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Lower Broadway

    One could argue that Music Row, with its recording studios and record label offices, is the heart of the country music scene in Nashville, but you could also argue that its soul is Lower Broadway. 

Lower Broadway

    Lower Broadway -- roughly from Fourth Aveneue to the banks of the Cumberland River -- is  home to honky-tonks that blast out country music all hours of the day and night.
    One of the most famous is Tootsies Orchid Lounge, which backs onto an alleyway also occupied by one side of the Ryman Auditorium, the "Mother Church" of country music. The Ryman was the full-time home of the Grand Ole Opry for many years and still hosts it from time to time, along with other musical performances.
    Another famous performance locale on Lower Broad is Robert's Western Wear, which sells, yes, Western wear, as well as being home to a stage up front. Several other bars on Lower Broad give tourists and Nashville locals alike the opportunity to dance, listen and drink a few beers if they choose.
    Performers -- some scruffy-looking and trying to break into the music business in Nashville -- often play on the street on Lower Broad and nearby Second Avenue with an open guitar case in front of them, trying to earn a few dollars.
    Hatch Show Print, which prints performance posters using handcarved blocks of type, is also located on Lower Broadway, along with Gruhn's Guitar, which features sells many collector-grade instruments.
    For those who like a more tidy approach to country music, the Country Music Hall of Fame is only a few blocks away on Demonbreun Street. The Ryman also welcomes visitors, who can take a self-guided tour of the building.

Ryman Auditorium

  Related Nashville-Middle TN topics on Civic Scope

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