Middle Tennessee State University Athletics and NVRDUL Events are launching Live in the Boro, a new public-private partnership intended to bring major touring artists and live entertainment to MTSU’s athletic venues. The series will debut during MTSU’s Homecoming Week with a concert at Murphy Center on Thursday, Nov. 5.
Bailey Zimmerman will headline the inaugural show. The Louisville, Illinois, native has become one of country music’s most successful young stars, first gaining attention by posting music online before breaking through with “Fall in Love” and “Rock and a Hard Place.” His gritty, rock-influenced country sound has produced multiple platinum and multi-platinum singles. His 2023 debut album, Religiously. The Album., included four consecutive No. 1 Country Airplay singles, while his 2025 sophomore release, Different Night Same Rodeo, features collaborations including “Backup Plan” with Luke Combs.
Before music became his career, Zimmerman was a laborer with jobs including working on a gas pipeline, and his early social-media videos helped turn a small-town Illinois singer into a nationally recognized recording artist. He grew up listening to country music with his truck-driving father as well as the hard-rock music favored by his mother, influences that can be heard in the combination of muscular rock vocals and country songwriting that characterizes his music.
Joining Zimmerman will be Waka Flocka Flame, one of the more recognizable figures of Southern hip-hop. Born Juaquin James Malphurs, the artist broke through in the late 2000s with songs including “O Let’s Do It” and “Hard in Da Paint.” His 2010 album Flockaveli established his trademark high-energy sound.
The Nov. 5 bill also includes Miller Holler, a rising country act, and Dee Jay Silver, a genre-blurring DJ and producer, giving the inaugural Live in the Boro show a mix of country, hip-hop and electronic sounds.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. at Murphy Center.
The event is part of a larger effort to expand the use of MTSU’s athletic facilities for entertainment. MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said the university’s planned renovations to Murphy Center and Floyd Stadium will make the venues more attractive for concerts and other events.
“We are pleased to take this next step in our goal of making Murphy Center and Floyd Stadium entertainment destinations that will benefit not only MTSU, but Murfreesboro and Rutherford County,” McPhee said.
Tickets start at $68 and are available through Ticketmaster.
