See Nashville (rock) for Free

Next week kicks off the 2nd annual Next Big Nashville music festival. And you can see it for free.

Next Big Nashville is a five day event featuring over 130 (mostly) Nashville based artists. Basically, it's the cream of the crop of the local rock, indie, alt-country and singer-songwriter scenes.

The Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau is giving away a package that includes a three night stay at the Radisson, wristbands for free admission to all NBN shows, and "Music City Star" cards good for free admission to stuff like the Country Music Hall of Fame. Register here, but hurry... the contest only runs through tomorrow, August 30. If you don't win, you can always snag a wristband for the festival here.

If you're curious about the band's playing NBN, I highly recommend you check out the festival previews at Out The Other. Janet is a bit of a music blogger legend for having previewed every single act who played the 2005 and 2006 Austin City Limits festivals, and she's applying a similar tenacity to the hometown festival. So hit her up for MP3s and interviews with many of the artist's who are playing next week.

And if you need a recommendation to start you off, I suggest you mark your calendar for Cortney Tidwell, who plays at The Basement next Thursday, September 6 at 9:30 pm.

Cortney Tidwell - "Missing Link" (mp3) from Don't Let The Stars Keep Us Tangled Up