mmortalised by the songs of countless country
music crooners, Nashville is a city that lives large in
the collective imagination. A rhinestone-studded,
cowboy boot-wearing, hairspray enhanced city of
honky-tonk dive bars; nothing more than a one-
dimensional caricature of itself. However, in recent
years something has shifted in the Music City.
There is no denying that its hugely popular
namesake television show and famous residents (Nicole!
Taylor! Miley!) have influenced public opinion but Nashville
has also become a sophisticated destination that, while still
respecting its past (Johnny! Tammy! Dolly!), has evolved
beyond a one-industry country music town.
Today, it’s considered one of the three powerhouse cities
of America’s entertainment industry; it’s rising in stature as
a food destination; and it’s the new home to an exodus of
the country’s young creative class who are transforming
Nashville’s cultural life.
“In the past five years the city has exploded,” says the
famously flame-haired British supermodel-turned-musician
Karen Elson, who moved to Nashville in 2006 on a whim
with her then-husband, musician Jack White. “We loved that
music permeates every part of life here but also the
Nashvillian charm, good humour and lifestyle. A night here
might begin with a gig at the Ryman Auditorium but will
have you dancing from restaurant to dive bars in the company
of some of the world’s most talented musicians.”
Music was the initial attraction for folks like Elson and
White, Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, but it’s the city’s
new creative energy that keeps them from yearning for New
York or Los Angeles. White established his label Third Man
Records in a once-derelict part of town that is now bursting
with other recording studios, artist spaces, cafes and
restaurants garnering national attention and accolades.
“There was opportunity here to create a community around
our restaurant that is more difficult in bigger cities,” says
Philip Krajeck of Rolf and Daughters, a restaurant that has
become a sensation for its Italy-via-Tennessee approach to
food. At Rolf and Daughters and The Catbird Seat nearby,
the gastronomic map is being redrawn in a region
once known only
for fried chicken.
The importance of
community and the
town’s special heritage
is a common refrain
among all industries
here, and this cross-pollination
of new food, music and art
scenes with the unmistakable
Nashville style is what gives the
city its hallmark.
In today’s Music City,
Edison bulbs are at ease with
neon, coffee bars with dives,
cowboy boots with bespoke
leather goods and hot fried
chicken with house-cured
ham. The new Nashville
is capturing the world’s
imagination precisely because
of, and not in spite of, its own
storied songbook. ››CONCIERGE
We loved that music
permeates every part
of life here — KAREN ELSON
clockwise: musicians at food and music
venue Puckett’s. Hot fried chicken at Prince’s.
The exterior of Rolf and Daughters restaurant.
A customer at Rolf and Daughters.