Nashvilles Songwriter-Kultur, Writers Rounds & das Bluebird Café
Nashville's songwriting culture (the culture that makes Nashville unique among American music cities — the city that is home to approximately 100,000 musicians and songwriters, where the 'song' rather than the 'performer' is the primary commodity of the music industry, and where the 'writers round' (the format in which 3-4 songwriters sit in a circle and take turns performing their original songs, each accompanied only by an acoustic guitar) is the primary live music format) is embodied most perfectly in the Bluebird Café.
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Bluebird Cafe — Where Taylor Swift Was Discovered
The Bluebird Cafe (4104 Hillsboro Pike, Green Hills, 90-seat listening room, 1982) is the most important songwriter venue in Nashville — the 'in the round' format (4 songwriters sitting in a circle with acoustic guitars, performing songs they wrote for other artists) allows audiences to hear songs as they were written, not as they were recorded; Taylor Swift was signed to Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Records after playing the Bluebird in 2005; Keith Urban, Garth Brooks, and Kathy Mattea all played here before their breakthroughs; reservations open 6 weeks ahead.
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Music Row — The 19 Blocks That Run Country Music
Music Row (16th and 17th Avenues South, 2-block-wide corridor from Demonbreun to Grand Avenue) is the physical infrastructure of Nashville's music industry — 200+ recording studios (RCA Studio B where Elvis, Dolly Parton, and Willie Nelson recorded), publishing companies, labels, talent agencies, and music industry lawyers within a 19-block area; Sony Music Nashville, Universal Music Group Nashville, and Warner Nashville all have headquarters here; the Quonset Hut (RCA Studio B, 1957) is the single most historically important studio in country music.
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RCA Studio B — Where Country Music Was Born (Literally)
RCA Studio B (30 Music Square West, 1957, now operated by Country Music Hall of Fame as a museum, $12.50 guided tour) recorded 35,000+ songs by Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, Eddy Arnold, and the Everly Brothers — Elvis's Nashville recordings (1956–1971) here include 'Are You Lonesome Tonight', 'Suspicious Minds', and 'In the Ghetto'; the studio's 'Nashville Sound' (smooth strings and background vocals replacing the earlier honky-tonk sound) was developed here by producer Chet Atkins in the late 1950s.
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The Nashville Songwriters Association — 55,000 Members
The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI, 1 Music Circle South) is the world's largest non-profit music industry organization (55,000 members) — the 'Song of the Year' award (annual, the most prestigious non-genre-specific American songwriting award) and the annual Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame induction are the key events; the NSAI Songwriter Camps (3-day intensive writing retreats) are how aspiring songwriters gain access to the Music Row ecosystem; workshops are held weekly at the NSAI offices and are open to members.
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Listening Rooms vs Honky Tonks — Nashville's Two Music Worlds
Nashville divides into two parallel music cultures: the Honky Tonk Highway (Broadway between 1st and 5th Avenues, free live music from noon–3am, bands play for tips in venues like Tootsie's Orchid Lounge — which has been operating continuously since 1960 — and the newer Robert's Western World) and the listening rooms (Bluebird, the Station Inn for bluegrass, 3rd & Lindsley for Americana and roots) — the honky tonks serve bachelorette parties and tourists, while the listening rooms serve the industry professionals and serious music fans; both are authentic to Nashville.
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Country Music Hall of Fame — The Industry's Cathedral
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (222 Fifth Avenue South, 2001, 130,000 sq ft, $27 adult) is the largest popular music museum in the world — the rotating exhibition space (3 floors) draws on a collection of 4 million artifacts (original costumes, instruments, stage sets, manuscripts, photographs, and audio recordings); the permanent Hall of Fame rotunda (inductees since 1961) and Hatch Show Print (letterpress concert poster shop, working since 1879, located in the museum) are the two essential experiences; combined ticket with RCA Studio B tour available.