The Country Music Hall of Fame is running an exhibit on Kenny Chesney's whole career, right as the city gears up for its first college football weekend of the season. Broadway's still got Dolly on it too, if quieter than a couple weeks ago: a free rooftop tribute Saturday night, if you want in on that.

Heads up, this one's a scorcher start to finish, upper 90s Friday through Sunday, with only a slim shot of rain each day, so plan around the heat, not around getting rained on.

Let's get to it.

📌 My pick for the weekend: Ray LaMontagne at the Ryman Friday — a whole album played start to finish, in the one room in town where that actually means something.

1. 10 Best Nashville Bars on Broadway
Our running list of which Broadway bars are actually worth the cover, updated as the block keeps changing.

2. Nashville's Wine Train
A slow train out of town with a glass in hand and a couple of small-town stops along the way.

3. Where Do Celebrities Hang Out in Nashville?
The bars where you've got the best odds of an actual sighting, not just a rumor.

4. What to Actually Wear on Broadway
Yes, shorts are fine. Here's the rest of the dress code nobody tells you about.

5. Kid Rock Storms Off Stage at Jon Bon Jovi's Bar
He showed up on Broadway for a bandmate's birthday party, and the crowd let him know how they felt about it.

The Trouble 20th Anniversary Tour means the whole debut album front to back, plus catalog cuts, in the room built for exactly this kind of voice. Back again Saturday if Friday sells out.

A three-name outdoor bill timed to kickoff weekend, on the amphitheater's best kind of night: warm, loud, and outside.

The first-ever Music City Kickoff, an SEC-ACC season opener at a neutral site, nationally televised on ABC. Nashville's never hosted a game quite like this one.

⚾ The Nashville Sounds close out a homestand against the Louisville Bats Friday through Sunday at First Horizon Park, evening games Friday and Saturday.

🎨 An Indigenous Present is up at the Frist through September 27, a hundred years of modern and contemporary Indigenous art from fifteen artists, co-curated by Jeffrey Gibson.

🎤 Kenny Chesney: Living in Fast Forward just opened at the Country Music Hall of Fame, a new exhibit on his climb to superstardom and how he found his footing along the way, up through June 2027.

Exactly what it sounds like: a whole room singing along to 2000s emo and pop-punk at full volume, no irony required.

A string ensemble plays through the MJ catalog by candlelight in a hotel ballroom. Not a tribute band, closer to a chamber concert that happens to cover "Billie Jean."

Learn to shape the little Sardinian ridged pasta by hand, then sit down to eat what you made. A slower, more hands-on Friday lunch than most.

Vandy's home opener, first meeting between the two since 2015. It's a Salute to Service game, and the first 3,000 fans through the gate get a Coach Lea bobblehead.

Free, all-levels yoga on the lawn, mats provided while supplies last. Run by Small World Yoga, a local nonprofit. Donations welcome, not required.

Sprayers, water balloons and a slide at the playground, plus popsicles while they last. With a heat dome parked over the weekend, this is the smart Saturday morning move with kids.

A note-for-note Journey tribute band with limited seating, so it's worth booking ahead. Bring the group that still knows every word to "Don't Stop Believin'."

A jazz lounge inside, an R&B and old-school hip-hop patio outside, timed to the football kickoff weekend. Skyline views if you get there before dark.

A social hour for Dolly, DJ, best-dressed contest, and a rooftop view over Division Street. Free to get in, and about as good a way as any to send her off with music instead of mourning.

Louisville faces Texas at 11 a.m., then Tennessee faces Indiana, four ranked-caliber programs at Bridgestone Arena on national TV. A different kind of Sunday on Broadway.

Live salsa from Giovanni Rodriguez on Acme's first floor, first Sunday of the month, free and open to everybody regardless of experience.

A comedian, YouTube creator and musician who built a massive following on viral makeup tutorials and sharp lifestyle satire, now showing off a seriously big voice with shades of Adele and Florence Welch.

🔨 Cumberland Hardware is closing December 31 after 42 years under the same East Nashville family, the Varallos.

🍝 Lupo Notte opens in Green Hills September 16, an upscale Italian spot inside Vertis Green Hills with wood-fired pizza and handmade pasta, dinner only to start.

💛 Dolly Parton's estate announced DollyFest, two days of tribute events in Nashville and London sometime in 2027, in place of the public memorial she didn't want. No dates yet, but you can register at dollyparton.com.

✈️ BNA is getting its first-ever Southwest lounge, a 30,200-square-foot space above the main terminal, opening late 2027.

🏬 The old RiverGate Mall site is getting a $450 million makeover, apartments, a hotel and new retail, but keeping the Rivergate name.

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