In fall 2026, Live Nation will open the 4,400-capacity indoor music venue The Truth in Nashville.
“Live Nation wanted to be sure that we were adding something that was going to speak to the core of Nashville,” Sally Williams, president of Nashville Music & Business Strategy for Live Nation, tells Billboard.
The Truth will be led by general manager Mickey Davis, and will join AJ Capital Partners’ 18-acre, mixed-use Wedgewood Village development in Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston.
The venue will highlight talent ranging from global headliners to local Nashville favorites representing an array of musical genres. The Truth, designed by Live Nation’s in-house design and development group Blueprint Studio, will offer a flexible floor plan with three levels in close proximity to the stage, with configurations able to accommodate capacities ranging from 1,800 to 4,400, including standing-room and fully-seated shows.
“This is going to give us the flexibility to host everything from comedians who maybe don’t want a standing room audience to bigger shows where people want to stand,” Williams says. “We will shine the light on Nashville, but we’re going to bring in the biggest stars on the planet, too, from outside of Nashville.”
Williams noted that Live Nation’s Blueprint Studio team spent time in Nashville venues and spoke with Nashville artists, music industry members and historians in creating a venue design intended to honor Nashville’s community.
Throughout, the venue will pay homage to Nashville’s music creators. The Truth takes its name from a quote from late country songwriting legend Harlan Howard, who called country music “three chords and the truth.” Howard, known as a writer on classics including Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces” and the Buck Owens hit “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail,” is also honored through the venue’s whiskey bar, named Harlan’s. Howard’s signature quote is also emblazoned on the front of the venue’s building. Having Howard’s legacy represented within the venue is a full-circle moment for Williams, who recalls that when she first moved to Nashville, one of the first events she attended was the annual Harlan Howard Birthday Bash.
“It represents to me the community that I have found,” Williams says. “It was all of these songwriters singing their songs, and everyone supported. To have his quote, to have people talking about him, means they are talking about songwriters in general, which means they are talking about the foundation of our community. I am beyond proud of that, because I think those are things that we, as a city, have to hold on to.”
The Truth’s two-level, up to 300-person capacity listening lounge, Vinyl Room, will offer a space for gathering and listening to music. Williams tells Billboard that United Record Pressing will be involved in curating vinyls to be displayed in The Truth, as well as providing music for Vinyl Room and the venue’s five backstage dressing rooms. Williams says the Vinyl Room will also be a space that can hold VIP listening sessions and other similar events.
The food and drink menus will highlight local Nashville whiskeys and spirits. Meanwhile, Live Nation teamed with Isle of Printing’s Bryce McCloud to add another visual element to the venue.
“We are going to have an old-school letterpress printing set lists each night for fans to buy and take home,” Williams says. “Set lists are going to be our sort of living art exhibit backstage, too, because every time a show plays here, we will put the set list up and as we move along, it will tell our story visually.”
The backstage will also be outfitted with a family and friends suite overlooking the stage, a large crew lounge, an artist game room/lounge, a multi-use production room and an intimate industry suite.
As part of the venue’s launch, Live Nation has also partnered to support Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and the W.O. Smith Music School, aiding songwriters and the next generation of musicians.
Live Nation also hopes to hold local music industry events at the venue, such as industry awards and other charitable gatherings.
“People are going to begin to feel like this is their venue, which is what they’re hoping for,” Williams says. “The mission has been to create something other than the sort of box with a stage that you could put anywhere in the world. We wanted to do something completely Nashville-centric.”
The Truth will join other Live Nation venues in Nashville, including Brooklyn Bowl Nashville and Ascend Amphitheater.
Billboard‘s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, visit https://www.billboardlivemusicsummit.com/2025/home-launch.
