See renderings of The Truth, new Nashville music venue
The new 4,400-capacity venue from Live Nation and AJ Capital Partners is under construction and slated to open fall 2026.
- The Truth will be a 4,400-capacity, three-story live music venue.
- The venue is slated to open fall 2026.
- Musical acts are already being booked and will be revealed early next year.
Live Nation and AJ Capital Partners revealed details of Nashville’s newest live music venue under construction in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, including its name: “The Truth.”
The Truth will be a 4,400-capacity state-of-the-art venue, with nods to Nashville’s songwriter community woven throughout its DNA from the name of the venue to its partnership with Nashville Songwriters Association International and the W.O. Smith Music School.
The three-level venue’s name, The Truth, comes from songwriter Harlan Howard’s famous quote that all you need to write a country song is “three chords and the truth.”
Sally Williams, Live Nation’s president of Nashville music & business strategy, said as they planned the venue, the North Star was to create a building that could only exist in Nashville.
“We didn’t want the black box with a stage that you could pick up and put anywhere in the world,” Williams said. “Nashville deserves to have a building that acknowledges its foundation, which is the creators. That led us down a path of being able to imagine a building that is a love letter to Nashville’s truth and roots, but also a promise to its future.”
The Truth set to anchor Wedgewood Village
What started as Live Nation seeing a need for a midsize indoor venue evolved into a flexible space that will hold a maximum of 4,400 people, but can be scaled depending on what type of experience an artist wants fans to have including seated or general admission, standing shows.
In addition to the live music space, The Truth will also have features like a whiskey bar (aptly named Harlan’s after Harlan Howard) and a two-story club dubbed the Vinyl Room which will have a DJ, food and drinks.
Currently, the Wedgewood-Houston area is congested with new construction seemingly on every corner, but Williams said accessing the venue and parking will be easy by the time the venue opens next fall.
“The good news is that The Truth is going to be one of the last things to open within what is being called Wedgewood Village,” she said. “So by the time the building opens, all the construction and investments being made on the roads and bike lanes will be finished.”
Partnerships enrich venue’s nod to emerging creatives
In addition to the venue’s name being a nod to songwriters, Live Nation has partnered with NSAI and the W.O. Smith School of Music. NSAI will receive apprenticeship opportunities for emerging writers and complimentary use of The Truth for NSAI’s Annual Songwriter Awards and special programming.
W.O. Smith will receive expanded access to music education for children from low-income families and mentorship and performance opportunities.
Bart Herbison, executive director of NSAI, said the group is excited that Live Nation is recognizing Nashville songwriters as the backbone of the music community.
“The Truth highlighting the important contribution of songwriters to the industry ecosystem is inspiring,” he said. ” In addition, there is generous financial support for NSAI to help us continue the work we do for the songwriting profession. We are very enthusiastic about the possibilities we can employ as we work together.”
Williams added Live Nation is making a concerted effort to invest in Nashville’s “super-strong” creative storytelling community.
“That is really going to be what takes us into the future,” she said. “I think the building is going to be a really important part of that.”
The truth expected to have strong economic impact
Live Nation estimates $74 million in annual economic activity around the venue that is expected to have 430 jobs and generate $6 million in state and local tax revenue according to Oxford Economics. Staff at The Truth will be paid at $20 per hour. The Truth will also be part of Live Nation’s Green Nation sustainability program that includes zero waste teams working to reduce single-use plastics and promote recycling, composting and food donations.
The Truth is slated to open fall 2026, and Williams said shows are already being booked with artist announcements expected early next year.
Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com or on Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.
