Ode to Briley Parkway

Good afternoon, everyone.

I’ve run the numbers and decided that Briley Parkway is the best road in America and knowing how to navigate it is the key to living well in Nashville. The maps apps that steer you around town will rarely, if ever, take around the “long way” to your destination, preferring instead to push you through the heart of the city via the labyrinth I-65/I-24/I-40/440 mesh that took even I, a lifetime resident, much too long to understand.

Briley is elegant and straightforward, unlike its more widely utilized younger brother I-440. I can picture it on the map right now—a perfect half-circle around the North part of the city; a full circle when you include Woodmont Blvd., Thompson Lane, and White Bridge Pike. To the contrary, 440 forms an uncomfortable, oblong loop that schizophrenically melds with the larger interstates that trisect the city.

Briley is never backed up except at rush hour at the White Bridge to Briley transition. It’s scenic and loops through the more bucolic north end of Davidson County. From my house to the airport, it’s either 28 minutes via Briley Parkway or 20 minutes through the heart of the city, assuming traffic doesn’t flare up (which it often does.)

The Briley Parkway aficionado lives a more leisurely life. He eschews the byzantine efficiency of I-440 for a languid jaunt through the hills. He’s a man of destiny, a trailblazer, the type of guy who got us to the moon. The secrets of the universe live in his heart—his eyes fiery with their beauty.

Live Simply. Live Boldly. Take Briley Parkway.

Onward.

🎓 Senate Backs School Enrollment Bill Yesterday, the Tennessee Senate voted to require schools to bar the enrollment of students who are unlawfully present in the United States. That said, schools may still permit undocumented students upon an agreement of tuition.

“It does not prohibit homeschooling, or private schooling which are other alternative paths to an education,” explained Senate Sponsor Bo Watson (R-Hixson). “Nor does it apply, as it’s been stated over and over again today, to legal immigrants or students in the process of obtaining legal status.”

Though the bill’s passage still depends on the House, the Senate vote reflected a split among the GOP. Republican senators Richard Briggs, Todd Gardenhire, Ferrell Haile, Becky Duncan Massey, Mark Pody, Shane Reeves, and Page Blakeslee Walley all voted against it. The legislation is set to be heard in the Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee on Monday.

⚽️ Soccer Kickoff FIFA President Gianni Infantino joined Nashville Soccer Club CEO Ian Ayre and other city officials on a tour of Geodis Park this week. Nashville will host FIFA Club World Cup matches from June 20-26. During Gianni’s visit, they unveiled the Club World Cup trophy.

“When we conceptualized the team and the stadium (with the idea that) you build a world-class stadium, you want to host world-class games, and this is the pinnacle,” Ayre told NewsChannel 5. “This is the world championship. I remember taking a cab from BNA airport on my first arrival here, and the guy asked me – he heard my accent – and said, ‘What are you doing here?’ I said, ‘I’m here to build a soccer team,’ and he just laughed, you know? And here we are with one of the greatest stadiums in the country. It’s hugely proud for all of us to see that we’ve been kind of singled out as one of very few venues for this tournament.”

NASHVILLE BY THE NUMBERS

1️⃣ The 2025 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament shattered records in Nashville, drawing 244,831 fans and generating $32.3 million in direct visitor spending, with an estimated $26.6 million benefiting the Middle Tennessee economy. That impact tops last year’s mark of $24.5 million, and more than doubles 2024 attendance, which stood at 112,300. The jump is partly due to the SEC’s expansion: with Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference, the tournament featured eight sessions and 15 games, up from the usual 13.

2️⃣ Since 2022, the number of Nashville streets with speed humps has skyrocketed from just 22 to 162—a 636% increase in three years. That expansion translates to nearly 1,000 speed deterrents now installed across the city. Resident demand has surged too: NDOT received over 200 requests last year, up tenfold from initial interest in 2019, with 400 proposals currently pending.

3️⃣ According to Pew Research Center, 63% of adults in the Nashville metro area identify as Christian, with Evangelical Protestants making up the largest segment at 33%—including 14% affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Mainline Protestants account for 13%, and other Christian traditions round out the remaining 17%. Meanwhile, 31% of residents are religiously unaffiliated, split among those who identify with nothing in particular (20%), atheists (6%), and agnostics (5%). Only 5% of the population adheres to non-Christian faiths, including Hindus (3%), Muslims (1%), and smaller shares of Jews, Buddhists, and others.

DEVELOPMENT

• ✈️ BNA tops 100 nonstop destination flight mark (Post)
• Tim Ozgener acquires majority stake in Nashville cigar business (NBJ)
• Amazon pays $116M for Middle Tennessee industrial facility (NBJ)
• Chicago firms prep downtown Moxy hotel (NBJ)

✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: April 11-17

The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. For a complete list of upcoming titles, check out the 2025 Film Guide.

Warfare (Dirs. Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza) A year after the release of the polarizing megahit Civil War, Garland sets his sights on a less speculative combat film in this collaboration with veteran Mendoza that embeds viewers with a group of SEALs in an Iraqi family’s home during a move through insurgent territory. And it takes place in real-time. Now playing in theaters. 

The Amateur (Dir. James Hawes) An introverted CIA decoder (Rami Malek) takes matters into his own hands when his wife dies in a London terrorist attack and the Deep State just does its Deep Stating. Now playing in theaters. 

Drop (Dir. Christopher Landon) Meghann Fahy from The White Lotus stars as a single mom newly back on the market who receives a cryptic text: kill your date or a masked killer will murder your toddler son. From the team behind Happy Death Day and Freaky. Now playing in theaters. 

The King of Kings (Dir. Jang Seongho) In Angel Studios’s first foray into animation, Charles Dickens (Kenneth Branagh)  narrates the life of Jesus (Oscar Isaac) just in time for Easter. With Mark Hamill perfectly cast as Herod. Now playing in theaters. 

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.

TONIGHT

🪕 Chris Jones & The Night Drivers @ Station Inn, 9, $25, Info

🎻 Mendelssohn's Fifth @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $29+, Info

🎸 Teenage Dads @ The East Room, 8p, $19.26, Info
+ indie pop

🎸 Soul Coughing @ Brooklyn Bowl, 9p, $52.40, Info

🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

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