NationalGeographicTravellerAustraliaandNewZealandWinter2018

74 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER

Nashville

TENNESSEE

when the Tennessee capital is mentioned in polite conversation, most people’s minds turn to
both kinds of music: country and western. For good reason, too. Hang around long enough and
you’ll hear tales of musical myth and legend. Impoverished songwriter willie Nelson writing
‘Crazy’ at the bar of Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and selling it to Patsy Cline’s husband. Bob Dylan
and Johnny Cash spending two days in a local recording studio in 1969 and laying down more
than a dozen tracks of which only one, ‘Girl From the North Country’, was ever released. But
it’s not just country, and there’s a reason Nashville is known as Music City. There are more
than 180 venues around the city and, on top of that, there’s a great food culture, cute and
quirky neighbourhoods, and friendly locals.

EAT THIS

Don’t miss a helping of hot chicken.

think fried chicken but with a tonne

of spice. ask any denizen of the city

where to get it and they’ll give you

one of two answers: Hattie B’s or

Prince’s. Be warned, though: even

if you can handle heat, go easy. at

either joint, anything over medium –

the top level at hattie B’s is ‘shut the

cluck up!’ and at Prince’s it’s XXX hot

• fires up some serious burn.

SEE THAT

there are so many places where

you can get a glimpse into the

music scene – the Johnny cash

Museum, the George Jones

Museum, the country Music hall

of Fame – but don’t miss the RCA

Studio B tour. Just about every

huge name in the music industry,

from elvis to Dolly Parton, recorded

here, and the guides tell fascinating

stories about the stars and the

songs they played.

DON’T MISS

Many folks see a live show at the

Ryman Auditorium, the mother

church of country music, but the

guided backstage tour is one you

won’t forget. Visit the dressing

rooms where June and Johnny

cash readied themselves, see the

hundreds of hatch Print posters

signed by artists as diverse as Willie

nelson and the Foo Fighters, and

stand on the famous stage.

AFTER DARK

if you reckon you’ve got the chops

to make it in Music city, there’s only

one place to test them: Santa’s

Pub. this dive bar in a double-wide

trailer serves up $2 beer and some

serious karaoke. But only put down

your name if you have what it takes.

Otherwise, prop yourself up at the

bar and enjoy.

THAT ONE TIME OF YEAR

there are seemingly endless

festivals taking up the warmer

months, but if we were to tell

you that the guys from Grammy-

winning kings of leon were behind

Music City Food + Wine would

you believe us? For two days in

September, there are tastings,

demos, a huge barbecue, gospel

brunch and so much more in the

historic venues and outdoor spaces

of downtown nashville.

The bright lights of Nashville’s Lower Broadway (top);
Hatch Show prints are a local tradition (above); learn
about the legend at the Johnny Cash Museum (right). F11PhO

tO/ShUtteRS

tOck (BRO

aDW

aY); lOU

SteJSkal (hatch); JeJiM/ShUtteRS

tOck (MUSeUM)