Neon Belly | Blog

Kimbro's, Front to Back

Posted August 9, 2026 by Neon Belly

Some rooms you walk into and immediately want to earn. Kimbro's is one of those rooms, and for Hedge it was more than that: playing that stage has been a specific, standing dream of his for years, long before Neon Belly existed to make it happen.

If you have spent any time in Franklin you already know the Pickin' Parlor. It sits two blocks off Main in the old Antique District, part former neighborhood store, part Victorian cottage, open since 2005. Bluegrass one night, honky tonk the next, blues after that. A lot of music has moved through there. Getting our name on that calendar meant something to us before we ever plugged in.

Then the room filled up. All the way to the back, and it stayed that way.

We ran 90s and 2000s rock all night and the crowd carried more of it than we expected. There is a specific moment when a room stops being people who happened to be out and turns into people who are here for this, and we felt it land somewhere in the second set. Everything after that was easy.

Thanks to the crew at Kimbro's for looking after us, and to everyone who stuck around to the last song and asked for one more.

Kimbro's show poster, August 8 2026 — Show poster

Neon Belly performing at Kimbro's — Second set

Played at The Legendary Kimbro's Pickin' Parlor, 214 S Margin St, Franklin TN · @legendarykimbros

Debut Night at The Pond

Posted July 12, 2026 by Neon Belly

Every band gets exactly one first show. Ours was July 11 at The Pond, and we are still a little stunned at how it went.

The Pond has been Franklin's dive bar since 2005. Low ceiling, somewhere north of a thousand tap handles hanging over your head, and a crowd of regulars who will tell you exactly what they think of you. Room holds ninety. We watched it fill up and then keep filling, until there was nowhere left to stand.

Nobody in that room had heard us play a note. They showed up anyway. That is not a small thing for a band with no history to point at.

Three hours, 21 and up, and a set pulled straight from what we grew up on. Nirvana, Sublime, Foo Fighters, Alice in Chains, Green Day, Weezer, Megadeth, Stone Temple Pilots, 3 Doors Down, and a good stack more. Parts of it were sharp. Parts of it were held together with tape and nerve. All of it was loud, and we would not trade a second.

Thank you to The Pond for handing a brand new band a Saturday night, and to everyone who took a chance on a name they had never seen before.

The Pond show poster, July 11 2026 — Show poster

Neon Belly, the full lineup, at The Pond — The full lineup, after the last song

Played at The Pond, 595 Hillsboro Rd #321, Franklin TN · @pondinfranklin