In the early days of country and roots music, the line between working artists and the working class was thin. Songs of struggle and resilience reflected everyday life, and rural communities saw themselves mirrored in the music. Artists and audiences built resilient networks through shared experience.
Today, for many fans, the industry has drifted from those roots. Corporate priorities on Nashville’s Music Row often overshadow the voices of the communities that birthed the genres. The bars and honky tonks that once defined country music culture in Nashville have given way to office parks and corporate buildings, while the neon glow of Lower Broadway feels more like a tourist strip than an authentic gathering place.
But for one night last Friday in Nashville, the flame of true country and roots music burned bright at the Yallidarity Social.
Created in response to the pressures facing working musicians, the grueling tours, sleepless nights, low pay, and the widening gap between industry profits and artist realities, the Yallidarity Social sought to reclaim country’s community-driven heart and provide a space for Nashville-based artists to rest and organize.
The event was organized by Lizzie No, a New York–born songwriter and harpist known for her bold blend of folk and activism, and Nathan Evans Fox, a Nashville-based songwriter whose work explores rural Southern life. The inaugural gathering took place Friday, Sept. 12 at Edgehill United Methodist Church.
The venue was perfect for the event. The Rev. Bill Barnes and 12 charter members founded Edgehill United Methodist Church in 1966 in the historically black Edgehill neighborhood. It was the first intentionally integrated church in Nashville. Whether it was civil rights, housing, homelessness, incarceration, LGBTQ inclusion, or serving victims of AIDS and their families in the early days of the epidemic, Edgehill has worked for justice and the inclusion in the Nashville area.
Born and raised in western North Carolina, Nathan Evans Fox writes songs that sound the way gas stations feel—familiar yet restless, humming with the quiet poetry of everyday life. His music carries the weight of working-class realities: late nights, long roads, and the rhythms of small-town existence. With a resonant voice and unflinching lyrics, Fox creates landscapes both personal and universal—songs of family, faith, memory, and the unseen economies that shape our days.
Onstage, he balances understatement with command, inviting audiences to reflect, grieve, and celebrate. Whether solo or with a full band, Nathan Evans Fox offers not just music but a testament to resilience, rooted in the places and people that shaped him.
Lizzie No writes songs that cut with clarity and compassion, weaving sharp storytelling with the raw beauty of folk and indie rock traditions. Her music explores themes of power, vulnerability, and survival, carried by a voice that is at once tender and defiant. With harp, guitar, and fearless lyricism, she creates soundscapes that move between intimacy and grandeur—songs about identity, longing, resilience, and the search for freedom.
Unlike industry showcases, this was a grassroots affair: musicians set up the PA, brought the snacks, and stacked the chairs. In spirit, it was closer to a front-porch jam than a corporate showcase.
The night featured a traditional Nashville Songwriters’ Round, with multiple artists sharing the stage, trading songs, harmonies, and stories. The lineup spanned Americana, folk, and country:
Riley Downing (The Deslondes) – laid-back baritone and conversational songwriting, blending country, soul, and blues.
Nick Shoulders – Arkansas songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for his whistling, yodeling, and sharp social commentary.
Olivia Ellen Lloyd – West Virginia folk artist whose sharp lyrics explore Appalachian identity and resilience.
Kapali Long – Hawaii-born, Nashville-based performer delivering high-energy sets rooted in rock, blues, and soul.
Rebecca Porter – Virginia country singer channeling honky-tonk traditions with powerhouse vocals.
Nate Bergman – folk-rock artist whose gritty, soulful voice carries echoes of his punk roots.
Each brought raw intensity and vulnerable storytelling, embodying the event’s spirit of solidarity.
The evening kicked off with stand-up from Drew Morgan—a Tennessee native and co-host of the WellRED comedy tour—whose humor kept the crowd laughing while grounding the night in defiant joy.
The gathering also marked the launch of the Yallidarity Social Club podcast, hosted by No and Fox. The show blends roots music with political analysis, and its debut season digs into Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Cost of the Perfect Playlist, which critiques the cultural and economic toll of streaming platforms on working musicians.
Organizers hope this is just the beginning. They envision an ongoing series of gatherings that bring country and roots music back to what it has always been about—not trucks, beer, or blue jeans, but solidarity, resilience, and taking care of one another.For updates, episodes, and show notes, visit Yallidarity Social Club on Substack.
