This year's 2025 Kindling Arts Fest is happening Thursday through Sunday. Kindling Arts is an organization that helps support and provide the practical infrastructure necessary for creatives to make original, innovative and independent live performances. The festival will feature 19 original projects ranging from an electropop musical and contemporary dance to interactive performances at eight different venues across Nashville. 

This week for What Where When-sday, we feature Walk Bike Nashville’s Open Streets Summer Series happening this Sunday from noon until 5 p.m.. The local nonprofit has been around for over 25 years dedicated to making Nashville more walkable, bikeable, and livable for everybody.

Meredith Montgomery, executive director of Walk Bike Nashville says they want people to be able to get wherever they need using whatever mode of transportation they want to use. And behind the scenes, the organization is doing a lot of grassroots work with the neighborhoods to inform and educate people so they can help shape their streets into great spaces.

Adrian Younge, multi-instrumentalist and composer that has worked with the likes of Roy Ayers, Tony Allen, The Delfonics, to Kendrick Lamar and Ghostface Killah, provided scores for Luke Cage and Black Dynamite and one of the brains behind the Jazz is Dead series with Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest. He just released a new album Linear Labs: Sao Paulo featuring appearance from Snoop Dogg & Bilal and his third installment of his Something About April series. 

Ohio band DEVO, some of the founding fathers of New Wave, continue celebrating 50 years of "Devo-lution" on an extended American tour, which will soon feature dates with The B-52s. The "DEVO" documentary begins streaming on Netflix in August. Frontman Mark Mothersbaugh caught up with WNXP before DEVO's festival performance in Utah to discuss the band's origin, its message and how he sees technology interacting with art of all kinds.

When you go to a live show these days, you are expecting to see a spectacle — some artistic production that will blow you away. Behind the scenes, there’s one person responsible for bringing this production to life, wrangling dozens of people and fixing daily snafus - the Production Manager. Episode 4 of Music Citizens goes behind the scenes with Nashville production manger Tori Butash. We explore how her job has become more complicated in recent years and how the pandemic continues to impact touring. Voices in the episode include:

·         Jason Moon Wilkins — Host
·         Justin Barney — Reporter, Producer
·         Tori Butash — Production Manager
·         Nick Sanborn and Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso — Touring Musicians
·         Michael Pollard— Touring crew member
·         Various Wilco tour members

This episode was produced by Justin Barney, Emily Siner and Jason Moon Wilkins. Mixing and Mastering by Michael Pollard. Scoring by Jay Ragsdale. Tape sync by Brian Burns. Special thanks to Tony Gonzalez, Jewly Hight, Marquis Munson, Cindy Abrams, Carly Butler, Stephanie O’Byrne, and everyone who helped.

Institutional support from Tennessee Arts Commission, Metro Arts Thrive and First Horizon Foundation. Follow WNXP on social platforms as @WNXPNashville

We have a famous actor paying tribute to a rock legend. Hank Azaria brings his EZ Street Band to the Franklin Theatre tomorrow night. The acclaimed actor and voice artist, best known for his decades of work on The Simpsons, will be using his talents  to celebrate Bruce Springsteen. Azaria spent months creating an impression of Bruce’s speaking and singing voice but he told our very own Jason Moon Wilkins during an interview that the concert experience is more than just a night of cover songs. He also tells us what Springsteen and Julia Roberts have in common and what the Boss himself thinks of the EZ Street Band.

When you go to a live show these days, you are expecting to see a spectacle — some artistic production that will blow you away. Behind the scenes, there’s one person responsible for bringing this production to life, wrangling dozens of people and fixing daily snafus - the Production Manager. Episode 4 of Music Citizens goes behind the scenes with Nashville production manger Tori Butash. We explore how her job has become more complicated in recent years and how the pandemic continues to impact touring. Tori Boutash is The Wrangler. Coming July 9 anywhere you get your podcasts.

his week for What Where When-sday, we discuss Shops at Porter East’s First Sunday. Located at 701 Porter Road in East Nashville, Shops at Porter East is a go-to shopping center for locally owned businesses featuring bakeries, boutiques, floral shops and more. The first Sunday of every month they host a family friendly event to bring together local vendors, food trucks, and the community, to raise awareness for the shopping center. 

Allison Holley, who owns Apple & Oak, talks about starting First Sunday told me how she came up with the idea and why she opened a shop at Porter East.

This week is also Nashville Pride with the festival and parade this weekend. One of the Grand Marshals this year is former WNXP Nashville Artist of the Month Joy Oladokun, and performers include Chrysalis, Estelle, Kim Petras, 4 Non Blondes and Big Freddia with Nashville in Harmony.

There’s also interactive booths throughout Bicentennial Park including one for Nashville CARES, celebrating their 40-year anniversary. Founded in 1985, Nashville CARES is the premier HIV/AIDS service organization in Tennessee. Dr. Kassem Bourgi says Pride is more than just a festival or a celebration, but an event that would allow them to serve the community.

Recorded live to tape in Nashville with an all-star band initially assembled for a southeastern festival performance, Scratch It is the new full-length album by Meg Remy, who performs as U.S. Girls. We got Remy on the record with WNXP discussing lyrical inspiration, the weighed risk/reward of touring and the new-to-her process of making Scratch It.