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My Music City Experience

“Welcome to Music City, folks,” the pilot said as we touched down at the Nashville International Airport. Music City. I’d heard Nashville called that for years, but having never been I didn’t quite understand why. “Every city has music, why does Nashville claim to be the ‘Music City’?” I wondered to myself as I headed down the terminal to baggage claim. As if the universe was answering my question I suddenly heard the sound of a steel guitar. “That’s nice that they play music over the loudspeakers” I again thought to myself. But wait, this wasn’t over the loudspeakers. Right there in one of the airport restaurants was a full band belting out a tune like they were singing to a packed out arena. The funny thing was that they were pretty good. “There must be some major talent in this town if these guys are pulling afternoon gigs out at the airport,” I thought. As if to agree with me, I heard Vince Gill’s voice on the loudspeaker welcoming me to Music City.

I decided I was going to get to the bottom of the whole ‘Music City’ nickname and who better to start with than my cab driver. “So why is Nashville called Music City?” I asked him as I noticed his music note air freshener. “It is because of all the live music you can find here,” he explained. “You can find just about any kind of music any night of the week.” On the way to the hotel he pointed out all of the live music venue signs shaped like big guitar picks. “Some of the venues are a little hidden so to find all of the live music around here just follow the signs.”

As the bellboy at my hotel helped me with my bags I noticed his nametag said Neal: Rolling Stones. He explained that everyone puts their favorite band or singer on their nametags. He seemed like the perfect next victim in my quest for answers. “So Neal, why is Nashville called Music City?” I asked. He thought for a moment and replied “It is because there are so many musicians and songwriters who live here.” He explained to me that that is what brought him here, that he was in a rock band and thought this was the best place for him to be. “There are great recording studios, tons of venues, and with so many musicians in one place there is a creative vibe that I just haven’t experienced anywhere else.” Then, right on cue, he pulled out a flyer and told me his band was playing at Mercy Lounge tomorrow night, and I should come check it out.

I woke up my first morning in Music City to a phone call from Amy Grant, well her prerecorded voice was my wake up call, but I still thought that was pretty cool. I decided it was time to start exploring. I started downtown and hit the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, the Ryman Auditorium, the Musicians Hall of Fame and ambled through the Music City Walk of Fame stars located along Music Mile. Seeing the stars of people like Little Richard, Elvis and Jimi Hendrix next to artists like Martina McBride, Hank Williams Sr., and Emmylou Harris reminded me what people had been telling me before my trip- “there’s country music and a whole lot more in Nashville.”

As I walked along I came across something else I wasn’t expecting to see in Nashville, a beautiful, state-of-the-art symphony center. The Schermerhorn Symphony Center had such grandeur it looked like it belonged in Europe, and I later learned that it was inspired by many of Europe’s great concert halls. I also learned that the building, which was constructed in 2006, is home to the GRAMMY® Award-winning Nashville Symphony who is also one of the most active recording orchestras in the country. Yet another reason Music City is Music City!

It was my somewhat secret obsession with Elvis that got me to take the tour of Historic RCA Studio B, a popular recording studio in the 1960s that helped establish Nashville as an international recording center, and also where Elvis recorded over 250 songs. After the tour I decided to get a professional answer to my question so I asked the tour guide, “Why is Nashville called Music City?” She said rumor had it the nickname goes all the way back to 1873 when the world famous Fisk Jubilee singers sang to Queen Victoria in England, and upon hearing their voices proclaimed “they must come from Music City.” Then, in the 1950s a local radio DJ coined the term and it just stuck. However,” she said, “the reason it has stuck all these years is because the city’s music scene continues to grow and diversify. It’s a perfect mix of the new and the old.” I also learned from her that Nashville is home to several music associations including Americana, Bluegrass, Gospel, Barbershop Quartet and Country as well as NSAI, the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

As my visit went on I was continually amazed by the common theme of music throughout the city. Don’t get me wrong, there is more than just music in Nashville. However, it was as if music was interwoven into everything from their art to their culture. For example, at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts there was music in the Grand Lobby, and on my visit to Belle Meade Plantation I enjoyed jazz music on the lawn. Even the Nashville Visitor Information Center had live music.

One of the highlights of my trip happened in a quaint little coffee shop in Hillsboro Village located near Vanderbilt University. I was sipping on my milkbone latte at the pet-loving coffee shop Fido and noticed one of my all time favorite musicians sitting not far from me. Why wasn’t anybody else freaking out, asking for his autograph, or in the very least staring at him like me? I decided I couldn’t be the lone crazed fan among all the cool, coffee shop, musiciany types so I played it cool. Later I was telling Neal the bellboy about it and he explained to me that it is pretty common to see famous musicians around town. People in Nashville leave them alone and that’s part of what they love about the city. Artists and musicians can roam around unbothered.

I spent my last night in town at the famous Bluebird Cafe. A friend had told me it was a must-see while in town. The gist of the Bluebird is that three or four songwriters would play “in the round” taking turns singing and telling stories about songs they have written. I drove up and was surprised by how small and unassuming the place was. I sat down in the intimate little restaurant/bar and checked out the lineup for the night. It was three men and a woman, none of whose names I had ever heard before. “Oh well,” I thought “I don’t know any of these people, but I’m sure it will be nice anyway.” How wrong I was! I may not have known their names but I certainly knew their songs. They were playing some of the biggest country hits of all times. I was blown away. By the time the woman, Victoria Shaw, got around to singing “The River,” recorded by Garth Brooks, I was in tears.

As all great trips do, this one had come to an end. As I passed a singer playing at the airport’s lobby I smiled to myself as I thought of the memories I had made since passing that same spot a few days earlier. And as I heard Vince Gill’s voice overhead, I realized I would never again ask the question “Why is Nashville called Music City?”