Our move from Northern California to middle Tennessee took two months from conception to completion. God opened doors so fast, we had to run to keep up. This is one reason I know we were meant to be here. However, I was unaware of the Lord’s plans when, months before, I discovered one of my favorite music groups would be playing in Wheaton, California in the fall. Never one for spontaneity, I slipped out of character long enough to purchase tickets for Chris and me. Little did I know when the time arrived to attend that concert, we’d be living out of state.
As we prepared to fly back to California, a young friend asked what we planned to do on our trip?
“We have tickets to see Rascal Flats,” I told him.
He barked out a laugh. “You’re goin’ all the way to California to see them? Don’t you know, they practically live in your neighborhood?”
“I didn’t know that, although I figured they were close by. Nashville is the Country Music Capitol of the World, after all.”
He shook his head. “Nah. It’s the Music Capital of the World. All music. Not just country.”
Although I learned this was true, we’re teeming with country music stars in our neck of the woods. We live an hour south of Nashville, where music happens 24/7. Walk down Broadway and you’ll hear musical talent booming from bar after bar on the street. We have the Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ol’ Opry. Alan Jackson lives nearby, as does Dolly Parton and Keith Urban, just to name a few. Reba’s been spotted in the original Puckett’s in Leiper’s Fork by a friend, which is where Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman have their horse ranch. If Christian music is your thing (and it certainly is mine) then we have Toby Mac, Matthew West, and Zach Williams. Oh, and a friend of ours was siting in his dentist’s waiting room when Carrie Underwood walked in for her appointment.
How in the world did Nashville, Tennessee come to be called Music City?
Believe it or not, it all started with a hymnal—Western Harmony—published out of Nashville in 1824. I love that! God does work in wondrous ways, doesn’t He? Apparently, the population for that little hymnal spread in a way we’d classify as “viral” today, and it set the scene for the future of Nashville’s musical significance.
In the late 1800s, what is now known as the Ryman Auditorium began to draw people. Because of its amazing acoustics and its location, it became one of the country’s most popular auditoriums. In fact, it became known as the Carnegie Hall of the South. It didn’t hurt its popularity when the radio station WSM chose the Ryman for its Grand Ole Opry radio program in 1925 which cemented Nashville’s position of national significance. It is by far the oldest live radio show in existence. The Ryman Auditorium is an amazing building with a rich history of musical talents and tales.
In 1974, the broadcast was moved to the Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland. Chris and I have attended shows there on numerous occasions. There is something special about being the live audience for a radio program—including the announcer standing on the stage with his smooth radio-voice introducing the performers and reading the advertisements for sponsors. It’s like going back in time.
However, it wasn’t until 1950 when Nashville was officially dubbed Music City USA by WSM’s then announcer David Cobb. The name stuck. You might assume this moniker relates to only country music, but you’d be wrong. Nashville has always had a diverse musical culture—jazz, bluegrass, country, R&B, rock, and gospel.
This evolution has occurred because the musicians who choose to come to Nashville to further their careers bring along their own local and cultural traditions, and it started in the 1700s with fiddle tunes and buck dancing—a folksy tap or soft-shoe popular in the southern states during the slave era. Maybe you’ve heard of buck dancing before, but it was a new term to me, so I thought I’d pass on that bit of information.
Here is a cool piece of trivia that I learned while researching Nashville’s music popularity. Davy Crockett (who I wrote about in an earlier post) was the first celebrity to show up in Nashville, playing his fiddle and telling colorful stories.
There is a lot more to Music City than music, but in order to truly appreciate it, you’d have to see it for yourself.
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Comments 1
I aimed for Nashville but God had other plans bringing me to East Tennessee. Although I love it here my heart still has a place for Nashville.