A visitors' guide to Nashville, written by visitors

1 big thing: Guess who came to Nashville

2. What we ate

3. What we did

4. Music Monday: A night at the Ryman

exterior of the Ryman Auditorium at night.

Fresh job openings around town

5. 1 team photo to go

🌦 Today's weather: A slight chance of showers, with a high of 68°.

🏈 Situational awareness: It was a perfect weekend of football for the state of Tennessee. On Saturday, the Volunteers drubbed division rival Kentucky 44-6 to set up a showdown with No. 1 Georgia.

Derrick Henry dominated the Texans yesterday to lead the division-leading Titans to a 17-10 win.

🎃 Programming note: It's Halloween, and Axios Southern bureau chief Michael Graff and associate editor Jen Ashley are dressing up as Adam and Nate.

In other words: We're taking over today's newsletter.

This newsletter is 934 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Michael is mentally strolling through Nashville memories and listening to "24 Frames."

Jen is listening to "Live Oak" by Jason Isbell and plotting her next trip to Nashville.

Nate and Adam will be back to our regular programming tomorrow.

This newsletter was edited by Hadley Malcolm and copy edited by Katie Lewis.

Nashville

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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Nashville. Written by Nate Rau and Adam Tamburin.

Axios Nashville

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1 big thing: Voter suppression vs. voter turnout

Photo illustration collage of Stacey Abrams surrounded by ballot elements. 

2. The world's biggest cocktail party

Fans wearing red, black, and white stand in the UGA fan section and cheer

3. 📆 Halloweekend events

Illustration of candy corn with the Axios logo.

4. Five-ish points: Bowen Homes project takes shape

Illustration of a neon sign on a metal tower reading 5ish Points. 

Stop by to see who's hiring

1 photo to go: Axios Atlanta Office Hours

A woman holds a microphone and laughs while a man wearing a suit speaks and smiles. Behind them a screen reads Axios Local and Edelman

Today's weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 68.

🚨 Situational awareness: Today is the last day to request an absentee ballot. And there's one more week of early voting. 

Remember, we've got that voter guide for you. 

🎂 Happy early birthday to our Axios Atlanta member Mike Wiederkehr!

Today's newsletter is 810 words — a 2.8-minute read. 

🎻 Emma is seeing the Turnpike Troubadours tomorrow and very excited about it. 

🙌🏽 Kristal enjoyed meeting everyone who came to our first Office Hours event.

🙀 Thomas followed up last night's Office Hours with a visit to Netherworld. The scariest part: the drivers on I-20.

This newsletter was edited by Jen Ashley and copy edited by Alex Perry.

Atlanta

A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Atlanta. Written by Kristal Dixon and Thomas Wheatley.

Axios Atlanta

1. Greg and Subrina Collier, restaurateurs

2. Charlotte FC, our new MLS franchise

3. Ric Elias, CEO and co-founder of Red Ventures

4. Gene Woods, CEO of Atrium Health

5. Camp North End, development north of Uptown

6. Tracy Dodson, director of economic development

7. Jamie Brown and Jeff Tonidandel 

8. Tim Sittema, Crosland Southeast managing partner

9. Marcus Jones and Dena Diorio, city manager and county manager

10. One power player to go ... Michael Marsicano

🎂 Happy birthday to Axios Charlotte members Melissa DeCosta-Smith, Kelli Horne, Freda Jackson, Linda McKechnie, Phil Pearce, Burt Philips and Alexandra Warren.

Programming note: Today we're excited to bring you a special edition focusing on our city's "power players" for 2022. These are the influential people who are helping to shape Charlotte right now. 

Of course, we can't fit every powerful person into 10 spots. Hit reply with your own picks. 

Today's newsletter is 1,069 words — a 4.5-minute read.

Methodology: Axios Local's power players are influential individuals who’ve made a difference in their community in 2022. Our reporters made selections based on their own expertise, a reader poll and interviews with influential people.

The unscientific list is produced entirely by the Axios Local editorial team and is not influenced by advertising in any way.

👋 We'll see you back here tomorrow morning! Thanks for reading. 

Charlotte

Picture of the Charlotte skyline with CLT written across it.

Axios Charlotte gets you smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in your backyard.

Axios Charlotte

1 big thing: Generational bridges

2. 🚘 Riding with Hugh and Myles 

Hugh McColl in a blue button down next to Myles McGregor in a dark blue vest and light-blue shirt

Is a new job in your future?

3. A gnarly list of Gen Xers shaping Charlotte

4. Tik to the Tok: Gen Zers shaping Charlotte

Charlotte Hornets basketball star Lamelo ball 

A tee time fashion tip🏌️

5. 📖 Say, what?!

Illustration of a coffee mug with the rim shaped like a speech bubble

6. Boomers comin'

7. Speed reads

Illustration of Charlotte's Center of the World sign replaced with "Speed Read".

Things to do

8. 🎶 1 playlist to go

Hello there, Wednesday. It's Michael, happy to be here to write another newsletter for you while I'm out on parental leave. Been too long.

🎈 Happy birthday to Axios Charlotte members Steven Casey, Kristen Dibble, Glenda Mauck, Katie Miller, Brigette Myers and Patty Stephenson.

Situational awareness: We're devoting today's newsletter to one of my favorite subjects — generational differences and similarities, and how what once was will always be again.

💼 On the job hunt? Here are 50 fresh openings to check out.

Today's newsletter is 950 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Thanks for letting me back into your inbox. I'm gonna step back over to parental leave for a couple of weeks with these two from Generation Alpha.

I'm proud to say that three-year-old George knows every word to this song from my mother's generation.

This newsletter was edited by Katie Peralta Soloff and copy edited by Lucia Maher.

1 big thing: Charlotte receives three James Beard nods

Hello, Wednesday afternoon. It's Emma here with some breaking news for all the Charlotte foodies out there: two local chefs and a bar were named to James Beard's semifinalist list today.

We just couldn't wait until tomorrow to share, so we're hitting you with an Axios Charlotte Thought Bubble, our snap-analysis dispatch to break down events that shape our city as they happen.

Celebrate Charlotte's food scene with us — check out a new restaurant this week.

Thanks for reading! We'll be back with a regularly scheduled edition of Axios Charlotte tomorrow morning.

Axios Charlotte Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

Braves players hugged and sprayed each other with champagne; Phillies fans groaned and sprayed the field with boos. 

Just another trip around the ol' baseball sun in the NL East.

What's happening: Atlanta celebrated its sixth straight division championship Wednesday night with a 4-1 win in Philadelphia. 

Why it matters: The Braves have won 18 of the 29 NL East titles since they joined the division in 1994. And this team might wind up being the best of the lot.

Atlanta is now 96-50 this year and on pace for 106 overall wins, which would tie the 1998 squad for most in franchise history.

Details: They came out hot Wednesday, as usual. Austin Riley hit a two-run homer to center field in the first inning, and the Braves never trailed.

Atlanta now has 132 runs in the first inning this year, far and away most in the majors.

What's next: With 16 games left in the regular season, the Braves are seven games ahead of the Dodgers in the so-called race to secure the top seed in the National League. 

If they clinch that, they'll have a bye in the first round and host their first playoff game Oct. 7.

Braves claim 6th straight NL East title for the A

Atlanta now has 21 of the past 33 division championships

The Atlanta Braves celebrate after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies to clinch the NL East at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday. Photo: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Major League Baseball (MLB)

Braves players <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="hugged" data-vars-click-url="https://x.com/BravesRadioNet/status/1702147049511133438?s=20" data-vars-content-id="8b2d21b5-4946-4bda-9a6b-2b2621afb319" data-vars-headline="Braves claim 6th straight NL East title for the A" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://x.com/BravesRadioNet/status/1702147049511133438?s=20" target="_blank">hugged</a> and sprayed each other with champagne; Phillies fans groaned and sprayed the field with boos. <ul><li>Just another trip around the ol&#x27; baseball sun in the NL East.</li></ul>What&#x27;s happening: Atlanta celebrated its sixth straight division championship Wednesday night with a 4-1 win in Philadelphia.

Sports

National

Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, who died Tuesday at 86 years old, was being remembered as a true great, on and off the field.

People in Baltimore, the city that adopted him during his 23-year career as the heartbeat of the baseball franchise there, rushed to pay tribute to their hero, who was also known as Brooksie, Mr. Oriole and the Human Vacuum Cleaner.

"You just never heard a negative word out of him," said Rick Dempsey, who remembers Brooks greeting him warmly when the catcher arrived at the Orioles in 1976, per the Baltimore Banner. "He was just absolutely the best."

The big picture: Before Cal Ripken Jr., Baltimore had Brooks. He came to the city in 1955 straight out of Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. He participated in 18 straight All-Star games and won 16 Gold Gloves — sorry, 16 consecutive Gold Gloves — an AL MVP award and a World Series MVP.

That World Series, in 1970, performance ranks up there with any, ever. Robinson batted .429 and homered twice to lead the Orioles past the Reds. But his defense at third base is what was most memorable, including a snatch of a sure double off the bat of Lee May that's still replayed in highlight reels.

"I'm beginning to see Brooks in my sleep," Reds manager Sparky Anderson said during that Series, AP noted. "If I dropped this paper plate, he'd pick it up on one hop and throw me out at first."

Zoom out: After news of his death became public, though, most tributes skipped right past all of his statistics and went straight to his kindness. Like this story about an autographed baseball from ESPN's Scott Van Pelt.

Of note: On the field, the Orioles won Tuesday night, beating the Nationals 1-0 to move within an eyelash of winning the American League East.

The lone run came on a solo shot from Gunnar Henderson, a 22-year-old phenom who's a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year, and who's already making incredible defensive plays himself.

A screenshot of an MLB tweet with a photo of Brooks Robinson in his playing days, saying: "Major League Baseball mourns the loss of Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson.  Robinson was an 18-time All-Star, 16-time Gold Glove Award winner, and helped lead the Baltimore Orioles to two World Series Championships. He was the 1964 AL MVP and the 1970 World Series MVP."

Brooks Robinson, Orioles baseball legend and Baltimore icon, dies at 86

Robinson was a 16-time Gold Glove winner and nicknamed Mr. Oriole

An aging Brooks Robinson rides in a convertible around Camden Yards and waves to the crowds

Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson returned to Camden Yards in 2022 for a tribute and lap around the field. He died Sept. 26, 2023 at 86. Photo: G Fiume/Getty Images

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Hall of Fame" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/01/26/baseball-hall-fame-david-ortiz-barry-bonds" data-vars-content-id="8ead59d7-0c75-4dd5-bd56-e96fadf97ef8" data-vars-headline="Brooks Robinson, Orioles baseball legend and Baltimore icon, dies at 86" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/01/26/baseball-hall-fame-david-ortiz-barry-bonds" target="_self">Hall of Fame</a> third baseman Brooks Robinson, who died Tuesday at 86 years old, was being remembered as a true great, on and off the field.<ul><li>People in Baltimore, the city that adopted him during his 23-year career as the heartbeat of the baseball franchise there, rushed to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="pay tribute" data-vars-click-url="https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-teammates-colleagues-remember-brooks-robinson-W76TUMKVQVF27HSBVYSOCZAD4Y/" data-vars-content-id="8ead59d7-0c75-4dd5-bd56-e96fadf97ef8" data-vars-headline="Brooks Robinson, Orioles baseball legend and Baltimore icon, dies at 86" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-teammates-colleagues-remember-brooks-robinson-W76TUMKVQVF27HSBVYSOCZAD4Y/" target="_blank">pay tribute</a> to their hero, who was also known as Brooksie, Mr. Oriole and the Human Vacuum Cleaner.</li></ul>

Shifts in technology and media are changing the way we play, watch and understand sports. Business models are adapting and social change is forcing those in charge of teams and leagues to reconsider decades-old practices.

Singer-songwriter Tyler Childers included a pair of Bridgestone Arena shows for his 2024 tour, the latest evidence of his soaring popularity in Nashville.

Details: Childers will play Bridgestone April 18-19. The verified fans presale begins Sept. 13.

49 Winchester will serve as the opening band for Childers' Nashville shows.

Childers' new album "Rustin in the Rain" will be released tomorrow.

Be smart: Read Nashville music journalist Marissa Moss' profile of Childers.

💭 Southern bureau chief Michael Graff's thought bubble: While much of radio music reads like a junket trip to the country, Childers stands apart as one of rural America's most accurate narrators.

His songs are easy on even passive ears, but they'll wreck you if you pay attention. (That happened to me with "Follow You to Virgie," a nearly 10-year-old song that made me cry for the first time last month.)

More than that, from "Long Violent History" to "In Your Love," Childers has become an arena-filling artist not by playing to cliches but by telling people long ignored by radio music that he sees them.

Tyler Childers adds two Nashville dates to 2024 tour

Childers will play Bridgestone April 18-19. The verified fans presale begins Sept. 13.

Singer-songwriter Tyler Childers included a pair of Bridgestone Arena shows for his <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="2024 tour" data-vars-click-url="https://twitter.com/TTChilders/status/1699422615109054510?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" data-vars-content-id="9a874245-4da0-4a8d-9040-c4175fc4f01c" data-vars-headline="Tyler Childers adds two Nashville dates to 2024 tour" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://twitter.com/TTChilders/status/1699422615109054510?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" target="_blank">2024 tour</a>, the latest evidence of his soaring popularity in Nashville.Details: Childers will play Bridgestone April 18-19. The verified fans presale begins Sept. 13.

Things to Do

Before Deion Sanders became Coach Prime and made Boulder, Colorado, the improbable center of the sports world, he was Prime Time and Neon in Atlanta.

Driving the news: Sanders' remarkable start as Colorado Buffaloes' head coach — they are 3-0 after going just 1-11 under previous leadership last year — has captivated the sports and entertainment industries.

Lil Wayne performed at a pregame concert last weekend.

The company that makes the sunglasses he wears, Blenders Eyewear, reportedly made $1.2 million in sales in one day.

Snoop Dogg, Dwayne Johnson and LeBron James are hyping the once-hapless team.

And the Prime excitement is particularly strong in Black households. Black teachers, with no previous connections to Colorado, on social media call Sanders an inspiration.

Why it matters: Here in Atlanta, it's all very familiar. Three decades ago, Sanders created a similar fever when he was a two-sport star for the Falcons and Braves.

Zoom in: "In this 'new age' of college football, he seems to be a one-of-a-kind draw — and hire — that may have more staying power than college football folks may have initially expected," Carl Suddler, an associate professor of history at Emory University, told Axios.

Flashback: From 1989 to the mid-90s, Sanders — a No. 5 NFL draft pick who was hard to miss stepping out of helicopters in trademark Emmanuelle Khanh shades and a Sergio Tacchini tracksuit, Louis Vuitton bag in hand — was the high-profile, trash-talking pro athlete that every city needs.

He joined the Braves in 1991, splitting his time between football and baseball, developing a reputation (unfairly, former teammates told The Athletic) as a cocky firebrand.

Off the field, he spent time with his family in their Alpharetta home with a football-shaped swimming pool, owned a hair salon, dined at Buckhead's posh Pano's and Paul's, and raked in endorsement deals.

In the process, he helped turn Atlanta's sports teams into winners. The Braves won the division three straight years from 1991 to 1994. 

And the 1991 Falcons famously became the "2 Legit 2 Quit" team, advancing to the NFL playoffs with superstar rapper MC Hammer a fixture on the sidelines and in the locker room.

Of note: Sanders' spiritual counselor is Dr. E. Dewey Smith, the pastor at House of Hope Atlanta in DeKalb County, 11 Alive reports. 

Zoom out: Sanders' trademark swag and boasting has drawn criticism from other college coaches. Yet that swag once displayed by Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson and scores of Negro League baseball players is attractive to many Black Americans in the face of discrimination.

"So many people hold on to the misguided belief that there are 'right ways' to do something, to achieve the highest success in sports. And that 'right way' for Black folks ought to be as far from flashy as possible," Suddler said.

What they're saying: "I loved Atlanta. Atlanta was a chocolate city; they were an understanding city," Sanders told GQ in January about the day the Falcons picked him in the draft. "They were a city on the rise."

"They were a city I could ride with, and I knew they was gonna ride with me. I chose them, and they chose me, and it was one of the greatest days of my life."

What's next: No. 19 Colorado Buffaloes take on No. 10 Oregon on Saturday in what will likely be the weekend's most-watched college football matchup.

Deion Sanders was the athlete 1990s Atlanta needed

Prime Time hung out with MC Hammer, dined at Pano's and Paul's and raked in endorsement deals

A man in a suit shakes hands in front of an Atlanta Braves sign with an athlete wearing a red, black and white track suit and hat reading "I'm the boss"

Deion Sanders shakes hands with Braves general manager John Schuerholz after signing a contract in 1991. Photo: Courtesy of the AJC/Georgia State University Library

College football

Before <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Deion Sanders" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/08/24/cu-football-ticket-sales-coach-deion-sanders-effect" data-vars-content-id="aa511091-fa6d-407b-be24-c9e0bb75e481" data-vars-headline="Deion Sanders was the athlete 1990s Atlanta needed" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/08/24/cu-football-ticket-sales-coach-deion-sanders-effect" target="_self">Deion Sanders</a> became Coach Prime and made Boulder, Colorado, the improbable center of the sports world, he was Prime Time and Neon in Atlanta.Driving the news: Sanders&#x27; remarkable start as Colorado Buffaloes&#x27; head coach — they are 3-0 after going just 1-11 under previous leadership last year — has captivated the sports and entertainment industries.

Raleigh

Axios Raleigh

A gunman killed a UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member in a laboratory building in the center of campus Monday, setting off a confusing and anxious three-hour lockdown at the university and nearby K-12 schools.

The latest: Campus officials and police confirmed in a Monday evening press conference that a person was taken into custody, but they did not identify that person or the faculty member who died. 

All UNC classes and activities were canceled for Monday night and all day Tuesday.

Zoom out: The shooting at Caudill Labs occurred on the first day of the university's second week of classes. It was also the first day for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

The initial 911 call reporting shots fired came in at 1:02pm, UNC Police Chief Brian James said, and lockdowns throughout the community soon followed. UNC didn't issue an all-clear until nearly 4:15pm.

In between, students took to social media to post videos and pictures, police detained and released a person who wound up not being the suspected shooter, and parents and community members refreshed their phones for updates.

Meanwhile, false social media posts and other uncorroborated reports only fueled fear, as Axios' Katie Peralta Soloff noted.

Zoom in: UNC issued an initial alert saying an "armed and dangerous person" on or near campus at 1:03pm, one minute after the 911 call.

Alerts asking students to shelter in place and stay away from windows began at 1:21pm.

James, the campus police chief, said police detained the suspected shooter at 2:31pm, nearly 90 minutes after the initial 911 call.

Four minutes later they posted a photo of a person of interest on social media.

But the shelter-in-place remained in effect — and UNC alerts continued to say the suspect was at large — until after 4pm. James said the delay was because police needed time to identify the shooter.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public Schools system posted that it had received the "all clear" to dismiss at 3:40pm.

Between the lines: Police and university officials didn't confirm that a shooting took place until the 5:45pm press conference.

The only official acknowledgement of a shooting during the afternoon hours came from Gov. Roy Cooper, whose office confirmed to Axios that a shooting occurred after issuing a statement pledging all state resources "to capture the shooter."

The big picture: The alerts sent the campus and surrounding areas into a state of uncertainty.

A large police presence centered on several lab buildings on South Road near the school's bell tower, one of the most photographed landmarks in the state.

And for many, the events brought back horrifying memories of Feb. 10, 2015, when three Muslim students — two UNC dentistry students and one N.C. State student — were killed in an off-campus house.

What they're saying: "This is a time for the community to come together," UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said in the evening press conference. 

"These tragic events are sadly happening across the nation."

Axios' Katie Peralta Soloff contributed to this story.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details.

UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member killed in shooting that left community locked down for hours

Students were asked to shelter in place on Monday afternoon

The bell tower on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus. Credit: Photo: Eros Hoagland/Getty Images

North Carolina

A gunman killed a UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member in a laboratory building in the center of campus Monday, setting off a confusing and anxious three-hour lockdown at the university and nearby K-12 schools.The latest: Campus officials and police confirmed in a Monday evening press conference that a person was taken into custody, but they did not identify that person or the faculty member who died. <ul><li>All UNC classes and activities were canceled for Monday night and all day Tuesday.</li></ul>

Michael Graff

Stories

Brooks Robinson, Orioles baseball legend and Baltimore icon, dies at 86

Deion Sanders was the athlete 1990s Atlanta needed

Braves claim 6th straight NL East title for the A

Tyler Childers adds two Nashville dates to 2024 tour

UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member killed in shooting that left community locked down for hours

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