Nashville Fringe Festival

Celebrating the diversity of Nashville artists

Nashville Scene Critics Pick: Meant for the Milk Crate

Published in Upcoming Shows.

Spring is in the air (when the snow isn’t falling, anyway), and AL-D and E.T.’s quarterly hip-hop showcase is bringing some bands into the mix to keep the action fresh. This time out, half of the bill is dedicated to purveyors of soulful and funky instrumental sounds ripe for rapping — check out Magic in Threes from the G.E.D. Soul family, who spent 2016 writing and recording one new song every week, and Street Band Clan, who stir elevated jazz into the pot. Expect some excellent live-band hip-hop action, since the MCs on deck have experience working with these particular groups. The last time we saw the masterful Rashad tha Poet work a room, Street Band Clan was backing him up, and Wally Clark, known for his sample sorcery, actually graced some of last year’s Magic in Threes tracks with his deceptively laid-back drawl. DJ Vamp will tend to the 1s and 2s, and your gracious hosts will lay down a few bars between sets. As always, the night concludes with an open-mic cypher. If you can’t stick around, word to the wise: AL-D also hosts a weekly cypher every Tuesday at Bearded Iris Brewing in Germantown. STEPHEN TRAGESER, Nashville Scene