One thing I love about Nashville concerts is that the city often serves as a home base for the performers. That means they get to play for loved ones, invite friends on stage and feel comfortable enough to test out new music. Most of all, they’re especially willing to bring the crowd into their community. This rang true at Maggie Antone’s show at The Basement East on Nov. 4.
Antone not only rooted the performance in Nashville through her lyricism about evil men from East Nashville and the adorable exclusive posters, but also through hosting a food drive as a part of the concert to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. To participate, audience members could either donate nonperishable food items or donate monetarily via QR codes posted throughout the venue. Through these actions, Antone and her team created a genuine sense of community extending beyond the walls of The Basement East.
Adding to this was the unfiltered, delightfully authentic nature that both Antone and her opener Abbie Callahan displayed throughout the show.
Callahan opened the show completely barefoot, wearing a vintage baby-blue satin one-piece with matching ribbons on her guitar — an outfit that perfectly complemented her soft bluegrass-country aesthetic. Starting with “Yo-Yo,” Callahan sang about the feeling of being manipulated or wrapped in a relationship in a rather catchy, refreshing way. From here, Callahan played another song, “The Garden,” also from her latest EP, “Grossly Aware,” which focused more on change and growth. Then Callahan went on to play an unreleased love song, “Big,” which is in a rather unexpected style for her. However, she personalized it with her typical cheekiness and innuendos embedded around rather sweet lyrics.
Changing tones, Callahan went on to play a cover of No Doubt’s “I’m Just A Girl” in homage to her early Nashville days when she played in a rock band on Broadway. She added a lovely bluegrass flair to this cover that made it a mixture of her old and new music. Keeping up the energy, Callahan played two of her more iconic songs, “Drag Queen” and “Marry Jane,” both of which titles are puns. Wrapping up her set, Callhan played her song, “Simon Says,” which was released to the public on Nov. 7.
I knew that Antone’s set was going to be fun and potentially chaotic when the Home Depot theme song started blaring through the speakers as her band walked on stage in matching black Carhartt overalls. Antone herself came to the stage, singing “One Too Many” while dressed in a fabulous vintage fur coat, perfectly fitting plaid bell bottoms, a cowboy hat and signature bright blue eyeshadow. This style added not only to her stage presence but to her dramatic facials and range of emotions throughout the night.
Introducing her unreleased song, “The Devil’s Not In Hell,” which comes out on Dec. 12, Antone revealed that it was cathartic to play at The Basement East as it is the tale of an evil man she knew from East Nashville. Antone moved back into songs from her debut album “Rhinestoned,” playing the title track, “Everyone But You,” and “Mess With Texas,” all of which showcased her unique vocal style and stage presence that mimicked rowdier country music of the 1970s.
At this point, the show shifted from having a high energy and honky-tonk vibe to being somber and rather emotional, connected through impactful covers and sadder original songs. Antone marked this shift by thanking everyone who donated to her food drive and encouraging those who hadn’t to do so before leaving the show to help support others during rather trying times.
Antone then covered “Spanish Pipedream” by John Prine, a song she remarked was relevant to the times. This cover really struck me as it was sung with a simultaneous irritation at the current state of the world and sincere hope to escape it for something purer. After this, Antone went into two sadder original songs, “I Don’t Wanna Hear About It” and “Meant to Meet,” which brought an originally buzzing, chatty audience to a complete standstill, completely commanded by her standalone vocal segments, which were cloaked in a layer of undeniable vulnerability.
Having connected with the audience on a deeper level, she invited us further into her life by bringing her boyfriend, Garrett Murph, and their new puppy on stage to sing another rather eclectic John Prine cover, “In Spite of Ourselves.” Murph’s vocals were very raspy and deep, which contrasted with Antone’s in a way that was reminiscent of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.
Antone then took it back to the early stages of her career playing tracks from her 2022 EP “Interpretations,” composed entirely of covers. These were complemented by “Suburban Outlaw” and other original songs which went viral on TikTok and brought Antone popularity early on in her career. This moment of reminiscing on her past songs was particularly impactful as Antone ended the show with a few tracks that were a little new and different for her.
Playing into her retro country aesthetic, Antone covered “East Bound and Down” by Jerry Reed, giving it a bit of a rockabilly twist, with scruffy almost growling vocals and her band adding some sharper rock tones to it. Antone wrapped up the show playing two unreleased songs, “Bigger Person” and “It’s All Coming Up Roses,” an unexpected love song. Like Callahan, Antone historically does not write love songs.
“I’m in love, so now I’m writing love songs,” Antone said.
While this type of song is new for her, it still holds Antone’s typical sassiness and feels like it would be perfect to dance around alone in your room and sing along too.
Maggie Antone’s show was a blend of love for her well-established Nashville community and a glimpse into what’s next. She mixed in some of her well-known songs with unreleased material and covers that represented her current and past states of being, creating a set that felt entirely unfiltered yet well-crafted.
