Exit/In: Inside the 50-Year History of One of Nashville’s Most Important Music Clubs
It’s been an eventful few years for Exit/In, the Nashville club that anchors the city’s “rock block.” Most notably, the venue went up for sale in 2021 and, despite the current operators’ bid to purchase the building, Exit/In was sold to a hotel developer, who vowed to register the club as a historic landmark. (That designation just might happen if Nashville’s Metro Council approves a zoning overlay.)
In the meantime, Exit/In — located at 2208 Elliston Place since 1971 — continues to celebrate its 50th anniversary. A gorgeous new coffee-table book assembles rare photos of many of the artists who played the club’s stage. Exit/In: Fifty Years and Counting, edited and curated by Stephen Thompson and written by Whit Stiles, includes photos of John Prine, X, Garbage, Waylon Jennings, Margo Price, and more. Even for live-music fans who’ve never visited the club in person, it’s an essential.
Rolling Stone offers a glimpse inside in this exclusive gallery.
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Margo Price
Image Credit: Mick Leonardy In 2014, Rolling Stone Country hosted a new artist showcase at Exit/In, a lineup that included Texas songwriter Cale Tyson and a then-unsigned Margo Price.
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Tyler Childers & Kendell Marvel
Image Credit: Josh Rish Childers and Marvel, the songwriter behind hits for Brothers Osborne, Randy Houser, and more, pose backstage in 2018 in the Exit/In greenroom, where the names of artists who’ve played the club adorn the wall. Marvel’s all-star “Honky-Tonk Experience” nights are a popular draw at the venue.
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The Contenders
Image Credit: Jackson DeParis Nashville band the Contenders, who released one album in the mid-Seventies, pose in front of the venue’s marquee.
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Waylon Jennings’ Guitarist Gets Married Onstage
Image Credit: Slick Lawson In November 1973, Waylon Jennings’ guitar player Jerry McGill — who performed under the alias of “Curtis Buck” — was married onstage at Exit/In. That’s Jennings, clean-shaven and bowing his head, on the left. According to the new Exit/In book, “The ceremony was officiated by the self-proclaimed ‘bootleg preacher’ Will Campbell, who Marshall Chapman says, ‘often rode on Waylon’s bus as a sort of sacred witness.'”
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Pouring Drinks at the Bar
Image Credit: Slick Lawson Circa 1973: Bill Manier, Owsley Manier’s first cousin and Exit/In partner at the time, poses with wife Kat (far right) and waitress Jacci Miller underneath the pass-through going from the bar to the main listening room. Georgia Brown band member Coutney Haycraft pours a glass of wine.
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John Prine With Al Bunetta
Image Credit: Beth Gwinn John Prine and his longtime manager Al Bunetta hang backstage on Oct. 8, 1980.
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Hank Williams III
Image Credit: Lawson Little Hank 3 poses in the parking lot of Exit/In in 1999.
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Diarrhea Planet
Image Credit: Wrenne Evans One of Nashville’s wildest local bands, Diarrhea Planet, onstage in 2014. That’s the group’s Emmett Miller fist-bumping a crowd-surfing fan.
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JEFF the Brotherhood
Image Credit: Andrew White/Red Bull JEFF the Brotherhood, the explosive Nashville rock duo, perform at Exit/In on Nov. 1, 2013.
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Diarrhea Planet Catch Air
Image Credit: Wrenne Evans Diarrhea Planet were Exit/In regulars: The group played their final club shows before breaking up in 2018 at the venue. Here in 2014, guitarist and singer Jordan Smith catches air, while guitarist Brent Toler and original drummer Casey Weissbuch play on.
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Jason of the Scorchers
Image Credit: C. Taylor Crothers Jason Ringenberg, of alt-country heroes Jason & the Scorchers, in Exit/In’s modest greenroom in 1997.
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GWAR
Image Credit: Gregory Pack Gwar bring their massive stage show to Exit/In during a November 2019 gig. The venue, which the band has played for more than 20 years, remains a regular stop on their tours.
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An All-Star Crowd
Image Credit: Slick Lawson Among the crowd for John Prine’s January 1974 Exit/In show: Guy and Susanna Clark, writer Shel Silverstein, songwriter (and later mega-producer) Allen Reynolds, seated with guitarist Chris Leuzinger; and songwriter Danny Flowers.
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Garbage
Image Credit: Michael Gomez Shirley Manson and Garbage played their 12th live show as band at Exit/in in 1995.
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X Marks the Spot
Image Credit: CJ Hicks Los Angeles punk legends X, led by Exene Cervenka, John Doe, and Billy Zoom, take the stage in 1983.