As any self-respecting country music fan knows, Nashville, Tennessee is perhaps the center of the music universe. Every night, music spanning myriad genres emanates from the city’s restaurants, bars, and clubs.
It’s where the industry’s executives, songwriters, producers, and performers congregate to create music.
Olivia Farabaugh has become a staple of the Central Pennsylvania music scene, but over the last few years she has started to make inroads in Music City.
Farabaugh made her first trip to Nashville at the age of 19 and says she fell in love with all that Nashville has to offer.
“I went down for an event called Song Camp through NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International), and it was a weekend of education and co-writing and that’s when I found a whole new appreciation for the town,” says Farabaugh, “Since then, I’ve been trying to go down every month or so.”
While in Nashville, Farabaugh makes her way around Nashville performing, co-writing, and preparing to record new music.
On her most recent trip down to Music City Farabaugh played shows at The Row in Midtown and NashHouse just off of Broadway; one of the city’s main drags.
With so much to offer in the way of live music, Nashville audiences are top-notch. However, different parts of the city offer slightly different crowds.
Farabaugh says that Midtown is a little bit more of a local haunt, while venues on Broadway are a little more tourist heavy.
“(Broadway) is the main strip; usually what people think of when they’re going to Nashville,” she says
It’s a high energy part of town, and the first time Farabaugh played NashHouse, which sits just a few blocks from Bridgestone Arena, home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, it was right before a game.
“When I played there for the first time, it was everyone in their jerseys getting ready for the Preds game, gearing up, so that was a lot of fun.”
Farabaugh also took part in a writers round at Belcourt Taps in the Hillsboro Village part of the city.
A writers round is where song writers sit “in the round” and take turns playing original songs.
Even though there is an abundance of places for musicians to play in Nashville, with so many performers kicking around the city, stage-time is at a premium. More often than not, according to Farabaugh, the key is knowing the right people.
“Each place is so different, but the places that I’ve gotten into so far it’s because I have a friend that knows the owner, or whoever is booking them, or, for writer’s rounds, you can get invited,” she says, “There are so many weird ways to get gigs down there, but it honestly is about who you know.”
In addition to performing in Nashville, Farabaugh is also looking at different studios and speaking with producers before booking time to record new music.
Olivia Farabaugh can be seen playing all over Central PA. Her next two shows are April 19 at Primanti Brothers in Hershey from 8-11pm and April 20 at the Mount Gretna Hideaway from 8-11pm.
