The Index of all 30 posts from day 1 of our #TeslaRoadTripUSA is HERE.
Started our day with a 90 minute tour of tourist Nashville in a golf buggy with a local guide. A grey morning with Tornado warning imminent. Almost cancelled our driver as the weather warning advised against going out. But we didn’t.
We learned some from our local driver, who did appear to be making stuff up.
In 2005 Nashville government contrived a 30 year plan. To rebrand it as Music City. Exploiting the Country music traditions. The Grand Ole Opry. The Ryman Auditorium. The recording studios where the legends like Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson worked and recorded classics of country.
Commercial religious music ‘Christian Country’ was born here.
It took Nashville’s planners just ten years to see success after branding the area with ‘Music City’ names on every street. By 2015 Nashville was booming. Bachelorette parties abandoned Vegas for Nashville. There was live music on every corner. Alcohol. Good times. The biggest Country Music stars in the world all around. Cowboy boot shops. Hats galore. Gibson guitars.
Nashville’s contribution to raising the popularity of Christian music worldwide cannot be underestimated.
Off we went to see the Music Row, where it happened, passing many landmarks along the way. This is the capitol building. Viewed in a light drizzle. The extreme weather comes later in the day.
As is the case wherever we go in the Bible Belt, religious imagery dominates the experience. Often, you will see more churches than residential buildings.
Our tour took us down Music Row. The heart of Nashville but not the largest revenue earner for the city. That would be the Medical Insurance business. Although Nashville is known for music and food to the outside world, it is home to many thriving industries.
More than 70,000 jobs in the area are in hospitality work due to Nashville's status as a popular vacation city. In just 2019, the city saw more than 16 million visitors. Two of the city's largest tourist attractions are the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center and the Music City Center.
Perhaps surprisingly, none of the largest employers in the area are related to the music or food scene. Instead, Vanderbilt University and Medical center is the largest employer with nearly 25,000 people employed. Vanderbilt was founded in 1873 and is one of the largest private educational institutions in the world. It has ten schools, all located on the campus in Nashville.
The next largest employer in Nashville is the government. More than 12,000 people are employed in various positions by the federal government, and more than 17,000 people are employed by the Tennessee State Government. Another 18,820 people are employed in various positions with the county and city governments and public schools.
Nashville has experienced a steady population growth for years, while many other US communities suffered through declines. In 2018, the city's population was nearly 700,000 people, with a metro area of about two million people.
Nashville is the 21st most populous city in the United States, and the fourth most populous city in the southeastern U.S. Located on the Cumberland River, the city is the center of the Nashville metropolitan area, and is one of the fastest growing in the nation.
Named for Francis Nash, a general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, the city was founded in 1779 when this territory was still considered part of North Carolina. The city grew quickly due to its strategic location as a port on the Cumberland River and, in the 19th century, a railroad center.
Nashville as part of Tennessee seceded during the American Civil War; in 1862 it was the first state capital in the Confederacy to be taken by Union forces. It was occupied through the war. Not much remains of that distant past. Rebranding Music City has more commercial appeal.
We passed the BMI building, that collects performance royalties for songwriters. On Broadway we saw Eric Church’s venue. Many Christian Country stars who owe their fortunes to Music Row invest in venues on Broadway. Meanwhile in Music City, live musicians in Nashville generally work for free. Depending on tips.
This is Columbia Records Studio A.
On Feb. 17-18, 1969, Bob Dylan settled in with Johnny Cash and his band for two days of loose sessions at CBS Studios in Nashville which ultimately produced just one released track, “Girl from the North Country” on “Nashville Skyline.”
Additional material from these sessions was released in 2019 via Dylan’s “Travelin’ Thru” Bootleg Series Vol. 15: 1967-1969 (with another three tracks devoted to Dylan’s three-song appearance on the debut June 7, 1969 episode of Cash’s ABC variety show).
Mike Curb is a Christian Music legend here.
In 1963 at the age of 18, Curb formed Sidewalk Records and helped launch the careers of multiple West Coast rock and roll artists. In 1969, Curb signed Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman, launching commercial Gospel music. Introducing Jesus to a whole new market of music listeners.
Curb Records has achieved 435 No. 1 records, garnered over 1,500 Top 10 records, and charted over 4,500 total records. With more than a half century in operation, the leading independent music company has been influential in the careers of undeniable hitmakers and rising stars alike, including Tim McGraw, Hank Williams, Jr., Rodney Atkins, Lee Brice, LeAnn Rimes, The Judds, Dylan Scott, Sawyer Brown, FOR KING + COUNTRY, Wyn Starks, Wynonna, Lyle Lovett, Big Daddy Weave, Natalie Grant, Jo Dee Messina, Hannah Ellis, Mo Pitney, Hal Ketchum, and Desert Rose Band, among many others.
Mike Curb is a staunch republican Christian.
Mike Curb composed "Burning Bridges" for Clint Eastwood's Kelly's Heroes. His band The Mike Curb Congregation had many hits. I remember Softly whispering I love you from when I was a kid, with horror.
I didn’t know what it was, but whenever I heard that song on the radio it chilled me to the bone. It may have been the first song that I learned to switch off whenever it came on.
RCA Studio B. One of the worlds most famous studios. Where Dolly Parton recorded ‘Jolene’ and ‘I will always love you’ in 1973.
The Wiki page has many details. RCA Studio B became a cradle of the Nashville Sound in the late 1950s and early 1960s with hits including Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me,” the Browns’ “The Three Bells,” and Jim Reeves’s “He’ll Have to Go.” A sophisticated style typified by background vocals and strings, the Nashville Sound won new audiences for country music and enlarged Nashville’s international reputation as a recording center.
Studio B hitmakers also have included Bobby Bare, Floyd Cramer, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Dottie West, as well as pop trumpet player Al Hirt, gospel singers the Blackwood Brothers, bluegrass pioneer Lester Flatt, and R&B legend Fats Domino.
In addition to recording at the studio for many years, The Country gentleman Chet Atkins managed RCA’s Nashville operation and produced hundreds of hits there between 1957 and 1973.
Studio B has witnessed numerous recording innovations, including new reverb techniques and the development of the “Nashville number system.” A musician’s shorthand for notating a song’s chord structure, this system facilitates the creation of individual parts while retaining the integrity of the song and performance.
McGhee entertainment is the right wing christian side. Representing the success of Zionist Gene Simmonds KISS, and Racist Religious Republican Ted Nugent, who I generally refer to as Turd Nugget for obvious reasons.
Ocean Way Studios is housed in a 100-year-old Gothic revival grey stone church. A main room, Studio A, provides an exceptional acoustical space in the rich visual beauty of a church sanctuary. Studio B, known for being tight and detailed, is among the best tracking rooms in Music Row. Studio C is a flexible room for overdubbing, editing and mixing.
Clients include: George Strait, Matchbox Twenty, Harry Connick Jr., Faith Hill, The Mavericks, Willie Nelson, Train, Gretchen Wilson, Kenny Chesney, Three Doors Down, Sheryl Crow, Steve Martin, and Paul Simon. Their client list is impressive.
Taylor Swift started her lucrative career in Nashville. She was pictured at this wall that may or may not have been a factor in her popular success.
The label that launched her was part owned by her father. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and became a joint venture between Borchetta and country singer Toby Keith.
The purchase of Big Machine Records by Scooter Braun's company, Ithaca Holdings, in 2019 resulted in a highly publicized dispute and controversy with American Taylor Swift regarding the ownership of the masters to her albums for the label. Soon after, Big Machine released Swift's first ever recording, the single "Tim McGraw" and her debut album Taylor Swift.
Keith dropped his affiliation with the label in 2006, but he was reported as an equity holder in November 2014, alongside the Swift family and Borchetta (the latter reportedly owning 60 percent of the company at the time). In October 2012, Borchetta told Rolling Stone magazine: "[Taylor Swift's father] Scott Swift owns three percent of Big Machine. In February 2010, Swift won four Grammys including Album of the Year (Fearless), Best Country Album (Fearless), Best Country Song ("White Horse"), and Best Female Country Vocal Performance ("White Horse") becoming the first Big Machine artist to win a Grammy Award. B
ig Machines office is on Music row. I took a photo of it when the guide pointed it out. But wasn’t able to locate it while I was compiling this page which may be just as well.
Warner Music Nashville.
This is a famous location on 2nd Ave.
On December 25, 2020, Anthony Quinn Warner detonated his recreational vehicle (RV) bomb in downtown Nashville, killing himself, injuring eight people and damaging dozens of buildings in the surrounding area.
This intersection is where Anthony, 63, did the deed. The buildings there still show the damage.
Why did he do it? Anthony was arrested for smoking weed. He served two years' probation for felony marijuana possession in 1978. That may have made him angry with the system. Who knows. It’s a weird behavior by a 63 year old. “I think I’ll blow myself up for Christmas.”
Here are more shots from downtown Music row heading back to our hotel.
Then we headed out to Cheekwood, a 55-acre historic estate on the western edge of Nashville that houses the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. Formerly the residence of Nashville's Cheek family, the 30,000-square-foot Georgian-style mansion was opened as a botanical garden and art museum in 1960.
This seemed to me like some white supremacy winning statement. Many roads there are named after Robert E Lee. Many mansions in that area. Belle Meade. Plantation with slave quarters, now rebranded as winery with a tour for $30.
The gardens are splendid. Very similar to gardens in Wisley, Kew and Hampton Court, although not nearly as well manicured.
The property is much influenced by the slave owner period of Georgian architecture in the England that inspired Cheekwood and provided much of the interior furnishings.
Then we drove to Radnor lake to meet Charlie and Nikki Morgan. A splendid three mile hike in Tennessee nature with bald eagles and green water.
Finally met Nikki Morgan. We then bumped into Velvet, the 10 year old black Schnauzer who ran up to me to tell me she knew Wallace. Fantastic how she wouldn’t stop saying hello to me. The owner remarked on how unusual that was. So nice to meet a beautiful schnauzer.
And then after a last dinner in Nashville, goodbye to Charlie and onto the next leg. Tomorrow St Louis.
St Louis. Located near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. Population over 300,000.
The return leg.