Drop a guitar pick on a U.S. map and it will likely land on a city, town or hamlet loaded with meaning for music lovers. Rock fans fly to Seattle just to pay tribute to Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain. Blues enthusiasts roll down the Mississippi Delta on Highway 61 searching for Robert Johnson's infamous crossroads or the Clarksdale hospital where Bessie Smith died. And no passionate jazz fan would come to Washington without genuflecting in front of 1212 T St. NW, one-time home to jazz great Duke Ellington.
And country music fans? They head for Nashville. Not because that's where all the great country artists came from – most didn't. No, Nashville is pilgrimage-worthy because it is the collision point of so much country music history and mythmaking, legend and lore. It is the city that gave the music its identity. By the middle of the 20th century, if you wanted to be a country music star, all of America's back roads and blue highways led to this middle Tennessee city on the Cumberland River.
A plaque commemorates the late Waylon Jennings at Nashville¿s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
(Mark Humphrey - AP Photo)
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And with the opening of the gleaming new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum last May, it's a good time to visit. The $37 million building is nothing like the country cousin it replaced. The old hall, built in 1967 on Nashville's Music Row, had grown grim and forlorn over the years – stuffed with mementos and memories but rarely visitors. As the building boom exploded in Nashville in the 1990s, the city's music aristocracy began the push to have the hall replaced.
Banjo virtuoso Earl Scruggs, who with his late partner Lester Flatt was inducted into the hall of fame in 1985, was among those who fretted a bit that country music's history wasn't receiving its proper due in its capital city.
"Whoever named Nashville 'Music City, USA' hit it right on the head, but there was no darn thing to show for it," he said during a walk-through the hall last summer. "But this new building, well, I'd say it sure is a fine, fine place."
Indeed it is. But it's also rather bizarre-looking. One corner rises up like the prow of a giant concrete battleship, and the rotunda looks like a cross between a grain silo and a prison guard tower. And yet, despite its many peculiarities, the building fits in nicely in downtown Nashville, which lately has developed a thing for odd-looking structures. The nearby 20,000-seat Gaylord Entertainment Center looks like a flying saucer that has crash-landed in the middle of downtown. And locals refer to the 26-story BellSouth building as the Batman Building, because of its surreal resemblance to the superhero's cowl.
The hall of fame's designers solicited ideas from all quarters for country concepts to incorporate into the building. In addition to the expected musical components, they received suggestions ranging from grain silos and Cadillac tail fins to pickup trucks and prisons. Looking at the final result, it's pretty clear that no idea was rejected.
But while the hall's adventurous modern design may not capture the rural essence and simplicity of country music, there is no quarrel with the magnificent job that has been done inside the walls. Even several hours isn't enough time to absorb the astonishing assortment of music, film, clothing, instruments and memorabilia.
At one of the hall's many multimedia stations, you can listen to a 1927 recording of DeFord Bailey, the Grand Ole Opry's first African American star (indeed its first bona fide solo star), singing "Pan American Blues," then watch a young and raw Johnny Cash perform "Folsom Prison Blues."
Thick glass casing protects Ted Daffan's original handwritten lyrics to "Born to Lose," as well as a copy of one-time San Quentin Penitentiary resident Merle Haggard's full pardon from then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan. Secretly, I was pleased that it got the same treatment as an original copy of the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson would approve, I'm sure.
Today's gangsta rappers, accustomed to the bling-bling burnishes on souped-up SUVs, would look with envy at Webb Pierce's 1962 Bonneville convertible on display here, with its silver-dollar-studded dashboard and pistols for door handles. Parked nearby, Elvis Presley's 1960 gold Cadillac limo, complete with a television and record player, looks as exciting as Grandma's Buick.
In the hall of fame rotunda, a stately, almost hallowed place, I wandered silently past plaques bearing such venerated names as Jimmie Rodgers, Chet Atkins, Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells and the Carter Family – names that are the equals of baseball's Ruth, DiMaggio and Robinson. A full century of history is marked by the names of the 101 individuals who have been inducted into the hall. The hushed tones are an unmistakable sign that visitors here revere their musical heroes. For tastes running from "Hee Haw" to highbrow, this building is a treasure.
Country Music Shrines
Because this is Nashville, the country music lessons don't end with the hall of fame. Two blocks away sits the Ryman Auditorium, the "Mother Church of Country Music," which hosted the Grand Ole Opry radio show from 1943-1974. It was built as a religious revival hall by Nashville riverboat captain Thomas Ryman in the 1890s, so maybe it's not surprising that so many visitors find their spiritual connection to country music within its walls.
Walking through the lovely hall today, it's hard to fathom that this small auditorium was responsible for introducing so many great country music names to the world. Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kitty Wells are just a few of the thousands who performed on the stage of what is now a National Historic Site. Even Elvis Presley delivered a "shocking" performance here in 1954. The Ryman is air-conditioned these days – it was refurbished in 1994 – but I closed my eyes and imagined an impossibly hot summer night in the early 1960s, the hall filled with fan-waving country music lovers trying to keep from melting while Patsy Cline performed onstage.
"I recorded a song called 'I Fall to Pieces,' and then I was in a car wreck," Cline reportedly told the Opry audience during one of her shows. "Now I'm really worried, because I have a brand-new record and it's called 'Crazy.'"
Since reopening eight years ago, the auditorium continues to present shows by top artists, country and otherwise. Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and James Brown have all made a point of performing here. In recent years, the Ryman is also where Nashville's music community comes to grieve. The hall has been the setting for memorial services and funerals for bluegrass great Bill Monroe, singer Tammy Wynette and, in March, outlaw singer/songwriter Waylon Jennings.
The Grand Ole Opry is another Nashville institution, even if it's no longer in Nashville. The world-famous radio and television show moved in 1974 to Opryland in the suburb of Music Valley, a 15-minute drive from downtown. Opryland itself is spectacularly charm-free – a stretch of restaurants, hotels, discount shopping outlets and, yikes, the nearby Music Valley Wax Museum of country stars. But taking in a performance at the Opry – a magical, musical variety show held every Friday and Saturday night – is still a must for any serious country music devotee.
The hokey red-barn frame behind the stage now has a giant video screen in it, but the show retains its old-time feel. Longtime Opry members like fun-lovin' Bill Carlisle deliver such cornball comedy lines as, "Year after next I'll be 94. And you know what, you can live that long too if you don't die." But it's the wonderful music provided by a parade of musicians – some well-known, others less so – that makes the Opry such a treasure. Favorites like Porter Wagoner, Stonewall Jackson and Little Jimmy Dickens rekindle country music memories, and new acts are always being introduced.
Part of what makes the show so appealing is the chance to see so many stars perform, even if they play only one or two songs. Singer Vince Gill, an Oklahoman who now lives in Nashville, treasures the Opry's nearby presence. "Having 20 or 30 country music stars in the same place every week means that the Opry has the potential to do something different," he says. "The fans enjoy seeing people singing with different people and playing with different people, something that's not the norm."
Clubbing in Nashville
While the hall of fame, the Ryman and the Grand Ole Opry represent country music's enshrined and historic side, Nashville still pulses with country music's present. Music Row, home to the industry's publicists and record companies, is the destination for a never-ending stream of hopeful country singers and musicians.
With the abundance of talented session players and not-yet-famous singers in Nashville, it's not hard to find them playing in clubs around town. I was lucky enough to catch the young Patsy Cline sound-alike Mandy Barnett belting out her own wonderful songs in the 3rd and Lindsley Bar & Grill, just off lower Broadway. Later, at a great club called 12th & Porter, I happened across the Old Crow Medicine Show, a fabulously rambunctious group of youngsters who play punked-up, old-time hill country music, leaving me certain that country music is as vibrant as ever.
Singer Chely Wright, who moved to Nashville from Missouri, is a fan of Station Inn, a wonderful, if not exactly pretty, bluegrass/country bar in south Nashville. "It represents the true character of Nashville," Wright says. "Great pickin', cool hang, and ya never know who's gonna drop in!" The Bluebird Cafe, with its unlikely strip mall location, is another place to find country songwriters practicing their craft. Or head to the Slow Bar in newly hip East Nashville, where singer Lucinda Williams, now a Nashville resident, has been known to hang out on occasion.
Just as it was 50 years ago, Nashville is still a destination for musicians who come to town hoping that talent, hard work and a stroke of luck will lead them to a career doing what they love. And for a fan visiting the city, rediscovering the music's history – and its future – feels like a stroke of luck, too.
Joe Heim is the music editor for washingtonpost.com's entertainment guide.
DETAILS: Nashville
GETTING THERE: Nashville is about 670 miles from Washington, about a 15-hour drive. Southwest flies from BWI to Nashville and is quoting round-trip fares of $212; US Airways flies from Reagan National for $238. Amtrak has no direct service from Washington to Nashville; you must take the train to Atlanta (14-hour trip) and switch to a bus (22 hours). Total cost: $300 round trip. On Greyhound, the fare is $79 round trip with seven-day advance purchase.
WHERE TO STAY: Recently refurbished, the grand old Hermitage Hotel (231 Sixth Ave. N., 615-244-3121, www.thehermitagehotel.com) is next to the state capitol and within walking distance of downtown points of interest. Its restaurant, the Capitol Grille, is considered one of Nashville's finest. Rates begin at $189 a night. Another good, centrally located place is the historic Union Station Hotel (1001 Broadway, 615-726-1001, www.wyndham.com), across from the new Frist Center. Rates range from $109 to $265.
WHERE TO EAT: Even country music stars have been known to stand in line (there's always a line) for breakfast at the Pancake Pantry (1796 21st Ave. S.), a longtime favorite. Breakfast runs about $10. Some locals swear the Loveless Motel and Cafe (8400 Hwy. 100) is a tourist trap, but it's hard to beat the fried chicken and biscuits, not to mention the name. Dinner runs under $20.
FOR COUNTRY MUSIC LOVERS:
• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, 222 Fifth Ave. S., 615-416-2001, www.halloffame.org. Admission is $14.95 for one day, $24.95 for two.
• Ryman Auditorium, 116 Fifth Ave. N., 615-889-3060, http://ryman.com. Recently designated a National Historic Landmark. Admission is $6.50.
• Grand Ole Opry, 2802 Opryland Dr., 615-889-3060, www.opry.com. Shows are held Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Admission starts at $25.50.
• Slow Bar, 1024 Woodland St., 615-262-4701, www.slowbar.com. This laid-back east Nashville bar is a magnet for hip country fans, with a pool table and great live music. But check the schedule first – it's not always country.
• Gray Line "Homes of the Stars" tour. See the homes of Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, Suzy Bogguss, Ronnie Milsap and others on a three-hour bus tour. Cost is $21; pickups at major hotels and Ryman Auditorium. Details: 615-883-5555, www.graylinenashville.com.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
• Fan Fair, June 13-16. Billed as the "World's Biggest Country Music Festival," Fan Fair is so named because the stars meet and greet their fans, obliging them with autographs and photographs in addition to performances. This year's schedule is not yet complete, but among those scheduled are Billy Ray Cyrus, Lee Ann Womack, Jo Dee Messina and Tammy Cochran. Four-day tickets are $145, $125 or $100; daily tickets are $17. Hotels book up early, so reserve well ahead. Details: 866-FAN-FAIR, www.fanfair.com/2002.
• Uncle Dave Macon Days, Murfreesboro, Tenn. (about a 30-minute drive southeast of Nashville), July 12-14. Honoring the mountain music of Uncle Dave Macon, this free festival includes a renowned banjo competition and old-time clogging events. Details: 800-716-7560.
SHOPPING: For fans looking for country music souvenirs, it's hard to beat Broadway. The street has a chain store or two, but there's also the Ernest Tubb record shop (417 Broadway) and the fabulous Hatch Show Print (316 Broadway), country music postermakers for generations and a Nashville institution now owned by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Or pick up a burger and a pair of boots at Robert's Western World (416 Broadway), a bootery and bar with pictures of country stars – and not quite stars – lining the walls.
INFORMATION: Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau, 800-657-6910 or 615-743-3000, www.nashvillecvb.com.
