Music City, TN June 2025 by City Lifestyle

Design Matters

Man To Man

Dear Readers,

Welcome to our annual Men’s Issue—an edition dedicated to celebrating the fathers, sons, brothers, mentors, and role models who enrich our families and communities every day.

This month, we shine a light on the men who are building businesses, coaching little league, grilling on the weekends, and showing up in the ways that truly matter. Whether it's a local dad juggling parenthood and entrepreneurship, or a young man finding his path through service and creativity, their stories reflect the strength, humor, and heart that make our community thrive.

We also explore what it means to be a man today—how values like compassion, resilience, and presence are redefining masculinity in inspiring ways. From health tips and style inspiration to spotlights on local craftsmen and community leaders, this issue is full of the people and passions that bring our town to life.

To all the men making a difference in both big and small ways—this one’s for you.

Thank you for letting us be a part of your family and your story, month after month.

All my best,

MATT GIARRATANO, PARTNERSHIPS

June 2025

PUBLISHER

Kat Seaton Giarratano | kat.seaton@citylifestyle.com

EDITORIAL COORDINATOR

Morgan Raum | morgan.raum@citylifestyle.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Morgan Raum

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Brandon Cawood Photography, Legacy of Love

Photo + Film, Tara Diiorio & Dan Lee, Annelise Loughead, Todd Rosenberg, Taylor Brown

Corporate Team

CEO Steven Schowengerdt

COO Matthew Perry

CRO Jamie Pentz

VP OF OPERATIONS Janeane Thompson

VP OF SALES Andrew Leaders

AD DESIGNER Zach Miller

LAYOUT DESIGNER Amanda Schilling

QUALITY CONTROL SPECIALIST Hannah Leimkuhler Learn

city scene

WHERE NEIGHBORS CAN SEE AND BE SEEN

1-7: Music City | City Lifestyle hosted a networking happy hour for all of our partners to connect and network with other entrepreneurs & business owners in Nashville! The evening was a wonderful time of great conversation at the beautiful Kevin Corn Design Studio. Thank you to all of our amazing partners and community who came out and made this night a success. It wouldn't have been possible without our incredible vendors: The Fab Tap, Board & Cheesy, Devon Beck, Kevin Corn, & California Closets of Tennessee!

business monthly

A ROUNDUP OF NEWS FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES

Poolside Pliés With Body & Ballet Collective

Join BBCO for Poolside Pliés; a ballet-core rooftop workout at Kenect Nashville- June 17 at 9 AM! This energizing event features their signature Ballet Bikini Burn class, surprise pop-ups from local wellness partners, luxe swag giveaways, and all the summer vibes! Sweat, connect, and socialize. Reserve your spot now at bodyandballet.co

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Pella Windows & Doors of Nashville X Habitat for Humanity Playhouse Project

Pella Windows & Doors of Nashville proudly gives back to the community. Recently they participated in the Sumner County Habitat for Humanity Playhouse Project. This meaningful event brings together local businesses to design and build unique playhouses for deserving families. By participating, they support Habitat’s mission to provide safe and joyful spaces for children while strengthening community connections. They are honored to contribute to a cause that makes a lasting difference in the lives of local families.

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Novel Eye Care: Turning the Page on Personalized Eye Care & Curated Eyewear

Novel Eye Care will be celebrating a one-year anniversary at the end of summer 2025. Dr. Julianne Koch and her staff are continuously evolving and improving on their already top of the line eye care services with individualized exams, boutique eyewear, and high quality lens options. Their office goes above and beyond when it comes to determining glasses prescriptions, detecting dry eye, and other eye diseases. Go to noveleyecare.com to make your appointment today!

California Closets of Tennessee Celebrates 1,000th Google Review Milestone

California Closets of Tennessee is thrilled to announce reaching 1,000 five-star Google reviews! This milestone reflects their dedication to design, quality, and outstanding service. They’re deeply grateful for the trust and support from their clients and community, who are the heart of their success. Their expert team is committed to delivering personalized storage solutions that make a lasting impact

R E A D Y T O H I I T Y O U R

S

R I D E

? W H A T I S S T R I D E F I T N E S S ?

STRIDE Fitness is a treadmill-based interval training concept, delivering a total-body cardio and strength workout designed for every fitness level and led by dynamic STRIDE Fitness cer tified coaches.

CALL A KOWBOY

Kowboy Fence Co. Offers A Modern, Unique Approach To Your Fencing Needs While Saving The Expense.

ARTICLE BY MORGAN RAUM

LEGACY OF

Kowboy Fence Co. is the top-rated fence company in the Southeast. Based in middle Tennessee with locations in Nashville, Jackson, Knoxville, Memphis, and Huntsville, the Kowboy team specializes in designing and installing fences that enhance the beauty, security, and functionality of

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

LOVE PHOTO + FILM

“We have a rule here where a handshake still means something, and we try to keep the workplace fun. You know, do good business, but work hard and have fun while you're doing it.”

homes, businesses, and properties of all kinds - all while saving clients money.

Founder Kanyon Cashion, a West Tennessee native, grew up with one foot in farming and the other in construction. It only made sense that those two worlds would eventually collide—leading to the creation of Kowboy Fence Co. in 2020.

After relocating to Nashville and working in sales for Audi, Cashion took a position in sales at a pool franchise where he handled the fencing in-house. Over time, his passion became clear: fencing. He shifted his focus fully to Kowboy Fence, teaming up with his brother, Blase Cashion, who left the family

farm and sold out of his own operation to join him. Together, they scaled the business from residential installs to large commercial and industrial projects.

Kowboy Fence Co. now manufactures their own chain link, custom gates, and barbed wire, offering in-house fabrication and unmatched turnaround times. Their partnerships with local manufacturers and pressure treatment facilities allow them to deliver higher-quality products at better prices than big-box stores.

“What really sets us apart is our transparency. Anyone can call in and get instant pricing,” Cashion says. “We offer competitive pricing on

all American-made products, and we even have DIY packages so homeowners can get materials shipped straight to their door.”

Kowboy’s DIY Kits are designed to simplify the process. Customers get walk-through support on footage, materials, and install tips—right down to how many pickets or bags of concrete they need. Whether it’s vinyl, wood, aluminum, ornamental, or farm fencing, the Kowboys make it easy to do it yourself without sacrificing quality.

Specializing in various types of fencing - including wood, vinyl, aluminum, chain-link, ornamental, wire, and farm fences - Kowboy Fence Co. offers a wide range of styles and designs to choose from. With a team of experts on their hands, the company is built off of effective communication and elevated construction concepts, striving to create a stress-free, seamless process from design phase to installation day.

“We focus on creating job opportunities for motivated individuals that want to be involved in a growing company that's focused on customer service,” Cashion explains, on the importance of his team. “We look for like-minded people. We have a

“American-Made. Well Priced. DIY Friendly.”

rule here where a handshake still means something, and we try to keep the workplace fun. You know, do good business, but work hard and have fun while you're doing it.”

Kowboy Fence Co. offers a wide range of high-quality fencing options, but they also provide additional services, such as: temporary fence rentals, event fence rentals, automatic gates, and construction site services including jersey barriers. Their skilled technicians are equipped to handle any fencing project, big or small, and provide tailored

solutions that meet your specific needs. With a commitment to quality, professionalism, and customer satisfaction, Kowboy Fence Co. is the go-to provider for all your fencing needs in Nashville and beyond.

Whether you're a homeowner, contractor, business owner, or property manager, Kowboy Fence Co. is the prime source for durable, beautiful, and affordable fencing across the Southeast. Get a free estimate or explore their DIY kits at kowboyfence.com or follow them on socials @kowboyfence.

Listed exclusively by: Tyler & Jackie Henson Henson Team of Keller Williams

We’re Having a Good Time with Dusty Slay

A Conversation With Nashville's Favorite Stand-Up Comedian, Dusty Slay.

ARTICLE BY MORGAN RAUM

PHOTOGRAPHY

ANNELISE LOUGHEAD, TODD ROSENBERG, TAYLOR BROWN

Famed stand-up comedian, Dusty Slay, moved to Nashville in 2014 with the hopes of one day having his big break. While most comedians find their success in cities such as Los Angeles and New York, Slay worked his way to the top right here in Music City. After years of creating a name for himself in a sea of musicians, his career began to skyrocket. Best known for his blue-collar storytelling style, the Alabama native has had six Late Night appearances, a Comedy Central set, and a Netflix half-hour special — in addition to his first one-hour special, Dusty Slay: Workin’ Man , that debuted on Netflix last year! Turning a twenty-year career into a success story, Slay details his journey in comedy.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND! HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN INTO COMEDY?

I’ve always loved comedy. Comedy movies and stand-up were all I watched growing up and only on TV… I never saw anything live. I grew up watching HBO comedy specials, BET’s Comic View and Comedy Central Presents and my first comedy albums were from Jeff Foxworthy, Billy Engvall and Ellen Degeneres. I never thought this would be something I could do.

AT WHAT POINT IN YOUR LIFE DID YOU BEGIN TO REALIZE THIS WAS SOMETHING YOU COULD PURSUE A CAREER IN?

I remember seeing live improv and sketch comedy in 2003 at Theater 99 in Charleston, SC, where I would later take classes and become a member. It was all so fascinating and intimidating to me. It wasn’t until I won a stand-up competition in 2011back at Theatre 99 - that I actually thought I could do something with this. It was a hobby for three years that I mainly used as a way to try and make friends… then one day, it clicked that this could be my job.

WHERE DO YOU DRAW INSPIRATION FROM?

I’m very observational. As I move throughout life, I pay attention and analyze everything. Honestly, it would probably be a real curse if I wasn’t able to turn some of it into jokes. A small talk interaction at a store can turn into a five-minute joke with keen observation and a little creativity. I’ve always had a wild imagination and a different way of looking at things… I refuse to see everything as it is. I’m always thinking there must be more to something than what is being presented.

CONTINUED >

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NETFLIX SPECIAL, DUSTY SLAY: WORKIN’ MAN! WALK US THROUGH THE PROCESS OF CREATING AND FILMING THIS SHOW.

Creating it is just as simple as creating an act, but creating an act is very hard to do. Sometimes, I think comics will do anything to keep from writing a joke, but I personally enjoy writing jokes that everyone can enjoy. I write an hour of comedy then tell it over and over again to live audiences until I get the wording just right. Then, when I think it’s where I want it, I say ‘let’s hire some people to film this special.’

TELL US ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY IN MUSIC CITY! WHEN DID YOU FIRST MOVE TO NASHVILLE? HOW HAS THIS PLACE HELPED SHAPE YOUR CAREER INTO WHAT IT IS TODAY?

I moved to Nashville in 2014. I’ve always loved country music, so this city seemed like the perfect place for me. I never wanted to live in NYC or LA - although I considered both. I am a southern boy and I like living in the south… and Nashville is a great hub for comedy. I was able to get started pretty easy, because there are so many cities nearby that are driving distance. I had cheap rent - which you can’t find here now - and I just lived out on the road. Since moving here, I’ve done comedy at the Grand Ole Opry about forty times and my face is painted on the side of Zanies Comedy Club!

GIVEN NASHVILLE IS KNOWN FOR ITS LIVELY MUSIC SCENE, MANY DON’T KNOW HOW POPULAR IT IS FOR COMEDIANS! TELL US ABOUT THE COMEDY SCENE IN NASHVILLE.

We have a great scene here… We have a lot of popular working comedians living here. Zanies now has two clubs, so there is more stage time than ever. I also find that we are not competing with each other here, we all help each other out. We watch each other's sets and try to help each other get better. As a headliner, I am able to take a lot of my local friends and comics on the road with me. It’s a good scene that’s only getting better.

MANY COMEDIANS TEND TO MOVE TO NYC OR LA TO PURSUE THEIR CAREERS. WHAT HAS MADE YOU STAY IN NASHVILLE?

Well, I just want to be a professional comic while still living a normal life. I didn’t think NYC or LA could offer me anything that I couldn’t achieve on my own out here on the road... I want to travel the country, see things and places.

YOU ARE THE YOUNGEST COMEDIAN TO PERFORM ON THE STAGE AT THE GRAND OLE OPRY! WHAT DOES THIS HONOR MEAN TO YOU?

To be honest, the age doesn’t really mean anything to me… it’s just an honor to get to stand on the stage that so many of my country music heroes have stood on before me. I never dreamed I would get to perform at the Opry and it is truly a blessing.

PARTEE AT Melrose GOLF CLUB

ARTICLE BY MORGAN RAUM PHOTOGRAPHY BY TARA DIIORIO & DAN LEE

Melrose Golf Club has quickly begun to make a name for itself in Music City since its opening this spring. Made for locals, the new hotspot is designed as a member’s only club that caters to all ages. With three world-class state-of-the-art Trackman golf simulators, pool table, shuffleboard, arcade, gourmet coffee station, and a vinyl collection, Melrose Golf Club serves as the perfect home away from home to hangout with friends, shoot darts, play pool, and unwind. There are even two work stations you can take advantage of in between swings.

Greg Wright, co-owner of Melrose Golf Club, is a Nashville local and has watched the city rapidly progress over the years. While there are a lot of positives in seeing our city evolve, Wright found himself - among others - feeling that the places that felt the most quaint and special were losing its uniqueness due to tourism. This sparked the idea of creating a tourist-free environment for locals to hangout and enjoy all the things that make Nashville feel like magic. Allowing members to bring in their own food and drinks, it has been their mission to form a space that gives folks a place to go without being succumbed to spending money on food, drinks, parking, and all the things going out requires.

“THE COMMUNITY MAKES IT what it is. WE LOVE BEING LOCALS IN THIS AMAZING CITY, SO WE wanted TO BUILD A SPACE THAT FELT LIKE IT OFFERED THAT spot locals can come and enjoy together.”

“We wanted to create something full of life and character that is a catalyst for building a community of likeminded people,” he shares. “Some people are really serious about golf and the Trackman Simulators can get as deep into swing, club speed, and all kinds of stats if you want… but also, some people just like to play golf as a game - as a reason to meet with friends and hang out - and we wanted them to be as welcome as the aspiring professionals.”

The idea of the club is to incorporate all the wonderful things golf embodies, but without the buttoned-up culture that follows. Located on Melrose Avenue in the Berry Hill area, the social club is referred by golfers as the Neighborhood’s 19th; with a vibrant, retro vibe beaming through the establishment, every detail is taken into account. Alongside his wife, Courtney - founder of another local business, KidPro Pediatric Therapy - the Wrights worked with local brand designer, James Muriel, to bring the space to life. Together, they came to define the character of the brand and curated an elegant space that still exudes a fun, playful environment.

“I wanted it to be a combination of stylish and sophisticated, while also being unpretentious and fun. I wanted to create a welcoming space that you can bring your friends and family to where there is joy to be had by all,” Wright explains. “We are looking to differentiate ourselves with the brand and membership that shares our mission. At the end of the day, most of the professional simulators offer very similar experiences, but the people and personality of the space are what keeps you coming back.”

Wright noticed that many golf simulator spaces seemed to be too serious and transactional for his liking.

“We want our members to feel like they are the first priority, not their wallet,” says Wright. “With the ability to have anything delivered from your favorite local restaurant, we would rather you support them and just bring it in rather than compete with our great local businesses.”

While it is a golf social club, members don’t have to be experts at golf to join. With simulator that have hundreds of real courses around the world to choose from, serious players can come practice the course and others can come play games, enjoy the TV’s, or simply just hangout with friends!

“This is built to be their third place beyond home and work… the living room for local folks,” Wright explains. “Bring your friends, bring your kids, park for free… The community makes it what it is. We love being locals in this amazing city, so we wanted to build a space that felt like it offered that spot locals can come and enjoy together.”

For more information and details on how to become a member, visit golf-melrose.com or follow them on socials @golfmelrose.

Now Catering!

From our farm to your fork, Smokin Oaks Organic Farms

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design

the Western Design Conference In Jackson Hole, WY.

BUILDING A LEGACY AT LITTLEBRANCH FARM

CREATING FUNCTIONAL FURNITURE

INSPIRED BY NATURE DESIGNED TO TRANSFORM YOUR SPACE.

ARTICLE

Kelly Maxwell is the hands and heart behind Littlebranch Farm. Spending two decades as a full-time paramedic, the Idaho native had always dreamt of one day owning his own farm that overlooked fields of green and cattle - especially after growing up on his grandparents’ land. In 1996, Kelly and his wife, Cathy, bought a scenic 16-acre stretch of land in Georgia at the base of Ross Mountain, where they lived along Littlebranch Creek. In 2001, his

BY MORGAN RAUM PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRANDON CAWOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

farm dreams came true - just differently than he planned.

When his stepdaughter got engaged, she asked Kelly if he would be willing to build her furniture for the ceremony since she had full faith he could execute it beautifully, as he had just finished building the family's new log home. With no formal training or extensive woodworking knowledge, he rolled his sleeves and, with inspiration from a friend, taught himself how to build rustic furniture. While the furniture was crude, it transformed the wedding and gave birth to a new career.

“[Learning how to make] the rustic log became more refined as I moved along,”

Kelly shares. “With that, I built many aesthetically nice log beds, bathroom vanities, dressers, and other things. I watched some TV shows on basic cabinet woodworking, but it was all trial and error... there was no YouTube to watch back then.”

Soon after the wedding, while Kelly was working for the Harris County EMS, his boss approached him with an application for a local craft show and said, “Fill this application out, write them a check for $25, and I’ll have you and Cathy a sausage biscuit and coffee for you each day.” Kelly took him up on his offer; Armed with a trailer load of rustic furniture and an old

“I REALLY BELIEVE IN GROWING THE TEAM, PULLING OUT THEIR SKILLSETS AND TEACHING THEM SO IT CONTINUES TO MOVE FORWARD BEYOND ME. INSTEAD OF IT JUST BEING ME, LITTLEBRANCH FARM IS A TEAM.”

green beach tent, a business was born. Sticking out like a sore thumb among the rows of white tents, he and Cathy were amazed when they sold everything they had available, except two pieces. Before he knew it, his part-time job was showing genuine promise. Spending his free time building rustic furniture, Kelly began taking his finished products to other craft shows - this time, with a white tent - and eventually began displaying his work outside of antique stores in Pine

Mountain, Georgia. Later, he branched out and started to sell at major log home shows around the United States, doing thirteen to fourteen shows a year. In 2014, Cathy’s lifelong nursing career led the pair to Music City, where Kelly has continued growing in his craft.

“The Nashville community is a great support... we work with many local commercial and residential projects. We love the energy and the creativity that comes from the community here,” Kelly shares.

While Littlebranch Farm’s studio is located here in Nashville, Kelly and his team ship to places all around the globe, working on everything from whole-house projects to individual pieces. Littlebranch Farm prides itself on its unique, intricate, one-of-a-kind designs. Kelly has received several awards over the years - including Best Of Show and several woodworking and mixed media accolades, most notably from the Western Design Conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. With a talented team of Nashville residents hand-selected by Kelly, he is focused on building a legacy of functional furniture that will last for years to come.

“I really believe in growing the team, pulling out their skillsets and teaching them so it continues to move forward beyond me,” he says. “Instead of it just being me, Littlebranch Farm is a team.”

For more information on Littlebranch Farm, visit littlebranchfarm.com or follow them on socials @littlebranchfarm