“I love this place. It always has been one of my favorites. Just to get out and do it live, get that instant feedback from people. It’s one of the best sounding rooms in town. It’s like home to me now,” says guitarist Tom Hemby about Nashville independent venue 3rd & Lindsley.

“In a city like Music City, there’s nothing as important to our ecosystem as independent venues like 3rd & Lindsley,” offers Senior Talent Buyer Chris Cobb. “This is where tomorrow’s superstars cut their teeth, where they learn their craft, where they refine their show.”

3rd & Lindsley is the latest independent facility featured in the Raise The Stage series, created by Jai Alai IPA, the flagship beer from Cigar City Brewing in partnership with the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). In the first Raise The Stage video, Marco Benevento and Karina Rykman shared their thoughts on the Bearsville Theater. In the second, Tom Hamilton offered his perspective on the Ardmore Music Hall. CJ Johnson of Oh He Dead appears in the third, speaking about Washington, DC’s Songbyrd.

Ron Brice who opened 3rd & Lindsley in 1991, reflects, “We were very, very fortunate to have a talent pool here of sidemen, session guys, and artists that just like to come out and air it out and have some fun and it translates from the stage. So you’re going to see world-class entertainment because of the city that we live in.”

Hemby, who is a member of the Smoking Section Band, adds, “One of the first bands I played with I believe was Twelve Against Nature, and to have 12 people on that little bitty stage with the horn player standing around here with his horn in my ear and my amp aimed at his, it was pretty interesting, but we had a great time.”

The venue faces challenges in a market in which real estate prices continue to rise, jeopardizing the existence of small businesses such an independent music venues. Cobb notes, “3rd & Lindsley isn’t a real estate hold. We’re not a multinational corporation trying to control some of the marketplace. We have a singular purpose. We put on great music every day so that fans can connect with the artists that they love. And having support from a program like Raise the Stage is integral to being able to continue to do this work.”

“The idea in the end is the band does their thing and we do what we do,” Brice affirms. “Serve great drinks and great food and everybody walks out of here happy.”