Showing 1-9 of 9 results
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Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum
'Honor Thy Music' is the catchphrase of the monumental Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum , reflecting the near-Biblical importance of country music to Nashville's soul. See case upon case of artifacts like Patsy Cline's cocktail gown, Johnny Cash's guitar, Elvis' gold Cadillac and Conway Twitty's yearbook picture (back when he was Harold Jenkins). There are written exhibits tracing country's roots, computer touch screens to allow access to recordings and photos from the Country Music Foundation's enormous archives and walk-in listening booths.
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Frist Center for the Visual Arts
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts hosts traveling exhibitions of anything and everything, from American folk art to the European masters. It is located in a grand, refurbished post office building.
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Gibson Bluegrass Showcase
The Gibson Bluegrass Showcase is a working factory and concert venue where you can see banjos, mandolins and resonator guitars being made through the glass (free).
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Grand Ole Opry Museum
The Grand Ole Opry Museum tells the story of the Opry with wax characters, colorful costumes and dioramas. Check out the model of Marty Robbin's 1970s Nashville office, all orange shag carpet and cowboy prints.
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Parthenon
Yes, that is indeed a reproduction Athenian Parthenon , sitting in Centennial Park. Originally built in 1897 for Tennessee's Centennial Exposition and rebuilt in 1930 due to popular demand, the full-scale plaster copy of the 438 BC original now houses an art museum with a collection of American paintings and a 42ft statue of the Greek goddess Athena.
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State Capitol
At the northeast edge of downtown, the 1845 Greek Revival state capitol was built from local limestone and marble by slaves and prison inmates working alongside European artisans.
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Tennessee State Museum
Just south of the capitol, government buildings surround Legislative Plaza. The Performing Arts Center covers an adjacent block and houses the Tennessee State Museum , a large and genuinely engaging look at the state's history, with Indian handicrafts, a life-size log cabin, 18th-century printing press, and a walk-through 'hellfire and brimstone' revival diorama, complete with sound effects. Exhibits cover the abolitionist movement from as early as 1797, as well as the KKK, which began here in 1868.
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The District
The historic 2nd Ave N business area was the center of the cotton trade in the 1870s and 1880s, when most of the Victorian warehouses were built; note the cast iron and masonry façades. Today it's the heart of The District, with shops, restaurants, underground saloons and nightclubs.
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Willie Nelson Museum
Willie Nelson Museum . Call it the everything-but-Willie-Nelson's-used-toothbrush museum. This squat brick building holds the mother load of the Redheaded Stranger's memorabilia, much of it bought at auction when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized the singer's ranch and studio in the early 90s due to 16.7 million dollars of unpaid taxes. There are Nelson portraits, Nelson bronze busts, Nelson's Native American art collection, Nelson guitars and Nelson's old Billboard Music Awards, in addition to memorabilia from the singer's industry friends like Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner and Faron Young. Famous for penning songs like 'Crazy' and 'On the Road Again,' Nelson lived in Nashville until his house burned down in 1970, at which point he moved to Austin, Texas.
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Showing 1-9 of 9 results
