Meet Javier Solis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Javier Solis.

Hi Javier, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
In 1998, I moved to Nashville from San Antonio, TX with my wife and 2 kids. The goal was to pursue music and raise our family. As a full-time percussionist, often traveling, timing has been an important part of my family’s life.

Our favorite moments together have always consisted of drinking coffee, talking about or listening to music, and most likely eating home-cooked Tex-Amex meals. The idea of one day running a cafe encapsulating those themes as a family business sounded like a cool idea, and in 2018, our family made it happen.

While it has definitely been cool, it has also been intense, scary, rewarding, and one of the hardest things we’ve done. We are proud.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Getting started was definitely not smooth. There were a lot of hold-ups with building codes that delayed our opening, as well as a lack of capital. We managed the best way we could and did a lot of things inside the shop.

The pandemic also threw us for a loop! Although we were nervous about what was to come, the support from our community continued to grow and encourage us.

We’ve been impressed with Tempo, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a kid, I always wanted to be a musician. I used to use my mom’s pots and pans as drums. As a pastor’s kid, I grew up playing drums in church, and that’s how I met my wife, Yvonne. A pastor’s kid herself, she grew up singing at churches in the same city. We fell in love, got married, and had two kids.

And at age 23 I finally got a call for a gig-based out of Nashville, Tn. That’s when our small family moved and it was the best thing we could have done for our family. I honed in my craft, and focus my sound on what I would call “pocket percussion”.

Nashville has blessed me with a lot of session work and touring opportunities because that style is hard to come by here. I’m proud to be able to work as a full-time musician for all these years and set up my family to be able to start a project like Tempo. My family loves coffee and owning a coffee shop always sounded like fun.

Though Nashville is a prime location for specialty coffee, Yvonne had the idea to serve TexMex tacos as well. Nashville is growing in diversity, but there isn’t much TexMex food represented here, and we were excited to bring it to the city! Focusing on a minimal food and coffee menu really made us able to perfect the items we serve.

Coffee and tacos have been a huge staple in our family and we love that we’ve been able to carry that on for our community as well! Adding the element of events at Tempo was also a no-brainer because our love for music runs deep!

We have put so much work into Tempo and providing a safe space for anyone to come in and share home-cooked meals/drink a satisfying cup of coffee. We couldn’t be more proud.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
All of my favorite childhood memories consist of playing music alongside my siblings. They are all immensely talented as well. I have them to thank for igniting my love for music.

Contact Info:

• Email: Info@temponashville.com
• Website: www.temponashville.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/temponashville?utm_medium=copy_link
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/tempo.nashville/

Image Credits
Zylah Solis, Mika Matin, and Daniel Chaney