Start at the walking around discorvery
As the ghosts of The Boro Bar & Grill, past, echo through the mid-night air of Murf. Proper East, atop the MTSU/Lightning Way/Greenland? parking garage on Lightning Way a the breath of fresh air the Murfreesboro-local, Punk/Metal scene is taking in 2026.
In a dl, instagram gathering in afflilation with recent punk artists, merch producer/handler and podcasters, Pepto Griswold & Hasslehoffers, “hassle [their] Hoffer till [they] Pepto the Griswold,” according to the entrepreneur’s linktr.ee, https://linktr.ee/PeptoGriswold.
the lineup for the evening consisted of new acts, Maisy Owen; “actually a secret set by someone named Panic,” according to Pepto Griswold; Truth Nuke; an older garage leveler, Tijuana Bible, Megafuanna, and Cardboard Spaceship to create Waffle Fest, originally intended to premeire at The [S. Rutherford] Waffle House, located at 3900 S. Rutherford Blvd., in the Cloud 9 Vapes complex. Due to conflicts with the Waffle House landlord, not the establishment, was the reason for the first venue change, February 13, 2026
-a little earlier than 2025, on Friday, February 13, 2026, at Levels 4: the two parking garages on MTSU (the Champion Way garage and the one next to the Rec center [Rutherford garage]), because they got kicked off the first garage and had to bolt to the second to finish the set list.
The Journey: Sometimes a man needs to think. Sometimes an old man says sht like [quote to Barrett the 9th 10th?], after getting sidetracked hearing some sick ass bass coming from a perfectly acoustic practice garage , 4 stories worth, while he’s walking, thinking some stuff out.
Bawls-to-tha-wawl, Epic fuzz bass floats from the Champion Way parking garage, ‘cross traffic sounds that usually lull the neighborhood to sleep, but while most are out, there was a quartet that found a plug in socket/plug in sockets that could produce the amppage needed to kick an old, dead horse when it’s down.
recording: MTSU Livestock Center
2:42, F&P: they playing around with a Smoke on the Water riff, F&P: that bass needs some overdrive on it and it’ll change the whole level. It sounds good everywhere I went. My name is Bryce. I wrtie for Folk & Proper News, a music journalism newspaper, around town.
One of’m: Nice.
F&P: You guys mind telling me what you’re up to?
Barret: We are rehearsing. We’re playing at a show on Friday.
F&P: What’s the show?
Barrett: It’s at a Waffle House, it’s pretty crazy. […] I don’t know the address for that one, but
Carlos: It’s the one on S. Rutherford.
Barnett: It’s the one on S. Rutherford.
F&P: It’s just right there.
Barnett: I play guitar mostly, but I was just messing around with bass..
F&P: It sounds good man. I’m in my own life stuff, right now, and old guys tend to put their heads down and walk until the sht -stuff- works out.
The band: Yeah Yeah.
F&P: It’s time. Which is nice.
“Instances like, there’s a [new, metal band], Denoument, having a photo shoot at the Rose St. parking lot [one day], and I’ll step outside and catch up with you kids there, and [other instances], I’ll hear you play over here [wafting like a ghost of The Boro], every now and then, [because I thought it was ghosts of The Boro Bar & Grill], But it’s the beginning of something beautiful, going to Waffle House, and stuff, and it makes me want to ask, do you guys know who the Protomen are?,” I asked.
F&P, boldly: -I’m sure you do. They started here 20 years ago. If you want to see what you’re getting into, go check [old man!]
Barnett: Okay.
[“Who do I give? Klaus? Our singer does all the social media accounts.
present Manager: give’m the band account. And then you can give them Klaus. Klaus is like our manager
F&P: Have you guys set up a bandcamp -Do you have my band account? Has is gotten that far yet?
Barnett: No. We’ve got songs we’ve written, but we havent’ sat down and recorded. We’ve probably been doing it for six months.
[…] Brennan Barnett, Todd, Carlos, and “I don’t really do the band thing,” second manager Tim; Todd and Carlos are riffin’ some sick sht in the background; walking away, F&P: “Put some overdrive on that bass!,” for he who controls the fuzz, controls the crowd.
Saying hi to us in these moments will probably start conversation about metal.
From there, it was a double check on insta reels for news to find eventual, unforeseen trouble for the Waffle Fest crowd: a venue change, followed by an extreme/punk resourcefulness that would prove handy as the day/event went along.
Waffle Fest, Levels 4, MTSU, Feburary 13, 2026:
[Mega-sick Girl blues riffs, acoustic folks; American primitive guitar]; Organizer Lindse: “HEy, everybody!! (crowd woots) What’s good waffle punks?!”
Lindsey: Are we ready to get started (crowd cheers).
“Quick shout out before we get started,” continued Lindsey.
“Happy BIrthday, [Lucy Dennis, and] Noah,” (crowd woots and cheers, for Lucy and Noah)!
Lindsey: So, our first act is the wonderful Maisy Owens (crowd apey)
Linsdey: Yay! Get ‘cited!
If you ever hear the Ghosts of The Boro Bar & Grill wafting across the mid-night’s sky as it did when the garage doors were open, you’re not crazy. It’s real.
American primitive guitar artist, Maisy Owens visited Levels 4, February 13, opening up a Waffle Fest lineup picking a folk-y, three finger 4/4 set in the vein of -I wanted to say Connie Converse (“Johnny’s Brother,”), but there’s more diversity there, though Owen sombers a more forlorn form in the people’s keys of Am and Dm, and lyricism, across the set.
5:42, Owen: Thank you (song end)
5:50, Maisy tuning: It’s so called that its probably not going to stay in tune.
-A country western, bass string walker, as the crowd picks up clapping percussion, “There’s a Lover at the Bottom ” / “The Rivers Going to Hold Him.” [9:14, song end]
9:17, Owen: Thank you. That’s a new one. *It’s called, “Into the River” (crowd woots)
9:25, Owen: Ummm. All right. This is called, “The Rest of Me,” a sweetly, three-fingered high-register string, slider captivating until the 12:00 marker
“All right. Let’s keep this rolling, One more,” said Owen (crowd laughs; audience member, […] one more! Owen: My hands are chili! [crowd laughs])…
From San Francisco, “Tompkins Square label, established in 2005, has released acclaimed recordings by artists such as William Tyler, Gwenifer Raymond, Ryley Walker and Michael Chapman as well as reissues of folk, old-timey, gospel and American Primitive Guitar. The label has received 8 Grammy nominations,” said Owen’s bandcamp, My Youth is All For You | Maisy Owen | Tompkins Square.
A Secret Set by Someone named Panic
Panic, solo-folker on the axe box, punk af; one of two recent punk artists of merch producer/handler and podcasters, Pepto Griswold & Hasslehoffers, who “hassle [their] Hoffer till [they] Pepto the Griswold,” according to the entrepreneur’s at the merch table.
Clunky solo acoustic Punker pirate raspy into untuned territory until not, then does it all over again. “6 songs, to 8, I’m playing them kind of slow beacuse I have to,” said Griswold, for ultimately, a 10 song set.
:40, 1:18, “Phantom Pain,” 1:30; 3:50…
“6 songs, to 8, I’m playing them kind of slow because my fingers are killing me. But, y’know. Happens to the best of’m,” said Panic, for ultimately, a 10-song set.
*4:20, Panic: This ones called….. I’ll just play John Brown’s Body, real quick. You guys can song along, if you know this song” (crowd member woots).
Finding the right octave, his voice jumps from a soprano attempt down to a baritone, where his rasp takes over. It’s a spectrum of octaves with this eventual metal, or shanty, singer, possibly the two together.
6:30, “whosshit!” Panic throws his pick accidentally.
7:33, crowd member: “Lets Go! Go! Go! You got this!”
“This next one’s called ‘Never Trust a Man That Plays Guitar,” by (laughs) Wingnut Dishwashers Union (an influence) (starts 7:00). “-The last one was a traditional.”
7:35, threw his second pick, “Wait a second…”; 8:00, right back at it (-9:00)
[9:16, “This one’s called, ‘Never Play Belize,’ by The Pigeons (?)”]
11:41, “I think I’ve got one more. One more. This ones called Old Time Memory, by Mischief Brew (crowd membre, “awwww”). If you know this one, you can sing along, as well.
15:00, well that was the end of that one, I didn’t know all the words (crowd goes apey, yews and yeahs) (15:15, set ends, peacefully Tokyo driftin’) as [Truth Nuke or TB?] warms up (17:46, 19:42)
[Fckn] Tijuana Bible
Bawls-to-tha-wawl, Epic fuzz bass floats from Tijuana Bible cross-traffic sounds that usually lull the neighborhood to sleep, but while most are out, there was a quartet that found a plug in socket/plug in sockets that could produce the ampage needed to kick a dead horse when it’s down -and a dead horse that helped pull the possibility of situations like that happening.
“Tijuana Bible has been playing for years.” says Barcode frontman, Jay
As another year in the local, expanding Punk Metal scene takes a fresh breath,
As the Murfreesboro-local, PUnk/Metal scene takes a fresh breth in 2026 –
-a little earlier than 2025, on Friday, February 13, 2026, at Levels 4: the two parking garages on MTSU (the Greenland garage and the one next to the Rec center [Rutherford garag]), because they got kicked off the first garage and had to bolt to the second to finish the set list.
Vid, beginning omitted, Tijuana Bible:
Organizer Lindsay: Hey, y’all, everyone get the fck over here!
crowd, Yeah!!! Wooot!
lead singer: I got it.
Lead: SOrry it’s cold. Tijuana Bible could not [help?] out with that. We left our weather controlling devices at home [bass thuds, in anticipation
audience member: “my favorite band…”
Had another local band up there talking shit about Coleman Williams, the way it used to be: IV’s Score & Some Strange: A TN REVIEW – Folk & Proper News
Lead: this microphone hates me, but what I want from you, here, in just a second is, on the count of three, I want you to tell me what your favorite color is, okay 1 2 3
crowd, yelled at once, combining into a big audible goop of brown on the level.
“Was that green all over the place?” asked the lead.
“I think that was Blue,” said the bass player.
“I don’t hate that, said the lead.
“True Blue,” said the bass player.
Bass player, “Hey, we could all play tambourines, here.”
Allright, we’re gonna go again, is it forrest green? like, what kind of green?
Audience member: This type of green.
[…] another audice member, “That’s my favorite color.”
Chi Chi/Barcode:
Jay: This is my friend Matt. […]
F&P: explained what was going on.
Jay: I wish it was a Waffle House, man. He drove all the way from Atlanta, GA just to watch the waffle house.
[…] Matt: This is my alma matter.
Chi Chi: Regardless, we’re gonna have a good time, y’know.
I’m not really sure what’s going on in Nashville, tonight.
Chi Chi: I’m not going nowhere.
F&P: What’s the music venue you guys are playing in Bowling Green?
Molotov? I’m not playing there. That’s my little brother’s shit. He started doing punk shit. Because I played in a couple bands with’m, He started writing… He’s kinda like my — and I’m the GB[?]. I gave him two guitars, and I haven’t seen them in, like, a month. He’s killing it, dude.
Chi Chi: [I’ve been doing it fifteen years.] [You should see this group], Lab Brains, we’re in. It’s a Minor Threat cover band, and we finally get to play a show together at the Punk Rock Flea. We’ve been talking about it. I’m really excited.
F&P: When is this?
April 18. We posted the flyer today. It’s really cool. We’ve been talking to them about doing a couple Minor Threat covers like a B-Side for Barcode to where we we’re like, if you learn the guitar, I’ll get Steven —- for the drums, and just do vocals together. But, yeah, it’ll be fun at Hop Springs.
When you walked [onto the level] from the stairwell, someone said “There’s Barcode.”
“I ain’t famous,” Jay said looking down, with a puff of the cigarette.
Klaus!
“Lemme go get our singer…” Barnett said; F&P, “You don’t have to….”
“Hey, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Klaus.”
“This is the guy that found us the other day,” said Barnett.
“This is Klaus, our singer,” introduced Barnett.
“You’re Bryce, right? I’m Klaus.”
“Is he shutting the whole thing down,” as the lead of Tijuana Bible crashed some news the garage was being vacated because of a fire-alarm trip…” Bryce asked.
“Somebody pulled the fire alarm,” explained Klaus.
“We don’t know who, it’s probably somebody pissed off about the noice. So, we’re moving to the other garage -We’re still playing. We’re still on. […] That one’s gonna be… [Barnett, “if you look up the softball maps, its right there”].
F&P: About 20 minutes?
In the background, “If you all do not know where the other lot is, Come Here!! If you wanna go, Know!” said lead for Tijuana Bible.
“All right, if you see that car right there. As soon as I get this equipment going there, y’all just follow me. I’ll lead the way,” he continued.
Chi Chi: I’m outta here.
transitioning garages: ~3:50, Sargeant Kaitlyn Liedtke of MTSUPD talking to the people about shutting down.
Sargeant: We got a noticication that the pull station was pulled. Everyone’s okay, right?
Crowd, “Yes.”
Sargeant: I think people were trying to sleep.
~4:00, “I’ve just been sitting out in the parking lot. you guys sounded good,” she said.
6:10F&P: Cut off time is usually…?
Sargeant Kaitlyn: Quiet hours for the city is usually around 10pm for the week , so that’s kinda kinda like -they’re usually wrapped up before then, so I don’t usually have any problems. […] They’re really good about. Pretty responsibel, and they wrap up before quiet hours. So, we don’t have much of an issue with it, and all it takes is one person to ehhhhh, ruin of everybody else, but we’re just coming out here to make sure everybody’s okay.
After a short walk and a golf cart directive ~16:00), the second, new parking garage on the MTSU campus is located beside the Rec Center, East side of campus, next to S. Rutherford, adjacent to the softball fields behind Greek Row (~20:00).
21:02, F&P: Probably a bad time to ask, but do you guys need anything? (Barnett: Oh, no. We’re good. Thank you).
27:46, convo with bystanders (Dru the Drifter’s interview is on the QR codes of the merchants their stickers previously posted on the walls of the Rec. Center parking garage; giving people newspaper; talkin’ these kids’ heads off.
30:18, “I haven’t been disappointed yet,” some random Nashvillian visitors to the Waffle Fest garage said.
37:42: Muffled conversation with new friend, Heather with the grey-blue eyes. Lemon cherry gelato heart.
42:05, first check
45:53, *Juno spacecraft.
48:44, Klaus, Check Check one two, heay it’s working. Check.
Carlos builds the fuzz.
Drummer dinner bells.
49:15, Klaus: Check Check. Hi, everybody. […] [Barnett warms backup vox]
MEGAFAUNAA: Live EP
Coming out of nowhere, seemingly, Md. tn, garage rattlers, Megafaunna, at the time of their practice, comprised a Champion Way’s string section, Brennan Barnett, lead guitar, Carlos on the other lead guitar, and Todd, later contacted and joined by Klaus Stafford, a vocalist and bassist for the quintet, moonlighting as a taxidermist, pursing animal sci., with a drummer, —- ——-, doing….
Megafauna’s first appearance at a Halloween party last year in Nashville squared away a debut, spookily, and beginning a fast track to road hard, before an EP even hits the bandcamps.
Post Waffle Fest, Megafaunna is planning to take a hiatus, according to guitarist, Brennan Barret, to record their debut, but it’s up in the air, as of the date due to choices within the opportunity within their start up ranging from South Carolina to Nashville, to locally, here in Murfreesboro.
And only thing front woman, Klaus Stafford , doesn’t realize is, she’s Diane Lane, from Streets of Desire. If Megafuanaa covered, “Going Nowhere,” it’d be garage busts and epic rock flowing like water, and hilarious if in front of everyone booking.
“I have people recognizing me, now,” said Klaus, standing with bandmates of the second of Levels 4. to the effect of, “We’ve got a studio in SC we’re thinking about; there’s also [the rental booths Klaus mentioned, locally]; and F&P even mentioned Jason Dietz’s Twin Oak Recordings, not remembering it relocated to Waverly (and Jason’s a busy boy), as the world opens up for them.
Megafuanaa’s Youtube channel is kind of hidden, but it can be found at http://www.youtube.com/@megafaunaa_invid, for up to date releases out of the months, thus far.
“Welcome to Murfreesboro,” F&P exclaimed, pondering the notion so many have been caught up in the music scene around here, there’s help every which way you look.
[MTSU BLVD. AUDIO, Organizer Lindsey, :43, Okay, so one more announcement real quick. There is an official after party at the same Waffle House that we planned to have the gig at (crowd woots) so if you guys are still up and at’m after the show, we got like 3 more bands, if you guys wann hang along, we’re gonna be doing some punk singalongs at the Waffle House, yuh! It’s gonna be a real banger and legendary night. All right, thank you very much. Tip you bartenders (?).]
2:00 convo with the drummer; merch table venmo; “Did you say the landlord messed it up? It wasn’t the Waffle House?” “Yeah, it was the land lord,” said Hasslehoffer.
11:44, Truth Nuke starts checkin’…
12:30, Can we get a big round of applause for Tijuana Bible (F&P: yeah yeah!,), and another real big round of applause for Megafaunaa (F&P, crowd: Yuh! Yuh!); We are Truth Nuke, and we’ll get started for you in a second….
Truth Nuke
Murfreesboro, funky post-roof punk trio debuting at last November’s Night of the Living Fed, was a legendary event to remember!” according to @truthworldwide, instagram.
“We raised over 120 pound of food (and some cash) for Nourish FOod Bank. […] We’re going to post more to the new band page, @thruthnukeworldwide, so please follow. Again, thank you for all the terrific night, and I hipe to do this again next year.”
Cardboard Spaceship
No truer words, as during the last Truth Nuke audio, F&P’s super recorder died, walking away as the police arrived again, second parking garage, post-MegaFaunna interview.
Further information on all of the Waffle Fest 2026 lineup can be found at their individual social accounts -this round, an instagram-based garage gathering, @tijuana_bible_tn, @megafaunaa_invid, @truthnukeworldwide, @pepgriznhass, @maisy0wen, with Owen’s linktr.ee found at Maisy Owen – Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music – Linktree.
More information on Middle Tennessee Journalism can be found at How the Protomen kidnapped and forced me to ride around Murfreesboro blindfolded for 20 minutes just for a one-on-one interview – Flash – Sidelines – Middle Tennessee State University
For [redacted]’s location, please visit folkandproper.news @ The Murfreesboro-Local, Punk/Metal Scene (Pt. 1): The Folk & Proper Newspaper version, online – Folk & Proper News (https://folkandproper.news/2025/09/02/the-murfreesboro-local-punk-metal-scene-pt-1-the-folk-proper-newspaper-version-online/).
Upcoming Waffle Fest-affiliated shows and appearances scheduled for February 19th, 2026, @ [redacted], followed by a TBA show, March 6th, at [instagram, @megafuana.invid].
Also, dance-wise, there’s a new pause-and-stealth attack mosh where flyers will ominously pause on the edge, looking down I. Attack mode, but secretly and surgically searching peripherals for the next target; usually a friend across the swirl. Hobbes-mode Calvin goes into action (Calvin & Hobbes). Its awesome.
Update: 2/27/26, mzren.9: “Was wondering if I could discuss some details on the event,” said Pepto Griswold and the Hasslehoffers, “hassl[ing] [their] Hoffer till [they] Pepto the Griswold,” according to the entrepreneur’s linktr.ee, https://linktr.ee/PeptoGriswold.
“The details in our decision on the venue change, because it wasn’t specifically the cops that made us make the decision. It was actually because someone pulled the fire alarm. Which we knew not just police would be there but also the fire department.”
“We currently don’t know who pulled the fire alarm. […] And probably won’t find out,” said Pepto.
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