We did it, everyone. We survived nearly a year and half with no concerts or music events of any kind. But that pain is finally coming to an end: live music is BACK in Music City! No one could be happier about this return than us, the Life section—after all, live shows and events make up practically half our content. So get hyped, guys. This fall marks a long-awaited return to form: for you, for us and for live music everywhere.
Australian indie rock band Middle Kids’ latest album, “Today We’re The Greatest,” (2021) is aptly titled: their success has recently landed them on the radars of Pitchfork and the Guardian. They’ve gone from local heroes to international superstars, and—drumroll, please—a few weeks from now, they’re headed to Nashville.
The band plays at EXIT/IN on the 22nd and it’s not the first time they’ve come to our city, but it certainly marks a new frontier. A lot has changed since their last string of Nashville performances—not just here, but everywhere.
When I spoke with frontwoman Hannah Joy, I asked her whether the band felt in control at this point in their rapid ascent.
“As much control as you have in a global pandemic,” Joy said. Facts.
There have also been personal changes; throughout the recording of “Today We’re The Greatest,” Joy was pregnant with her second child. This beautiful new element of her life makes itself just as tangible in the music. Opening track “Bad Neighbors” sees Joy croon intimate reflections of hope, pain and letdowns over a somber acoustic backing. Recording an album during a pregnancy requires an uncanny dedication, and Joy is using it to share a rekindled connection with the things in life that matter most.
But also, she’s low-key a superhero.
“It’s kind of amazing what you can still do when you’re pregnant,” Joy said. “You can do, like, shitloads of stuff. When I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy, I was actually on tour in America, when we first released the album. But it’s what I love. It’s just amazing what you can do when you love something, you know?”
It’s no mystery that Middle Kids love music. They’ve been doing it both long and well enough to graduate from the niche indie scenes of Australia, to a global prominence that only seems to get bigger by the day. For as fast-paced as their ascent has been, though, they still also carry a heartwarming love for each other. Joy is married to bandmate Tim Fitz, who plays bass guitar. Drummer Harry Day completes the lineup and rounds out the group dynamics. In one Reddit AMA, the band endearingly reflected on a time Day got food poisoning from a piece of lime pie in Minneapolis.
Come October 22nd at EXIT/IN, the most relevant of the band’s loves will be the one they have for Nashville. Tickets are $17 apiece, and there’s a limit of four per customer. Doors open at 9.
“It’s a really special place for me,” Joy said. “I think it’s such a big melting pot of food, and music, and going out. Whenever I’m there, the energy just feels really vibrant. It’s such a cool place to be.”
Listen to Middle Kids’ “Today We’re the Greatest” here, and buy tickets here.