Notes Live, INC Unveils Plans For Murfreesboro Amphitheatre

Notes Live, INC, a new independent player in live venues, unveiled plans Thursday for a new $40 million outdoor amphitheater in Murfreesboro, hometown of Middle Tennessee State University and a 45-minute interstate commute from Nashville. 

With a population of roughly 153,000, the city was a strategic fit for Notes Live’s mission of identifying markets in regions with growing populations in need of quality music and entertainment venues. 

The Sunset Music Colosseum on the River is a 4,500-seat, state-of-the-art open-air amphitheater located on an 18.2-acre City parcel along the Murfreesboro Gateway. The public-private partnership opens in 2023 and will include 32 firepit suites, stadium-style seating, and casual lawn seating. 

Plans for the entertainment complex also include an adjoining Boot Barn Hall, which will hold up to 1,400 people indoors, and a restaurant, Bourbon Brothers Smokehouse & Tavern. The venues are expected to hire 200 full and part-time employees and feature weekly concerts and events. 

Notes Live and city officials have entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding and will continue to negotiate binding development agreements that will be brought for Murfreesboro City County approval. Notes Live Chairman JW Roth and Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland made the joint announcement. 

 “Providing final agreements are approved by Council, the amphitheater will be a public-private partnership adding a significant amenity to the area and elevating Murfreesboro in the Nashville music scene,” said McFarland. “As mayor, I am delighted along with the City Council, to welcome Notes Live to Murfreesboro in making this substantial investment and we look forward to Notes Live contributing to the community in many ways.”

“We are so excited to be entering the rapidly growing Murfreesboro, TN, market,” added Roth. “It’s an absolute perfect city for our newest triple concept music campus. We are focusing on growth markets that are currently underserved in terms of large venues, and Murfreesboro really fits our model to the tee.”

Notes Live’s flagship 1,400 seat Boot Barn Hall, which opened in February 2019, is located in Colorado Springs. Another is under construction outside of Atlanta, in Gainesville, GA, and there are plans to expand in Florida and North Texas. By the end of 2023, Notes Live plans on operating a half dozen large and mid-sized music venues across the West and South.  

“These are some of the fastest-growing cities in America, but the live entertainment options haven’t caught up to the population,” explained JW Roth, an entrepreneur and founder of Roth Industries. “Notes Live venues will cater to these upscale demographics looking for a place where the overall experience is as good as the music itself.”

Last month, the company unveiled plans for The Sunset, an 8,000-seat amphitheater in Colorado Springs at Polaris Pointe, the company hub, which is also home to Boot Barn Hall, and restaurants Bourbon Brothers Smokehouse & Tavern and Buttermilk, a Breakfast Eatery. 

According to Roth, Notes Live currently has the backing of more than 60 institutional and individual investors. But the company also relies on the support of local government in markets where they are expanding. The company is keen on identifying potential Boot Barn Hall markets where local municipalities have economic development dollars to subsidize development costs directly or through tax incentives.