As The Contributor works with partners across the city, the team often finds events and opportunities to build community among vendors, staff and friends of the organization. In each issue, we plan to publish a few events, internal celebrations and community information to help keep our readers connected.
Join The Contributor for Rock Steady!
Are you ready to rock?! The Contributor is thrilled to be a part of Rock Steady: A Celebration of the Enduring Nashville Rock Scene, at The Basement East at 7 p.m. on Aug. 23. You may be wondering how a street newspaper intersects with a rock show? Well, if there’s one thing we have in common, it’s a commitment to uplifting artists and celebrating the ever-evolving legacy of our city!
When Dan Russell, drummer for the local rock band Echo Pilot, reached out to me about the idea, he showed up at Dead End Records, owned by a mutual friend, and handed me a beautiful linocut stamped, hand-stitched zine to spread the work about Rock Steady. I immediately told him about The Contributor’s zine program and the ways in which self-publishing allows our vendors and community members to flex their creative skills and access a wider audience. Russell had the same idea in mind when it came to Rock Steady.
Rock music in Nashville, like in many other urban areas, evolved through experimentation, creative collaboration and grassroots event-planning — a legacy that endures to this day. Through house shows, dive bars, word of mouth and the innately human desire to connect with others through artistic expression, rock musicians have carved spaces for themselves and embedded their talents and passions into the very fibers which make up the tapestry of Music City. And we aim to do the same here at The Contributor.
From the very beginning, The Contributor has been a space that welcomes those who are too often overlooked by society. Those who are considered outcasts, or not fit for the “mainstream.” Not only are they welcome here, they are centered. The voices of our unhoused and formerly unhoused neighbors make up the core of our paper. For many, this is the only place they may ever see their words published for others to read. They share their hopes, dreams, fears and fantasies in print for us all to read, which is a vulnerable and wildly brave move for them to make. We are so grateful for these brave, creative souls. And we see a natural connection between them and our mission, and that of the Rock Steady Team.
Rock Steady began partnering with local businesses and organizations, and The Contributor was game to be included. Other partners for this event include: Dream House Immersive Production Studio, Dead End Records, Fork’s Drum Closet, Nashville is the Reason, Nashville LAUNCH PAD and YEAH! Rocks. Each of these partners bring their own reasons for being involved in the event, but they all come back to the same core idea: the rock music community in Nashville is something to be celebrated and its legacy and impact deserve to be acknowledged.
This event will be hosted at iconic local music venue The Basement East, and it will include a variety of creative ways to commemorate and celebrate the rock scene. Through art installations by local artists (including some from The Contributor), a videography archive wall showcasing changes in Nashville through the years, input from Nashville natives and those who have been involved in the rock scene for decades, a photo booth, and of course, live performances by local rock bands Echo Pilot, Fatal Affair, Year of October and Campanula, the Rock Steady show is more than a concert, it is an experience to be remembered.
“Rock Steady Nashville is important to us for a few reasons,” Dan from Rock Steady shared. “First, Nashville’s rock scene deserves to be honored for its deep history, plethora of talented musicians, and unbelievably bright-looking future. Music City simply does not live up to its moniker without its rock scene. Second, we want to see a more connected arts community throughout Nashville. This city holds an embarrassment of riches when it comes to its artists and thus, having an event that can better connect everyone is crucial to continuing to cultivate citywide unity and support for each other. Third, highlighting community organizations like The Contributor, YEAH! Rocks, and Nashville LAUNCH PAD is central to shared success and support across the arts. All these organizations strive to make life better for Nashvillians and help stimulate creativity with a variety of art programs they offer, and so their work should be recognized and appreciated on a large scale.”
Russell said on a more personal note that “Rock Steady means the world to me because it draws individuals together from groups that I may have never been introduced to. Also, it will be the first time I’ve ever performed original music at The Beast. I’ve had the privilege to perform at The Basement East many times for tribute shows throughout the years, but to get to play your own music on that stage is a rite of passage for Nashville musicians and so I’m deeply humbled and grateful to get the opportunity to do that!”
Tickets can be purchased at https://www.thebasementnashville.com/basement-east-events/.
The Contributor Housing Team Helps Keep People in Housing
We would like to extend a special shout-out this week to our housing team! The housing team consists of our housing stability guides: Brandon Battle, Carli Tharp, Sarah Champion and Zero Mannino, along with our Program Operations Lead, Andrew Terry, and our Director of Program Operations, Ree Cheers. This team works tirelessly to serve our recently housed community members, and just recently, they fulfilled their contract to serve 75 referrals for CTI Services.
What does that mean exactly? CTI stands for Critical Time Intervention, and according to The Center for the Advancement of Critical Time Intervention, it is “a time-limited evidence-based practice that mobilizes support for society’s most vulnerable individuals during periods of transition. It facilitates community integration and continuity of care by ensuring that a person has enduring ties to their community and support systems during these critical periods.”
For our housing stability guides, this means they receive referrals from the Office of Homeless Services to provide case management for recently housed individuals over the course of nine months. With increasing focus on independence and access to community resources, our housing stability guides meet with each individual referred to their caseload and work together to accomplish a variety of personal and professional goals all aimed toward remaining stably housed. Because we know it is one thing to get housed, and it is entirely another to stay that way.
And what does that mean for these people who need housing? There are 75 individuals (and often their family members and roommates) who are now connected to the resources they need to remain secure. That is 75 of our neighbors who have a personal connection to a housing stability guide at The Contributor who is able to answer their questions, assuage their fears, and point them toward their best next step. And best of all, it is 75 individuals who are no longer sleeping on the street, in their car, or in a shelter, but in a place where they can truly rest and call home.
And despite knowing this work is hard and relentless, the housing team makes it look easy! They have not only met their referral quota for the year, they did it early and well before their December deadline, which means there is flexibility to serve beyond the measure given to them. Here’s to our housing team and the incredible work they have done and continue to do to meet the needs of our recently housed neighbors.
Volunteer Opportunities at The Contributor
Are you interested in serving our unhoused community? The Contributor is always looking for volunteers. Whether you have the capacity to serve in the vendor office overseeing newspaper sales, you are passionate about making breakfast for our community members every other Wednesday when we release a new issue, or you love driving and would enjoy helping move people into their new homes, there is a place for you here. If you want to discuss volunteering with us, please email our Director of Vending, Caroline Lindner, at caroline@thecontributor.org. And if donating physical items is more your speed, you can check out our Amazon wishlist using the link on our social media pages or at https://a.co/08jwrhBd