NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) – The Nashville iconic club Exit/In has announced it will be closing its doors on Thanksgiving day after 51 years of live music. Current owners Chris and Telish Cobb, who has run the venue since 2004, posted the news this morning. Despite fundraising efforts (see original story below), current owners AJ Capital will not be renewing the lease and plan to open the venue under new management in 2023.
AJ Capital released a statement to Nashville Scene: “The Exit/In will remain open, as it has under the stewardship of dozens of operators over the past 51 years, as its irreplaceable self: an iconic Nashville venue and gathering place for music lovers from all over. We spent the last year securing historic protections for this special and sacred space, which we’re committed to preserving while providing some long overdue physical improvements. We look forward to the next half-century of moments and memories, and to announcing 2023 show dates very soon.”
The final shows at the current Exit/In will be a pair of Diarrhea Planet reunion shows on November 22 and 23.
Original Story Below – Published 5 April 2021
NASHVILLE, TN (CelebrityAccess) — Venerable Nashville rock club Exit/In is reportedly under contract to be sold to real estate developer AJ Capital Partners.
According to Tennessee Lookout, the terms of the club’s sale, which was first listed last month, have not been disclosed.
AJ Capital Partners is a real estate developer that operates the Graduate hotel chain and boasts of ‘conquering space and giving it meaning.’
Long a fixture of Nashville’s nightlife, The Exit/In first opened its doors in 1971, catering to everything from bluegrass to stand-up comedy. However, by the 1980s, the club had honed its niche in the market to cater to rock fans and expanded from a limited capacity of 200 to make room for 500 music fans.
More recently, the club has been operated by Chris and Telisha Cobb, who, according to the Lookout, hoped to purchase the property from its current owners, the Nash and Anthony families.
The Cobbs told the Lookout that they have asked AJ Capital to resell them the club and have launched a GoFundMe campaign in a bid to raise money to save the venue.
“We’re told the money was the same and (the Nash and Anthony families’) decision was based on a grudge held over the Save the Rock Block campaign, which successfully prevented a budget hotel development,” Chris Cobb told the Lookout. “We’ve asked the firm that won the bid to sell us the property, so we can preserve Exit/In and ensure its able to continue serving Nashville’s creative working class. Contributions to our purchase fund can be made here: https://gofund.me/c3f1e2e2. Should our bid fail, all money raised will be donated to the National Independent Venue Association and Music Venue Alliance Nashville.”
