Inspired by British and Irish pub singing, a Nashville gathering promotes the singing of hymns in bars. Organized in 2013, Beer & Hymns gathers in venues across the city for some spirited singing while enjoying some tasty, usually alcoholic, beverages. As they describe it:
We gather. We socialize (including drinking, but no pressure, water and sodas are available as well). We sing. We meet new people. We are friendly to each other.
Our bread and butter are hymns 100 or more years old — but we also dabble in folk songs (young and old), and bits of pop songs. We value tradition, but also silliness, mashups, and occasional super-fermatas. Simply, we leaders have noticed that you can do a lot with the human voice and the crowd dynamic. We mostly sing a cappella with bits of percussion and acoustic guitar. Please know: this is not a concert. Audience participation is the goal.