By Steve Bergsman
Hidden Nashville is an odd way to begin a story about a city that everyone thinks they know everything about. It's also a little misleading because everything I'm going to talk about is neither hidden nor inaccessible.
Indeed, everything I'm going to mention is "hidden" in plain sight. It's just that these things get short shrift when visitors blow into Nashville to storm the bastions of country music — and I don't blame them. If you have just a couple of days in Nashville, you're going to do the Country Music Hall of Fame, Whiskey Row, Ryman Auditorium and a night at the Grand Ole Opry. That would be my schedule — and in fact has been since I've been a frequent visitor to Nashville.
But here are some other options to consider.
The greatest movie about Nashville is the 1975 Robert Altman film, "Nashville." If you haven't seen it, the climactic scene takes place at the Parthenon, the world's only full-size reproduction of the Greek Parthenon. This is a huge structure first constructed in 1897 and a first-tier tourist stop. People like to get their picture taken before America's great representation of ancient Greece. However, here's what people don't know. Inside the building is a small, excellent museum of American painting as well as what is probably the most unusual thing in all of Nashville — a huge stature of Athena. It is, in fact, the largest statue inside a building in North America.
The sculptor of this giant Athena is a local, Alan LeQuire, who has a fantastic gallery in town, the eponymous Alan LeQuire Gallery, which is also a workshop. Having viewed his Athena statue, I asked the sculptor if perchance he was a fan of the 1950s classic, "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman." He was! To which, he added, "It was inspirational."
Since we are on the subject on fine arts, I should note that Nashville has a small but well-established arts district on Fifth Avenue. Look for the Tinney Contemporary (recently showed a rare Banksy original), the Rymer Gallery (the young presenter plays the ukulele) and The Arts Company (ask to the see the loft space, which shows a lot of Ed Clark photos).
Sticking to the arts theme, Nashville has transformed its old U.S. post office building, a beautiful art-deco structure, into the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. The interior of the building itself is a work of art, but more importantly, the Frist shows are unique and important. When I was in Nashville this past summer, the exhibition was "Bellissima," which showcased the stunningly futuristic automobiles and motorcycles designed by Italian craftsmen after World War II. If you lust for that classic Lamborghini and Ferrari, this show goes far beyond your wildest dreams as many of these vehicles are concept cars and therefore just one of a kind. It was hands-down the best car show I have ever seen.
Granted, most people come to Nashville for the music, but the city is not just about country-western. Nashville boasts one of the finest and most active symphonies in the country, which plays in the beautiful Schermerhorn Symphony Center downtown. Although it looks neoclassical, it's a modern building erected in 2006 — and the space is unusual for a concert hall in that it has windows to the outside world.
Speaking of beautiful spaces and hidden gems, try to make your way to the Nashville Jazz Workshop carved out of a former bomb shelter in an old industrial area. Don't let the name fool you — this one of the finest jazz venues in the country. Although Lori Mechen, one of the founders of the NJW, is a Midwestern gal, this venue could easily be somewhere in New York, circa 1948.
When planning a visit to Nashville, timing is important because the city hosts a series of free concerts at Public Square Park downtown. The kicker here is that many of the acts are alt-rock and cutting-edge. When I attended the concert, the lineup was Jr. Jr., Passenger and Jenny Lewis, formerly of New Pornographers. None of these acts sounds familiar to you? They did to the 14,000 people who showed up for the concert.
Talking about rockers who have taken a shine to Nashville, Jack White of the White Stripes opened a record store and tiny venue for live music. When I was there a duo from Indianapolis called Brother O Brother was playing. The criteria for getting a gig there is that Jack White's Third Man Records believes in you.
Another rocker soaking up the Nashville vibe is Dan Aurebach of the Black Keys, who is part-owner of the Baristar Parlor coffee shop located in the defunct Golden Sound recording studio.
Of course everyone who comes to Nashville wants to enter the world of country music and perhaps see the great stars, which doesn't usually happen. You won't bump into Loretta Lynn walking along Main Street, so you go to the Grand Ole Opry to see greats like her play. Here's my tip for something unusual: a backstage tour of the venue. It's lots of fun, whether you are a fan or not.
My personal "hidden" surprise came on the night I attended the Grand Ole Opry and the headliner was the band Exile, whom I only knew from their No. 1 song, "Kiss You All Over." Turns out the band had many more top hits on the country charts. I got a chance to visit with J.P. Pennington, one of the original band members, who told me the first time Exile played the Grand Ole Opry it screwed up so badly they weren't invited back for decades. Now they are almost regulars.
"We were just a bunch of country boys from Kentucky and had been together 15 years before "Kiss You All Over," he said. "We had difficulty following it up, but some of our songs were being picked up by country artists. We went back Kentucky, played at a small club working on our country songs, then had 10 No. 1 country songs in the 1980s and early 1990s."
Three of the band members now live in Nashville. Pennington lives in Kentucky, although he points out, "It's always great to be Nashville."
WHEN YOU GO
Just about everyone who attends the Grand Ole Opry spends a night at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, and I'm no different. It's still Disneyland for country-western fans: www.gaylordopryland.com. However, for anyone more interested in core Nashville activities, the Renaissance is well-placed: www.renaissance-hotels.marriott.com.
Interested in art activities? There's the Parthenon, www.parthenon.org; Alan LeQuire Gallery, www.lequiregallery.com; the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, www.fristcenter.org; The Arts Company, www.theartscompany.com; Rymer Gallery, www.therymergallery.com; and the Tinney Contemporary, www.tinneycontemporary.com.
To see live music, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, www.nashvillesymphony.org; Nashville Jazz Workshop, www.nashvillejazz.org; free concerts, www.liveonthegreen.com; Third Man Records, www.thirdmanrecords.com; Barista Parlor, www.baristaparlor.com; and the Grand Ole Opry, www.opry.com.
Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
View Comments