NASHVILLE NOW
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After you visit Nashville, you might go home and write a song. You might decide, before your plane lands, what your next restaurant opening or clothing line will be. Or you might just realize that you need to buy a house and move here.
It’s an extraordinary time in Nashville, and there’s plenty of inspiration to go around. The creativity that has long made “Music City” more than just a marketing slogan is now invigorating our rapidly expanding food, film and fashion industries. People are moving here every day, and jobs are following them. New restaurants, hotels, corporate offices and other kinds of developments are announced so often that it’s hard for many people to keep up.
When you visit, you’ll find a dynamic blend of historic sites, new attractions and unique neighborhoods spread across a city that easily mixes urban, suburban and rural settings. Check out President Andrew Jackson’s home, The Hermitage, and pay a visit to the Parthenon. Yes, we have a gorgeous, full-scale replica of the ancient Greek temple in the middle of our Centennial Park.
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Go visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Civil Rights Room at Nashville Public Library, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts and the Carl Van Vechten Gallery at Fisk University. Watch the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators as they take on rival teams in the NFL and NHL, or catch a baseball game at the Nashville Sounds’ new First Tennessee Park.
And listen to live music at one of 150 venues, including historic spots like the Station Inn, Bluebird Cafe and Ryman Auditorium, or between the skyline and the Cumberland River at the new Ascend Amphitheater.
The people here are a wonderful mix, too. New Americans, millennials, entrepreneurs, artists and others are changing the face of Nashville. I’m an example of that as the city’s first female mayor.
There’s never been a better time to come to Nashville. I hope we’ll see you soon.
—To reach Mayor Barry, call 615.862.6000 or email mayor@nashville.gov.[one_half padding=”0 0 15px 10px”]
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STORY
CULTURE
The must-sees in Nashville range from its bounty of music to historic architecture, wide-ranging art collections, an iconic print shop—and even a replica of the Parthenon.
Nashville is rightly known as Music City for its rich musical heritage and thriving popular music scene. But the city’s cultural offerings don’t stop there. From Andrew Jackson’s home to one of the finest symphonies in the country to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville is as exciting during the day as it is at night.
HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
HATCH SHOW PRINT
THE HERMITAGE HOTEL
NASHVILLE SYMPHONY
FRIST CENTER FOR THE VISUAL ARTS
PARTHENON
DINING
No matter what your choice of cuisine, Nashville restaurants offer fantastic cooking, authentic ambience and a warm welcome.
Nashville has long been known for Southern food—barbecue, biscuits and gravy, hot chicken—and you can find those dishes, both classic and updated, at restaurants throughout the city.
But in recent years Nashville has become home to a food scene that both embraces and transcends regional cuisine. For foodies who would think nothing of traveling to New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco to sample a hot new restaurant, Nashville has become an essential pilgrimage.
An entrepreneurial culture, relatively low rents and the city’s welcoming atmosphere make Nashville an appealing option for chefs who want to prepare world-class food but aren’t interested in the hypercompetitive, ultra-expensive restaurant scene of a Manhattan or San Francisco. In Nashville, chefs have the ability to hone their menus and skills over time, rather than confronting the possibility of failure because of one early, adversarial critic.
For visitors, all of this means an abundance of choices in cuisine, atmosphere and price. You (along with just 21 others a night) can have dinner at The Catbird Seat Seat, where executive chef Ryan Poli makes an inventive, multicourse meal based on fresh ingredients and the food he feels like making that day. Or try brisket meatballs with a side of Jerusalem artichokes at farm-to-table Butcher & Bee. For the thirsty, there are a multitude of craft distilleries and breweries, including Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery and Tennessee Brew Works.
This is incredible cuisine made with the passion and excitement of a food town that is really hitting its stride.
MAX AND BENJAMIN GOLDBERG | LE SEL
MANET CHAUHAN | CHAUHAN ALE & MASALA HOUSE
PHILIP KRAJECK | ROLF AND DAUGHTERS
KARL AND SARAH WORLEY | BISCUIT LOVE
PAT MARTIN | MARTIN’S BAR-B-QUE JOINT
MUSIC
You can hear music in Nashville in venues that are both iconic and intimate, from drinking craft beer at a honky tonk or rocking at the Ryman.
It’s hard to overstate the impact of music on the daily life of Nashville. It’s not just the dozens of honky tonks, where you can hear live music free every night of the week, or the abundance of clubs and arenas. It’s how that music shapes the way people live and work here. Just as Nashville bands and musicians—some of them famous, some of them not—collaborate on songwriting and performing, that spirit of partnership and common purpose pervades the life of the city.
Of course, Music City is best known for country music, dating back to Nashville radio station WSM’s landmark show, the Grand Ole Opry, the longest-running radio program in history. But Nashville’s music has long been as diverse as the city itself. Rhythm & Blues came to the fore in the 1960s, amplified by two popular Nashville-based TV shows, Night Train and The !!!! Beat. That same decade saw the recording of some of the greatest music in American history, from artists like The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley. And throughout there were the contributions of the largest community of songwriters in the world and Nashville’s famed session musicians, known as the Nashville Cats.
Today, Nashville’s country tradition lives on in popular singers like Sturgill Simpson, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, and others. But whether it’s those artists or Jack White, Kings of Leon and the Black Keys, Nashville’s music defies categorization. If it’s played in America, it’s made in Nashville.
HONKY TONKS
RYMAN AUDITORIUM
THE BLUEBIRD CAFE
SHOP
Whether you’re in the mood for fashion or food, Nashville stores carry distinctive goods with a Southern heritage and a local flavor.
Shopping in Nashville offers an incredible diversity of choices, from fashion to food, music and memorabilia—and many of them come from local stores inspired by the city’s rich history. At Cavanagh Baker’s design studio, you can find beautiful, statement-making women’s clothing; Ceri Hoover creates distinctive bags and shoes; Judith Bright crafts striking handmade jewelry. And at Two Son in East Nashville, you can find casual but stylish clothing for both men and women from designers you’ll wonder why you haven’t heard of before—including Two Son’s own line. If all that shopping makes you hungry, check out Olive & Sinclair, a local bean-to-bar chocolate maker that’s earned a national reputation. You’ll want to try concoctions like Bourbon Nib Brittle and the Buttermilk White Chocolate Bar. Or visit the Goo Goo Shop to try this classic Southern confection, first made in 1912.