Lynn performs at Analog at the Hutton Hotel. Also on Saturday, WNXP Presents Nourished by Time at The Blue Room.
