British soul singer and songwriter MT Jones is scheduled to perform at The 5 Spot in East Nashville Friday at 11 p.m. during AmericanaFest. The Nashville appearance is part of a U.S. tour, according to News Channel 5 Nashville.
The show puts Jones in one of Nashville’s smaller music rooms. The 5 Spot holds about 150 patrons and has operated as an East Nashville venue for nearly two decades, with programming that has included local performers and touring acts, according to the Nashville Scene.
Jones is touring material associated with his planned debut full-length, including “Why I Cry.” Music Republic Magazine described him as an experienced sideman and songwriter now performing under his own name; those career details come from the publication’s profile.
A festival date within a national run
AMERICANAFEST runs from Sept. 15 through 19 and includes more than 200 artists, nearly 300 events and programming at more than 50 Nashville venues, according to MusicRow. Jones’s late-night set is therefore one performance within a much larger week of citywide programming.
The venue’s East Nashville context
The 5 Spot’s setting in East Nashville’s Five Points area reflects a longer neighborhood-planning history. According to Metro Council member Brett Withers’ comment on the Five Points rezoning plan, neighborhood groups and council representatives began working with MDHA in the mid-1980s to remove blight and create a business district in Five Points. That history helps frame the area’s combination of music venues and other businesses. Nashville’s adopted NashvilleNext plan describes the city’s arts and culture ecosystem as including artists, more than 100 cultural nonprofits, and businesses such as record shops, clubs and galleries, placing an independent venue such as The 5 Spot within a broader local music economy.
The festival schedule also includes a collaboration by Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck with the Nashville Symphony and a Tulsa Spotlight Showcase featuring Oklahoma roots artists, MusicRow reported. Other AmericanaFest coverage includes Dolly Parton’s posthumous Americana honor at the Ryman Auditorium.
