Nashville — The Day the Music Stopped is a feature-length documentary film by Nashville director Patrick Sheehan and producer Demetria Kalodimos. The film premiered at the Nashville Film Festival where it was awarded the Audience Choice award.
“We are excited to be part of Belcourt’s celebrated Music City Mondays series. This is a wonderful opportunity to have our film screened again right here in Music City, where the events of the film unfold,” said director Patrick Sheehan.
The film focuses on Nashville’s most historic independent music venue, Exit/In, beginning in March of 2021, when the club was put under contract by a then-Chicago-based real estate developer who moved their headquarters to Nashville amid an effort to acquire venues across the country. The film chronicles the struggle of owner Chris Cobb to maintain control of the club following the mandated closures of 2020. As a dispute over the trademark for Exit/In’s name ensued, the club’s 50-year status as a locally owned independent venue was in jeopardy. As Cobb explained, “It was national news that clubs across the country were suffering. This was clearly predatory behavior.”
As the music industry grappled with unprecedented challenges in early 2020, independent venues faced a two-front battle: the expanding presence of Live Nation and wealthy corporations in the small to mid-sized venue market and the impending impact of COVID-19.
When pandemic-related closures threatened the survival of independent music venues nationwide, industry veteran Chris Cobb joined forces with other club owners to mount a coordinated response. Their timing proved crucial, as Live Nation began targeting struggling venues for acquisition.
About National Independent Venue Association:
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) was formed and launched an urgent campaign to secure protective measures from local governments, aiming to preserve the independence of these cultural landmarks. Cobb's own venue exemplified the crisis facing independent music spaces across America, as he balanced leading a national advocacy effort while fighting to keep his own venue afloat.
About Exit/In:
Exit/In opened in 1971 with Jimmy BuOett playing the first show followed by future superstars such as Muddy Watters, Etta James, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, the Police and the Red Hot Chili Peppers over the next 50 years. Exit/In has also helped launch the careers of Nashville acts such as Kings of Leon, Cage the Elephant, Paramore and Margo Price. As Ben Folds said “Our little insurgency of rock musicians could gather and make music. It was a diOerent Nashville. That wasn’t the country industry Nashville. That was the new upand-coming Nashville.”
The cast includes Chris Cobb, JeO Syracuse, Nate Rau, Ben Folds, Jordan Smith and Alanna Royale.
Tickets are available here. Limited tickets are available for a virtual screening here. You can view the trailer here or go to the website at www.thedaythemusicstopped.com.
For more information, contact director Patrick Sheehan at 615-887-0765 or [email protected].
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