Harken Hall Was Built for Music City Roots. Now the Show Is Finally Here

Harken Hall, the barn-wood venue on Madison Station Boulevard, was designed around one show and then spent six years without it. That show is Music City Roots, the Americana variety broadcast. It came back to Harken late last year. Since then the venue has run on a monthly schedule that Madison can plan around. Most months the last Wednesday is Roots night, and the rest of the calendar fills in around it.

Below is how the building got here, what's on stage this October, and which Madison spots fit around a show night.

A Room Built Around a Radio Show

Music City Roots started in 2009 in a barn. The show's own history puts it this way: "Born in a barn in 2009." That first barn was at the Loveless. According to WPLN, the show later moved to The Factory in Franklin and stayed until late 2017. A planned move downtown to 6th and Peabody then fell apart after the concept for that space drifted away from what Roots needed, which was a radio studio and a performance hall in the same room.

Madison was supposed to fix that. In 2019, plans called for a "Roots Barn" here, and Harken's soundstage and video production setup were designed with the show in mind. WPLN reported that the deal was dropped that year over "creative differences." The building was already full of broadcast gear. The stage was built from 100-year-old barn wood, and eight high-definition cameras were installed in the room. WPLN said the owners had hoped Harken could become something like a Ryman Auditorium.

Without its anchor show, Harken took a while to get going. WPLN described "fits and starts" and "a couple name changes." Even the opening date is hard to pin down. A July 2024 Tennessean item said the venue would open that fall. Harken's own archived calendar lists New Year's Eve with Exile on December 31, 2024. WKRN later reported that the venue held its first concert on a New Year's Eve.

The Reunion, and the Rhythm It Created

On October 1, 2025, WPLN reported that Harken Hall and Music City Roots would "move forward together" starting November 26, with the show broadcast on WMOT.

The 2026 calendar shows how regular the show has become. Roots nights so far this year:

• February 4, with John McEuen, Lillie Mae, Gary Nicholson, and Dani-Rae Clark
• February 25, with Goldpine, hilljack, Joel Tyler King, and Brett Moore of The Wild Feathers
• March 25, with the John Cowan Trio, Lamont Landers, and JD Simo
• April 29, with Tobacco Road, Lindsay Lou & Kyle Tuttle, and Tyler Booth
• May 27, with Rhonda Vincent, Hannah Dasher, Crystal Bowersox, and Heather Thomas
• June 24, with Chuck Mead, Tyler Ramsey and Carl Broemel, Liz Longley, and Bay Simpson & the AntiSocialites
• July 29, with MT Jones, CJ Solar & The Old Souls, and Fly by Night
• August 26, with CJ Field, Logan Mac, Nicki Bluhm, and Aaron Raitiere
• September 30, with Nether Hour, Henhouse Prowlers, The Steel Wheels, and Rebecca Frazier

Apart from the early-February show, every one of those dates is the last Wednesday of its month. The next one is Wednesday, October 28. Visit Music City lists doors at 6 p.m. and the show at 7 p.m., with Laid Back Country Picker, Garrett Boys, Bronwyn, and Rodeo Mouth.

Each Roots night puts several artists on one bill, played for a radio audience, which explains the room. The room's production, broadcast, and streaming setup now has the show it was planned around on the calendar every month.

Harken's October Calendar

The rest of Harken's fall calendar runs on the same mix: touring names on weekends and local formats in between. Here is the October lineup as posted on the venue's schedule.

November continues the pattern with 8-Track on November 7, The Carpenters Legacy on November 13, Jeremy McComb's "Honky-Tonk Circus" tour on November 14, and The Ides of March featuring Jim Peterik on November 20.

The local formats are where Harken works most like a neighborhood room. Meet & Three, a local music showcase, has come around about once a month on a Tuesday this year, most recently on September 22. From June through mid-September, the lawn hosted the Harken Hall Garden Concert Series presented by Yazoo. Acts included Brother Dusty, People on the Porch, Tennessee Woodpile, and Little Hopes, and the outdoor season closed on September 13 with Patton James and the Synchromatics. In April, WKRN described Golden Hour as a free Thursday-night show in the lobby. The posted calendar last lists it in late May, so check the venue's site before planning a Thursday around it.

Who Runs the Building, and What It Holds

Harken describes itself as independently owned. In 2024, WPLN identified Jamie Amos as president and her husband, Patrick Kennedy, as executive vice president and longtime investor. The couple told WKRN they have worked in entertainment for more than twenty years, including back-to-back music video shoots through the 1990s. General manager Josh Minton previously worked at The Madison Foundation and sits on the board of the Madison Rivergate Area Chamber of Commerce.

The building can host a lot of different events:

• Main Hall: 576 seated, or up to 922 with a standing and seated mix
• Seated dining: more than 300
• Outdoor patio and stage: 150
• Bars: up to three permanent interior bars plus two mobile bars

WKRN reported more than a dozen recording studios in the building, Harken-branded refillable water bottles for every guest, and no plastic utensils anywhere on the campus.

The location carries its own history. In the WKRN piece, the hosts pointed to the neighborhood's country music past, naming Roy Acuff, Johnny Cash, Mabel Carter, and Earl Scruggs, and said Carter had a place just across the railroad tracks.

Building a Madison Night Around a Show

Harken shares the street with FiftyForward Madison Station at 530 Madison Station Blvd., which offers classes and social activities and holds a weekly music jam. Amqui Station is around the corner at 303 Madison St. The restaurants and bars that go best with a show are on Gallatin Pike and East Palestine Avenue. These are the nearby places this research turned up:

1. Pinky Ring Pizza, 414 Gallatin Pike S. Harken's own blog recommends it for dinner before a show, and it won Best Pizza and Best Storefront in the Madison Rivergate Area Chamber's 2026 awards.
2. Madtown Coffee, 516 Gallatin Pike S. A locally owned coffeehouse run by Madison residents Emily and Joe.
3. Shotgun Willie's BBQ, 1500 Gallatin Pike S, Suite 104. Open in Madison since May 25, 2024, serving Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. or until it sells out. That makes it a lunch stop before a Saturday matinee or the Drag Brunch.
4. Dee's Country Cocktail Lounge, 102 E Palestine Ave. A live-music neighborhood bar owned by Amy Dee and named Best Bar in the Chamber's 2026 awards.
5. Eastside Bowl, 1508 Gallatin Pike S. Bowling plus its own show calendar.

This weekend has a lot packed into it. Max Weinberg plays Harken on Saturday, October 3. On Sunday, October 4, the Amqui Station Farmers Market opens at 10 a.m. It is producer-only, runs Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and its posted season goes through October. That afternoon, Hope Fest runs from noon to 4 p.m. at 1205 S. Graycroft Ave. It features women-owned vendors and live music from women artists, and proceeds support Faith + Wildflowers and Butterfly Boutique.

Harken's busiest single day this fall was likely September 12, when the free Grassroots and Nudie Suits festival filled Madison Station Boulevard, Amqui Station, and Harken Hall from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The indoor bill featured Carlene Carter, Oliver Wood, and Lola Kirke. The next date on the street's calendar is Wednesday, October 28, when Music City Roots goes on the air from Madison at 7 p.m.

Anne Loy and Melinda Morrissey follow what's opening and booking around Madison Station because those details shape how a street feels to live on. If you're curious how places like Harken Hall and Amqui Station factor into a move, or into staying put, A&M Homes would be glad to talk it through. Contact Us.