Nashville

I recently had the chance to go to Nashville, TN to help work the 2011 Summer National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show. It had been years since I'd been to Nashville, and when I'd been there in the past it was just an in-and-out situation. I never had a chance to get to know the city, so on this trip I had some time to do a little sight-seeing and to have some good meals while I was in town.

Nashville, of course, is Music City U.S.A. and working the NAMM show, which is primarily geared toward professional music people, I had the chance to meet some music industry people, to learn more about the business side of what goes on in Nashville, and get some inside stories of some personalities who live and work in the Nashville area.

The trip to Nashville almost ended as soon as I got there. As we sat down for dinner after I landed in Nashville, my wife called to tell me that the blower motor on our ancient furnace (over 25 years old) had gone out. We knew we were living on borrowed time when it came to our furnace and air conditioner (which also was over 20 years old) and it just had to go out during the hottest day of the summer with heat indexes in the Quad Cities well into the 110's. Long story short, my wife was able to coordinate getting quotes, getting financing, and setting up the installation schedule on her own so I was able to stay in Nashville for the duration of my scheduled trip. I have to say that I was extremely proud of her for keeping it together during a stressful time. I came about *this* close to having to get back to help out, but she pulled through with flying colors.

The Summer NAMM show was held at the Nashville Convention Center, right in the heart of downtown Nashville (see map). After set up on Wednesday, my colleague Ian and I had some time to drive around the area and take a look at a few things in Nashville. As we walked out of the east doors of the convention center, I looked over and saw the iconic Ryman Auditorium, home of the weekly broadcasts of the "Grand Ole Opry" from 1943 to 1974. This is truly a mecca for country music fans and having some sense of history when it comes to music I was kind of like, "Wow! The Ryman! I didn't know it was right there!"

The building opened in 1892 and was originally known as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, built by Nashville entrepreneur Thomas Ryman. Ryman, a riverboat captain who also owned saloons in and around Nashville, built the building for influential evangelist/revivalist Samuel Porter Jones. It was said that Ryman went to heckle Jones at a revival meeting in 1885, but instead got "saved" that day. To show his appreciation to Jones, Ryman designed and built the huge church. After Ryman died in 1904, they changed the name to the Ryman Auditorium.

In addition to the weekly broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry, the stage at the Ryman Auditorium also hosted the Johnny Cash Show from 1969 to 1971. Cash's television program was groundbreaking in that it featured a diverse collection of musicians that crossed the boundaries of rock, folk, bluegrass, jazz and country music. As an early teen, the Johnny Cash Show from the Ryman opened my eyes to a wide array of music. Some of the musicians and bands that played on Cash's show from the Ryman included Derek and the Dominoes (Eric Clapton), Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong, James Brown, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jose Feliciano, Ray Charles and about any "name" country music performer during that period. And that was just in the FIRST SEASON! If you're a true music fan, I suggest you run out and buy "The Best of the Johnny Cash Show" on DVD. It has some amazing performances on it. .

After the Gaylord Entertainment Corporation moved the Grand Ole Opry to its present day location east of downtown Nashville in 1974, the Ryman was used sporadically and fell into a state of disrepair and neglect. It wasn't until nearly 20 years later that a series of concerts by Emmy Lou Harris spurred an interest in renovating the 100 year old building. After a full renovation, the Ryman reopened in 1994 as a music venue and museum. The original pews of the Union Gospel Tabernacle are still used by people who watch shows at the small venue.

Driving out south toward Brentwood and Franklin, part of the high dollar housing area of Nashville, we were struck at how many large homes were for sale. My colleague, Ian, who travels to Nashville as part of his territory, told me how the city has hit hard economic times in all sectors. A lot of people think of Nashville as "Music City", but it's actually health care that makes up the largest industry in town. Over 250 health care related companies are located in and around Nashville. Nissan has a large plant in suburban Smyrna, and Vanderbilt University (pictured right) is the largest employer in the area with over 24,000 people working for both the school and the medical facility. With all that thriving business going on, you'd think the city would be in fine shape. But like any other place in America, the economic downturn of 2008/09 hurt Nashville, probably more than others. Over the past year, the unemployment rate in Metro Nashville has hovered between 8.5 and 9.0 percent. And with more people moving in due to Nashville's relative low cost of living, it puts more pressure on the private and public sectors to create more jobs in the area.

After touring parts of Franklin and Brentwood as Ian showed me where a handful of his dealers used to be before they went out of business, we made our way over toward Opryland, the hotel/entertainment and former theme park complex built by the Gaylord Corporation to showcase the Grand Ole Opry (see map). The Opryland USA theme park opened in 1975 and was a thriving entity until the mid 90's when it became apparent that it was running out of room to expand and to keep up with other theme parks throughout the Southeast. Limited on space because of its geography and the fact that it was a seasonal theme park, Gaylord Entertainment decided to shutter the park in 1997 when it determined that it needed the land to expand the Opryland Resort and Convention Center complex. After the turn of the century, Opry Mills, a single level mall with over 200 stores, opened on the spot of Opryland USA.

In 2010, a devastating flood hit Nashville after a 13 inch rainfall over a 48 hour period. The Opryland Resort and Convention Center is located right next to the Cumberland River which rose to over 12 feet above flood stage, inundating the Opryland complex and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of guests that particular weekend. Parts of the Opryland hotel were under 10 feet of water for a long period of time. The flood forced the relocation of the Grand Ole Opry back to the Ryman Auditorium for a period of time. The hotel complex eventually reopened after six months of renovation and clean up, but plans to make Opryland the largest hotel/convention center outside of Las Vegas were put on indefinite hold due to the economic downturn and the subsequent flood.

Opry Mills is still trying to get back on its feet well over a year past the flood. Parts of the complex also saw flood waters as deep as 10 feet and the whole mall had to basically be environmentally remediated before construction could begin. In September of 2010, work completely stopped on much of the mall as insurance claim disputes ended up in court. Litigation drug out for months and it pushed back Opry Mills projected reopening from August of this year to some time in 2012. In the meantime, Bass Pro Shops opened a new store on the site that is seperate from the mall, itself. And many of the stores that were once in Opry Mills have either relocated temporarily - or in some cases, permanently - to other areas of Nashville.

One place that I wanted to see while in Nashville was the Parthenon - a whole replica of the Greek Parthenon that was built on the grounds of Centennial Park for the 1897 Centennial Exposition (see map). As the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece, once did, this Parthenon houses a huge statue of the goddess Athena. The Parthenon in Nashville also serves as the city's art museum with a number of paintings and sculptures on display inside.

We walked around the building and found the main entrance on the east side and we contemplated going in to look around. However, it was 4:20 in the afternoon and the museum closed at 4:30. We saved a few bucks, but just seeing the Parthenon up close was kind of cool. Large halogen flood lamps were positioned out from the corners of the building and it would have been neat to see it lit up at night, but we never made it back.

Ian also drove me down Music Square West, home of the world famous Music Row of publishing and production houses and recording studios. Nearly every major record label has an office and studio in the Music Row area (see map). There are also a number of recording studios including the famous RCA Studio B that recorded the likes of Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Jim Reeves. The studio is now leased out to the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum for $1.00 a year and tours are available.

Right next to the Studio B museum is Starstruck Entertainment, the complex that houses Reba McEntire's offices and recording studio (pictured left). The recording studio at Starstruck is one of the most advanced in all of Nashville and a number of big name entertainers have recorded there.

As we were headed back to the hotel, Ian remarked, "You know, if someone put a gun to my head and said, 'You've got to move to Nashville', I could probably do it." Ian lives in Toronto, but simply loves the trees and rolling hills found all throughout Central Tennessee. We took a drive outside the city on Sunday before we both flew home and we came upon a vista that had small tree-covered mountains and a vast green valley before us, he said, "This is what I mean. I think this is just gorgeous."

This may have been my only trip to Nashville for business, but I wouldn't mind coming back for a visit at some point just to be able to check out more of the city. And, quite actually, I wouldn't mind going through the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum if I make it back. While country music isn't what I listen to, I still have enough sense of history to pay homage to the pioneers of the musical genre which is the most popular form of music in America today. Maybe one of these days...