From here on down Broadway, we call this Honky Tonk Row so there are a lot of country bars. Legends Corner is one of the most popular country bars in Nashville. A lot of Nashville establishments were popularized because of backdoors that let patrons and musicians get a drink.įrom here cross the street diagonally (in Nashville many of the intersections have diagonal crosswalks!) to the mural on the side of Legends Corner) Tennessee passed laws in 1908 that effectively created Prohibition in the state years before the federal government and it wasn't until the 1960s that you could get a cocktail with dinner. Particularly the kind that came from bootlegging - moonshine and whiskey. Tootsie's acted as the Ryman's unofficial green room where musical acts would sneak in the back door of the bar to play something new or grab a beer, something you couldn't do at the Ryman.Īs much as music has a unique history here in Nashville, so does liquor. At the end of the year, musicians who had made it would pay the IOUs so Tootsie would not lose the money. Tootsie was known to slip cash into the pockets of struggling artists or accept IOUs at the bar. One story that embodies the southern hospitality and family of country music. Tootsie was where many people got their start - including Willie Nelson who got his first songwriting gig after singing here. When the painter accidentally painted the building this color of purple - orchid - it became the bar's signature and stuck. It was originally a bar called "Moms" when Hattie Louise Bess bought it in the 1960s. You can find any genre being performed, recorded and played here.īut let's be honest, country music is what Nashville is known for and our next stop is going to introduce you to some of our city's favorites.įrom here you can see the start of Honky Tonk Highway, including one of its famous bars. Music is a part of the city's soul but it isn't only country music. After singing for the Queen of England she remarked: "you must be from Music City." This nickname was cemented in the 1950s by a radio announcer at WSM (home of the Grand Ole Opry). No, seriously.įisk University, a historically black university, was founded in 1866 just after the end of the American Civil War, as a school for freedmen.Īs part of a way to raise funds, the Fisk Jubilee Singers a capella group toured around the country and Europe. But this isn't how the nickname got started. Live music is played most of the day and night somewhere in the city. Depending on what time of day you are standing at this corner, you may be able to see why the name has stuck. These are two facts that most people know about the city already.īut did you know that there is a huge printing industry here? Or that Maxwell Coffee is from Nashville? We'll talk about this and more on our tour. Nashville is the capital of Tennessee and of country music. We will talk about the history of Nashville at a later stop and how it got started, but let's use this stop to talk about what Nashville is today. We end the tour not far from here so you can always come back. You can go inside to grab a bottle of water or use the restrooms before we get started, but we're about to venture on a 2-mile walk together so maybe hold off on the souvenir shopping. We begin our tour of Nashville here at the Visitor Center. The whole tour takes about 2 hours - that is if you don't step inside any of the museums or restaurants. Join us for a walk through downtown Nashville as we cover the history of this town from its beginnings as Fort Nashborough through the Civil War, Civil Rights, Country Music to today.
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