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SNBRN performing a DJ set on Nashville Underground’s rooftop deck with the venue’s new L-Acoustics A Series loudspeaker system.

L-Acoustics A Series Goes Underground On Nashville Rooftop Performance Space

Rat Sound supplies a new A15/KS21 system to 40,000-square-foot Nashville Underground live music venue and restaurant/bar on Lower Broadway with the city’s biggest rooftop.

Nashville Underground recently added a new sound reinforcement system headed by L-Acoustics A Series components supplied by Rat Sound Systems (Camarillo, CA) to deliver sound reinforcement to its rooftop deck — the largest in the city — presenting live music every night of the week.

The four-level venue on Lower Broadway, which also includes a restaurant, bar, and event space, is co-owned by singer-songwriter brothers Joey and Gavin DeGraw. The double-level deck is home to two kitchens, four bars, and three stages plus a DJ booth.

“When Nashville Underground operating partner Joshua Pemberton called me, he was looking to bring more high-caliber artists into the venue. He needed a powerful, high-fidelity sound system, but also needed it to be easy to set up, since it would be constantly moved between their multiple performance areas,” says Rat Sound’s Dave Rat. “The new L-Acoustics A Series had just been introduced and we knew it would give the venue extremely high-quality sound and a brand name that is very attractive to top DJ and artist riders, but also be ultra portable and quick to deploy to wherever they needed it that day.”

Rat Sound provided the venue with pairs of medium-throw A15 Wide enclosures, KS21 subwoofers and LA4X amplification from its own rental inventory, which Pemberton demoed onsite and then ordered a set. This established Nashville Underground as the first venue on the Broadway strip to own an L-Acoustics rig, with the system delivered in time to reinforce a DJ event on the rooftop deck.

Another view of the SNBRN set on the roof at Nashville Underground.

“We’re excited to have the first L-Acoustics rig here on Broadway, the heart of Music City,” Pemberton says. “They’re perfect for our use, sound incredible, and really separate us from the competition. It’s exactly what national touring acts and their agents want to see and, of course, what they want to hear.”

Rat agrees, “The A15 is exciting in that its passive configuration allows extremely efficient usage of amp channels. It’s a small, portable system, but the sound is powerful and articulate. We’ve sold quite a few A Series systems to rental and production houses here on the West Coast, but with most of the other venues in Nashville still using older sound systems, Nashville Underground has set itself apart with this modern, scalable system.”

Nashville Underground will continue to expand its facilities by taking over two more floors of the former transfer warehouse and converting them into an eight-lane bowling alley, bringing the venue to occupy the entire 55,000 square feet of its historic building.

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