In Nashville for two nights in advance of this weekend’s Breeder’s Cup which will be staged 200 miles up the road in Louisville.

My pal Jeff and his wife Deborah have lived in Nashville almost all of their adult lives. I love the visits here. The hospitality, a cozy guest room and their deep connection to the city always makes a stop here great fun.

Last night, while Jeff and Deborah rooted their Preds on to victory over Vegas, I had a slice at Five Points Pizza East. The line stretched down the block. You’re allowed just one slice max per person from the takeway window. I had a couple Galaxy dominant brews at Smith and Lentz and then went to the Lemon Twigs gig (pictured above) at Basement East.

The new Twigs LP has been divisive among fans who adored their first record Do Hollywood. Out a few months now, Go to School has some schmaltzy, carousel-at-the-carnival sounds sprinkled throughout. Brian D’Addario has taken a more assertive, adult-in-the-room position on both the new record and on stage.

His wildly talented brother Michael D’Addario has added more oomph to his prance and seems to veer into unhinged mode when addressing the audience between songs. An anecdote about Father John Misty on Tuesday night was hard to grasp.

The audience at Basement East (capacity 400) was supportive and enthusiastic – dancing throughout the roughly 50 minute set. Michael expressed disappointment at the size of the crowd which was no more than 200. Perhaps the new record has slowed the Twigs’ meteoric rise. Given the obvious genius-level musical ability of both brothers, I’d expect the band will do more to exploit the guitar if it wants to fill rooms of the size they played last night.

It should be noted the Twigs replaced bass player Megan Zeankowski and keyboard player (Doctor) Danny Ayala on this tour. Both Megan and Danny were much loved by Twigs fans as the band emerged from humble Long Island beginnings. Enter Daryl Johns on bass, Tommaso Taddonio on keys and Andres Valbuena on drums. While the band may have upgraded proficiency in key roles, I think a majority of fans wish that Zeankowski and Ayala had stuck given the authenticity and connection to the early magic spawned by early Twigs gigs.

The Nashville musician R Stevie Moore joined the Lemon Twigs on stage for a tune late in the set. The Chicago multi-instrumentalist Andrew Smith (DBA as Jungle Green) and his band opened the show.

On Thursday, Jeff and I ride up to Louisville for the Cup.

-The Nashville newspaper The Tennessean reported in this morning’s edition that early voting in the state has produced an amazing turnout. Through eleven days of early voting statewide, nearly 1.1 million people have cast a ballot. That’s already 26-percent of active registered voters with a couple days of early voting left to go – not to mention those who turnout for the conventional election day vote on Tuesday, November 6. With 26-percent turnout already booked, you’d assume the turnout number could hit 40-percent here which is crazy high without a presidency on the line. The bottom line is that voting needs to be easy – however it’s done – and early voting is one of the methods to make that happen.