Madison’s newest music venue designed for a ‘religious experience’ for artists and fans

The Madison neighborhood northeast of Nashville will soon have a new music venue. It’s a massive space, built with acoustics and artist development in mind.

“First, when you walk in, you’re going to see a merch area, box office, a couple of bars,” Santo Pullella says, giving a tour of the space.

It’s still under construction. Dump trucks are driving around outside, and workers are carrying massive wood beams.

But Pullella, who will book artists, has a vision for what it will be.

“This is when you start to get the real feel of the hall,” he says, walking through the frame where doors will be.

“And hopefully you’re blown away, and you can’t wait for the artist to come on stage,” he says, smiling.

The space opens up, with a vaulted ceiling of 100-year-old wood. It looks like a massive barn, or maybe even an old church.

“This will be a religious experience,” he says.

Paige Pfleger WPLN News

Timberhawk Hall is located right near the historic Amqui Station in Madison.

Once it opens early next year, it will be able to hold around 900 people.

It will be called Timberhawk Hall. That’s a rebrand from the original name, the Roots Barn. Pullella says it better encapsulates the variety of genres.

“We will definitely have the best of the roots world,” he says. “But we’ll have rock and jazz and everything in between.”

Back in November of last year, there was a falling out between the venue’s owners and a beloved show called Music City Roots. It was going to broadcast from this new space.

That changed when the owners pulled funding from the show.

Metro Councilmember Nancy VanReece was involved with Music City Roots. She says, unfortunately, it just wasn’t making money.

“I’ll be forever grateful that that’s a part of our Music City history,” VanReece says, “and the fact that those same people that are that dedicated to the craft are building this beautiful venue.”

Timberhawk Hall is just the latest development in Madison – a neighborhood that is trying to market itself as a more affordable home to Nashville’s creative class.

“I’m particularly excited about it,” VanReece says, “because it’ll be a state of the art music venue that not only will we locally be extremely proud of but will most likely be a worldwide destination for people traveling to Nashville to hear music.”