Staring Into The Glittering Tail of a Comet: CMAT Blazes Through Nashville's Basement East
Basement East was buzzing on Sunday before CMAT even stepped onstage. “Before He Cheats”, Carrie Underwood’s scorned-lover anthem, had played twice over the house speakers, turning the audience into a stomping sing-along both times. Right around 9 PM, the room was pitched into darkness, signaling the beginning of something important. The band enters from stage left, but CMAT is nowhere to be seen. “I am a writer,” we hear from above. “Where are you?” cries an excited audience member. “I am a writer,” she says again. The band points to the back of the room and everyone turns on heels. By the time she appeared, weaving her way through the crowd before claiming center stage, the night already felt charged.
Before CMAT’s grand entrance, Tele Novella opened the night with a set that felt like stepping into a faded storybook. Their sound is equal parts 60s pop, spaghetti western twang, and dreamlike lullaby, and it immediately set a mood that was both gentle and strange. Singer Natalie Ribbons delivered each line with a lilting, almost theatrical presence, while Jason Chronis’ auxiliary instrumentation anchored the songs with understated elegance. It was the kind of performance that doesn’t shout for attention but quietly draws you in, leaving the room swaying and smiling. Their quirky, off-kilter style turned out to be the perfect counterpoint to the high-voltage spectacle that CMAT would unleash next.
One of the most endearing parts of her set was how personal it felt. She spotted a fan in the crowd and invited them into the spotlight, reminding everyone that this was not a performance to watch passively. It was something to live inside.
From my spot up front at stage left, I had to stay sharp just to keep her in frame because she never stopped moving. A kind girl in front of me let me slip ahead a couple of times with my camera, which gave me just enough space to catch my allotted first 3 songs in full force. Even in that short stretch, the energy swung from playful chaos to raw emotion, and I managed to capture a few frames where the whole room seemed to hold its breath.
The encore brought everything to a peak. “Euro-Country” spilled joy into every corner of the venue. It felt less like a closer and more like a call to keep going, to stretch the night longer.
When it ended, the room felt charged, like we had all shared something too big to unpack in a single night. CMAT truly is the real deal, a shining star that I will surely be yelling about for weeks to come.
Tele Novella
Tele Novella
Tele Novella
