90s Hip-Hop by Candlelight

Doing This One Alone 

August 7, 2026 • The Parthenon • Nashville 

I'd gone exploring by myself and I'd been to Zannies alone, but this felt different. This was the first real event I'd gotten dressed for, bought a ticket to, and showed up to completely by myself.

And I'll admit, that felt a little weird.

I was still at a point where I missed home terribly, and doing things like this could make me feel it even more. There was always that little part of me wishing I had somebody familiar sitting beside me. But I was also starting to realize that I couldn't spend all my time in Tennessee sitting at home wishing I was somewhere else.

So I went.

And apparently showing up alone had its perks, because they ended up putting me right on the front row.

Not a bad way to start.

Glad I Went 

Sometimes the hardest part was just making myself go. 

By the time it was over, I was so glad I'd gone. I walked in by myself, got lucky enough to end up on the front row, and spent the night listening to songs I already knew in a way I'd never heard them before.

I still would've loved to have had somebody familiar there with me. I was missing home a lot during this part of my life, and going back to an empty room afterward didn't suddenly make that disappear.

But this night gave me something I really needed at the time. It showed me that I could want somebody beside me and still go without them. I could miss home and still have a really good night here. Those two things could exist at the same time.

I didn't know it then, but I think nights like this were slowly teaching me not to put my life on hold just because it didn't look the way I wanted it to yet.

I went alone. I got the front row. And I had an amazing time anyway.