A Visit to Nashville and to ABC's "Nashville"

I flew to Nashville on December 3 to spend a few days with my older daughter, Rya Kihlstedt. Rya is an actress and has a recurring role on ABC’s Nashville, on which she plays the role of “Marilyn.” This blog post offers a selection of photographs that I took of Nashville, the city, and of some of the people involved in the ABC production–thus the title, “A Visit to Nashville and to ABC’s “Nashville.”

The text is minimal (by my standards) and serves two purposes. One offers my personal take on the city of Nashville, and this appears in the topical divisions that organize each set of photographs. The other provides more information or commentary on a particular image.

I hope you find material of interest in this photographic essay.

Some General Observations

I experienced Nashville mainly as a pedestrian, walking around the West End, where our hotel was, and Downtown, which nestles up against the banks of the Cumberland River, defining its east edge. Immediately evident to me was that Nashville is not particularly pedestrian-friendly. The area between the West End and Downtown felt like a no-man’s land, created by the looping Interstate Highways (I-40 and I-65), the wide cut of the railway lines, and a general lack of building density that normally provide the backdrop for human activity, visual stimulation and a sense of protection. Once downtown, this was no longer an issue. However, it seems as if most travel in Nashville is by automobile, and pedestrians will find that the timing of traffic lights is all about the car and, in many places, accommodates foot traffic only reluctantly.

That said, there is much of interest in Nashville, especially Downtown, and the city is just completing the installation of bicycle rental stations (see the third photograph below) that may ease the movement of those who are carless.

Nashville, TN, 1st Avenue Base Camp for ABC’s Nashville

Here is the eastern edge of Downtown, showing the Cumberland River, a commuter rail line, an open area beyond the first Downtown street, 1st Avenue, and a new automobile bridge coming in from East Nashville and Five Points. The bridge is the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge, a through-arch structure spanning 1,660 feet that opened in May, 2004.

Nashville, TN, Downtown, General View from SW

View of Downtown from our hotel on a rainy Tuesday morning. Just to the left of the tall building sits the famous Tennessee State Capitol: more on this later.

Nashville, TN, Nashville B Cycle (Bike Rental Station), Music Circle

Nashville, TN, Railroad Cut, View to NE from Demonbreun Street

The raised viaduct crossing the railroad tracks in the distance is Broadway, which at this point is a multi-laned channel for cars, as are the other roads that carry one over the tracks and into the downtown area. The massive building with two towers is the Union Station Hotel.

Nashville, TN, Union Station Hotel, 1890 (opened), Richard Montfort, Clock

This particular interior shot of Union Station shows a clock flanked by allegorical female figures in sculptural relief. They represent the two cities of the main L&N line: Louisville and Nashville.

Nashville as State Capital

When it was determined in 1843 that Nashville would become the permanent State Capital (over Knoxville and several other competing cities), the Philadelphia architect, William Strickland was asked to design the new Capitol building. Strickland was among the most important architects in America, and he would live the last nine years of his life in Nashville during the building of the Capitol, where he remains, entombed in its northeast wall.

His use of Ionic, octastyle, pedimental temple fronts is a fine example of Greek Revival architecture, of which he was America’s first practitioner with his 1818 Second Bank of the United States in Philadelphia. But then, penetrating the roof at his building’s center is a separate element, derived from a different style and period of ancient Greek architecture: the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. And so we might also see this building as an early example of the eclecticism that characterizes much American architecture after mid-century.

Furthermore, I am tempted to see Strickland’s building as the first step in raising the consciousness of the citizens of Nashville to the importance of good architectural design, particularly classical architecture, and thus as a lead-in to the next section of this photo essay: “Athens of the South.” Lastly, I find a wonderful coincidence in the fact that Nashville is known today as “Music City,” and that the Monument of Lysicrates commemorates the winning of an Athenian musical performance for the year 335-4 B.C.

Nashville, TN, Tennessee State Capitol, 1845-59, William Strickland, View NW

Nashville, TN, Tennessee State Capitol, 1845-59, William Strickland, Detail of Ionic Order

Nashville as “Athens of the South”

By mid-century, Nashville had become the political center of the state and also was growing into a major educational center for the south. One of its early educators was Philip Lindsley who, in 1824, went from acting president at Princeton to become chancellor of Cumberland College, which he re-named the University of Nashville. Lindsley brought some of the most eminent scholars to teach here and so suggested that Nashville be called the “Athens of the Southwest.” With the celebration of the Tennessee Centennial some seventy years later, and the building of the full-scale replica of the Parthenon, Nashville began to call itself, even more grandly, “The Athens of the South.”

Here are several buildings that reinforce this sobriquet by their classically-influenced style and/or by their clear interest in transcending mere building and embracing important architects or fashionable architectural styles.

Nashville, TN, Centennial Park, Parthenon, 1897 (rebuilt: 1920-25) South Side, Night View

Nashville, TN, Centennial Park, Parthenon, 1897 (1920-25: rebuilt), South Side

Nashville, TN, Centennial Park, Parthenon, West Pediment, Contest between Poseidon & Athena

This full-scale replica of the Athenian Parthenon was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, celebrating the year 1797, when Tennessee became the sixteenth state of the Union. This and several other buildings were based on ancient originals, reinforcing the city’s nickname as “Athens of the South.”

Of these, only the Parthenon survives, but it was rebuilt on the same foundations–in concrete–so as to become a permanent fixture and city symbol.

Nashville, TN, Replica of Dionysos from the East Pediment

Nashville, TN, Parthenon, Interior, 1931, Athena Parthenos, 1990, Alan LeQuire

The interior of the Parthenon has become a city art gallery on its basement level. Upstairs, in its main space, it remains true to the original design of the 5th century B.C. Greek original. Directly above is a full-scale replica of the “chryselephantine” Athena Parthenos by Phidias. This version was made by the local sculptor Alan LeQuire in 1990. The photograph above it is one of several plaster casts taken from the original pedimental sculptures of the Parthenon.

Nashville, TN, Basilica of the Incarnation, 1907-14, Fred Asmus (with Bishop Thos. Sebastian Byrne)

The Christian basilicas of Rome are the inspiration for this cathedral complex for the Bishops of Nashville. The free-standing campanile is influenced by San Damaso in Rome, the main façade by San Martino ai Monti, and the rectory design was influenced by the Farnese Palace.

Nashville, TN, Tennessee War Memorial, 1919-25, Edward Dougherty (with McKim, Mead & White)

Nashville, TN, Nashville Public Library, opened 2001, Robert A. M. Stern

Nashville continued its investment in bringing in major architects when it brought in McKim, Mead and White to consult on its War Memorial Auditorium, and later with the commissioning of Robert A. M. Stern. Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture, is one of our most important designers of what is termed postmodernism. In this axial view, Stern’s paired Ionic columns (in antis) face directly towards the center of Strickland’s State Capitol Ionic columned front, some three blocks away–a clever gesture of kinship that bridges their 160 year separation.

Nashville, TN, Davidson County Courthouse, 1936-38, Emmons H. Woolwine & Frederic C. Hirons

Here’s a nice bit of pared-down classicism from the 1930s. The sculpture in the foreground is titled Citizen and is by the North Carolina artist, Thomas H. Sayre. It is one of two figures, which face each other across the plaza–this a woman, the other a man.
The public may slowly rotate these torsos by a geared wheel at ground level.

Nashville, TN, Customs House (now Federal Office Bldg.), 1875 ff, William A. Potter

Nashville, TN, Christ Church Cathedral, 1889-94, Francis Hatch Kimball, Detail of Side Portal

These Gothic-inspired buildings, of course, are the antithesis of classical architecture, but they are elegant examples of the fashionable Gothic Revival of the second half of the nineteenth century. The Customs House is a sophisticated piece of High Victorian Gothic; its architect, William A. Potter, designed many buildings on the campus of Princeton University as well as supervising the building of the U. S. Treasury.

Nashville, TN, Tennessee State Prison, 1898, Enoch Guy Elliott

Nashville, TN, Union Station (Hotel), opened 1900, Richard Montfort

Other examples of keeping abreast of the styles of the time are seen in these medievalizing designs for a prison and a railroad station. Union Station, although designed locally by one of the L&N engineers, reveals his familiarity with the Romanesque Revival style of Henry Hobson Richardson, arguably America’s most famous architect of the later nineteenth century. In the 1980s, after a three-decade decline in passenger service, it was renovated into a luxury hotel.

Nashville, TN, Union Station (Hotel), opened 1900, Richard Montfort, Central Vault

Nashville, TN, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Orig. U. S. Post Office, 1933-34, Marr & Holman

Nashville, TN, Bridgestone Arena, 1996, Populous and Hart Freeland Roberts, Inc.

The Frist Center for the Visual Arts took over and renovated the elegant Art Deco U. S. Post Office in 1998. It is the immediate neighbor to the east of Union Station, and its calm, stripped classicism offers a nice antidote its more energetic and exuberant neighbor. The Bridgestone Arena, home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, revives this exuberance, albeit with a modernism of a century later, right into downtown Nashville.

Nashville, “Music City”

Lore has it that Nashville was first called “Music City” by radio announcer, David Cobb in 1950. Cobb was affiliated with the all-music radio station, WSM-AM, beginning in 1937, and was one of the first three announcers at the Grand Ole Opry (which first began in 1925 as the WSM Barn Dance). The name stuck.

But, then, some Nashville enthusiasts attempt to weave this nickname further back into Nashville’s history, citing Davy Crockett (called its “first celebrity”) and his colorful stories and fiddle playing, and the city’s growth as a national center for music publishing in the later nineteenth century.

Today, its connection to music is hard to dispute, given the recording studios and entertainment offices on Music Row, the songwriting centered around the Bluebird Cafe, Bobby Jones’ gospel music series on Black Entertainment Television (cable’s longest running program), United Record Pressing, Symphony Center and its many honly-tonks.

Nashville, TN, Microphone Bike Stand, Music Circle, 2010, Franne Lee, Keith Harmon & Mac Hill

Symbolic form says it all.

Nashville, TN, Musical Utility Box, Located near Music Row

Walk by one of these, and the camera lens on its side detects your movement and blue grass music issues from somewhere inside. I failed to find information on these musical utility boxes, but they provide an interesting new wrinkle on what can be termed urban street furniture.

Nashville, TN, Musica, 2003, Alan LeQuire

Musica, meant to embody the spontaneous creativity of music, erupts from the center of a traffic circle, Buddy Killen Circle, in Nashville’s Music Row area. Topping out at a height of 38 feet, it is reputed to be the largest sculptural grouping in the United States.

Nashville, TN, Barbershop Harmony Society, 2007, Tuck Hinton Architects

Where else but “Music City” would we find an elegant, new, modernist building dedicated to the art of the barbershop quartet? Even its four central pilasters are emblematic of the four-part harmony of this art form. Click here for a video of barbershop harmony.

Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium (Union Gospel Tabernacle), 1892, Hugh Cathcart Thompson

Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium, Interior View of Balcony and Stage

Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry, Jimmy Dickens performing

Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium, Framed Posters of Past Performers

The Ryman Auditorium is the gem in Nashville’s musical setting. Nashville riverboat captain and businessman, Thomas Ryman (1843-1904) built it as an auditorium for the revivalist preacher, Samuel Porter Jones, whose words and wit swept Ryman away one day in 1885. Jones, ostensibly, also was an important influence on Will Rogers.The Ryman seats 2,362, offers good acoustics and good viewing everywhere with its wide girth, and was the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943-1974; the Opry still broadcasts from here, as Rya and I were able to catch on Tuesday, December 4. People often refer to it as “The Mother Church of Country Music.”

Nashville, TN, Country Music Hall of Fame, 2001, Tuck Hinton Architects

The Country Music Hall of Fame, seen here in the foreground, incorporates musical symbols into its design. In just the five, tall, vertical windows visible in my photograph, one can see that its fenestration is patterned on the configuration of piano keys. This corner also juts out in a way that evokes another product of that classic period of the 1950s enshrined within–the tail end of a Cadillac. And, were we able to float above the building, we would see that it is configured in the shape of a bass clef.The building behind it with undulating roof and bulging central section is the Music City Center, a 1, 200,000 square foot convention center that is slated for completion in 2013.

Nashville, TN, Country Music Hall of Fame, Displays, Foreground: Patty Loveless velvet stage costume ca. 1991

This photograph provides a good sense of a major part of the displays, dedicated to the instruments and trappings of all the major artists. There are also listening areas where aficionados can hear representative songs by many of them, but I found those songs of insufficient fidelity to hold my attention for very long. Loveless, as many may know, came on the musical scene in the mid-1980s as a bluegrass singer and as part of the “neo-traditional” country movement. Click here to listen to Patty singing He Thinks I Still Care, written by D. L. Lipscomb.

Nashville, TN, Country Music Hall of Fame, Displays, Patsy Cline, Boots & Costume, 1950s by Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors

Patsy Cline was part of the early, so-called “Nashville sound” before she crossed over into pop music to become one of the most successful female vocalists of her time. Click here to listen to one of her renditions of Willie Nelson’s Crazy.

Nashville, TN, Country Music Hall of Fame, Displays, Buck Owens, 1966, Stage Costume

Buck Owens wore this costume in 1966 during his famous Carnegie Hall Concert, which brought national recognition to Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, his country music band. Three years later, he co-hosted the TV series, Hee Haw, for seventeen years. Click here to listen to Buck Owens sing Crying Time, which he wrote in 1964 and which we probably all remember from albums by Ray Charles and by Willie Nelson.

Nashville, TN, Country Music Hall of Fame, Displays, Webb Pierce’s Silver Dollar Convertible (1962 Pontiac Bonneville)

Webb Pierce was one of the best known honky-tonk vocalists of the 1950s and he charted more number one country hits than any other artists in that decade. He had Nudie Cohen (of North Hollywood) not only tailor flamboyant costumes for him, but also line two convertibles with silver dollars and six-shooters. Click here to listen to Pierce singing I’m Walking the Dog, written by Cliff and Tex Grimsley.

Nashville, TN, Country Music Hall of Fame, Displays, Elvis Presley’s Gold Piano, 1968 (1928 Kimball Grand)

Elvis, of course, needs no commentary, except maybe to place him in Nashville early in his career. He appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in 1954 and recorded his first number one hit in Nashville two years later, Heartbreak Hotel–click here to listen to it. He also recorded 260 songs RCA’s Nashville Studio B.

This piano was a first anniversary gift to Elvis from his wife, Priscilla Beaulieu in 1968. Click here to listen to Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis playing some boogie woogie on two pianos.

Nashville’s Honky-Tonk

Honky-Tonk refers both to a particular form of music and tinny sound as well as to a particular entertainment establishment. The sound might be from an out-of-tune piano or one with hardened felt hammers (or maybe felt hammers prepared with thumb tacks) or the twangy guitar that we can hear in this version of Hank Williams’ Honky Tonkin’.

So, too, the lyrics of Williams’ song reveals the social and urban aspect of Honky-Tonk: “We’ll go honky-tonkin’ round this town.” Honky-Tonk also refers to music bars (usually in urban settings) where live entertainment and strong liquor encouraged lyrics of loss and hopelessness. The Honky-Tonk clubs of Nashville’s Lower Broadway served as venues for untested musicians and songwriters to test their skills on a stage with a tip jar and encouraging patrons.

Nashville, TN, Downtown, Broadway and 5th, Honky Tonk Heroes, Ron Sweeney (artist)

Nashville, TN, Downtown, Broadway, Musical Buskers

Nashville, TN, Downtown, Broadway, Musical Busker

Nashville, TN, Downtown, Broadway

Nashville, TN, Downtown, Broadway, Plastic Elvis Statue

Nashville, TN, Downtown, American National Bank Building, 301Broadway

The visual aspects of Honky-Tonk can be seen in these photographs of Broadway’s sidewalk at night: a mix of busker musicians, seekers of night life, lots of neon to enliven the architectural fabric with a certain tawdriness and glitz. How better can we reveal this than by this sedate, classical bank which now advertises itself in neon as a tattoo parlor?

Nashville, TN, Downtown, Printer’s Alley

Nashville, TN, Printer’s Alley, Rick Tiger & Dawson Higgs

Printers Alley had been the center of Nashville’s many publishing and print companies; at one time it boasted over thirty-six such businesses. It was also a district of speakeasies, gambling halls and saloons. I met Rick (pictured above) while wandering downtown on my last night in Nashville. He took me to Printers Alley and introduced me to Dawson, who is renovating the establishment behind them as an entertainment venue.

Nashville, the Protestant Vatican

Nashville has also been referred to as the “Protestant Vatican” and the “Buckle of the Bible Belt.” It has more than 700 churches, several seminaries, many Christian schools, colleges and universities, and it is the seat of the National Baptist Convention, USA. Gideons International, the Gospel Music Association, and the world’s largest producer of Bibles, Thomas Nelson also are based in Nashville.I was aware of this almost everywhere I walked. I chose these two photographs, in particular, as exemplars of this phenomenon. As a northerner and easterner, I can’t imagine encountering a building, particularly one of such elegance and prestigious scale being dedicated to the Baptist Sunday School Board. I couldn’t even imagine what its function was. I now know: the major printer for everything used by the Southern Baptist Church. In fact, today it is known as LifeWay, whose new and much larger building is seen in the second of these photographs.

Nashville, TN, Baptist Sunday School Board Building, 1913-14, Gardner and Seal Architects

Nashville, TN, LifeWay Christian Store

Honoring Nashville’s Women

It may be pure chance that I encountered these examples public commemorations of Nashville’s women, but I decided that they were worth presenting as a distinct group.

Nashville, TN, Ann Robertson Cockrill (1757-1821) home marker, Centennial Park

Cockrill was an early Cumberland settler and the only woman to receive a land grant in her own name (from the North Carolina legislature in the year of 1784). They praised her contribution to the “advance guard of civilization.” Here she is honored as Nashville’s first school teacher. It’s a shame that more cities don’t erect public monuments to this most cherished and under-appreciated professions.

Nashville, TN, Anne Dallas Dudley (1876-1955) historical marker, West End Avenue

Anne Dudley, as this marker tells us, founded and was president of the Nashville Equal Suffrage League, and later also the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association. She was instrumental in getting the Nineteenth Amendment ratified in Tennessee. With this act, Tennessee became the final state needed to enact the amendment.Unfortunately, some Tennessee men in 2012 need to be reminded of Anne Dudley’s heroic efforts to secure the vote for all citizens. Governor Bill Haslam (R) signed a voter ID bill sponsored by Senator Bill Ketron (R, of course) that specifically excluded the use of student IDs.

Nashville, TN, Woman’s Building site marker, Centennial Park

The Tennessee Centennial Exposition of 1897 marked the hundredth anniversary of statehood, and its many buildings and other monuments were built, in temporary form, in Centennial Park. The Woman’s Building was designed by a local artist, Sara Ward Conley as a “modified version” of Andrew Jackson’s home, The Hermitage. Each room inside was designed by a different women’s organization. Among the events hosted in it were an Equal Suffrage Convocation, a talk by Jane Addams, and a talk by Susan B. Anthony.Two statements on this marker are of interest. One is a quotation from civic activist, Kate Kirkman that defines women’s work as “whatever may be necessary to preserve the sanctity of the home and ensure the freedom of the state.” The other statement is an enigma to me. It reads (in its entirety) as follows: “That that is round can be no rounder.” I leave it to my readers to enlighten me on this.

Nashville, TN, Monument to the Women of the Confederacy, 1926, Belle Kinney, War Memorial Plaza

Among the many war monuments in this plaza is this one, dedicated to the heroic action of the women of Tennessee during the War Between the States. As sculptor Kinney explains, this work shows Fame supporting a wounded Confederate soldier while placing a wreath on the head of Southern Woman, who attempts to minister to the wounded soldier.

Nashville, TN, Hustler Hollywood store window, Church Street

My apologies, but I simply liked this shot, taken as I walked back to my hotel through that “no-man’s land” between Downtown and the West End.

Public Monuments

Nashville, TN, James Robertson (1742-1814) Monument, Centennial Park

Robertson was an early companion of Daniel Boone, co-founded what is now Nashville, and was an major actor in the settlement of Middle Tennessee.

Nashville, TN, Frank Cheatham (1820-1866) Monument, 1909, Centennial Park

Frank Cheatham was a Tennessee planter who became a general in the Confederate Army. His mother was descended from James Robertson.

Nashville, TN, John W. Thomas Memorial, 1907, Centennial Park

Thomas was the president of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition as well as of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad. I am sure that neither he, nor anyone else, could possible live up to the 16 descriptors that are engraved on front and back of the eight benches.

Nashville, TN, Korean War Memorial, 1992, Russel Faxon, War Memorial Plaza

Nashville, TN, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1986, Alan LeQuire, War Memorial Plaza

Nashville, TN, La Storia della Terra, 1999-2001, Kubach-Wilmsen sculptors

This twenty foot tower of stone books is part of the new library and is placed near the 7th Avenue entrance. It consists of 26 books, one for each letter of the alphabet and the stones–granite, marble, quartz, come from all over the world. Thus, all five continents are represented in this piece, the title of which in English would be The History of the Earth.

The West End

Here are just a few photographs, random and anything but comprehensive. Centennial Park is in the West End and has already been represented elsewhere.

Nashville, TN, Vanderbilt Stadium, William R. Frist Family Gate

Nashville, TN, West End, Elliston Place, empty restaurant

I simply liked the anomaly of the neon sign stating “open,” and a completely empty restaurant. In its defense, this was take quite late at night.

Nashville, TN, West End, Elder’s Bookstore, Elliston Place

Elder’s bookstore is one of the premier dealers in 20th century literature, in particular Southern Literature. It also is the oldest bookstore in continuous operation in Nashville. In today’s digital world, it is always comforting to come across a wonderful, old bookstore like this.

Nashville, TN, West End, Elliston Place Soda Fountain, Elliston Place

Amazing to find a soda fountain just like the ones I remember frequenting from the 1950s. It still serves, and I am told that “you can get wonderful milk shakes, malts, and sundaes.” However, I bet the hamburger doesn’t taste like those I remember from my local drug store.

ABC’s Nashville

Many of these are self-explanatory. Where they aren’t, I add commentary. The first shot is my daughter, Rya, getting made up before a brief afternoon rehearsal for an evening shoot of the big party scene to celebrate the success of Wrong Song.

ABC’s Nashville, Rya Kihlstedt (Marilyn) with Laura, Hair & Makeup Trailer, 1st Avenue Base Camp

ABC’s Nashville, Connie Britton (Rayna) with Garnet, Sarah and Rya Kihlstedt, Hair & Makeup Trailer, 1st Avenue Base Camp

ABC’s Nashville, Juliette’s Hair, Hair & Makeup Trailer, 1st Avenue Base Camp

ABC’s Nashville, Jonathan Jackson (Avery) & Eric Close (Teddy), Rehearsal site for the big party

ABC’s Nashville, Michiel Huisman (Liam), Rehearsal site for the big party

Behind Michiel is a poster to celebrate Wrong Song, the hit duo by Rayna and Juliette. Click here to listen to Wrong Song….and since it is often difficult to pick up the lyrics with complete clarity, click here for the lyrics.

Janine Appleton

I met Janine and her husband in the hotel lobby on my last night. Rya was filming the big party and I had walked enough of the city. It turned out that both Janine and her husband worked at thismusic.com, which apparently represents the writers of Wrong Song. Thus this picture to record this coincidence.

ABC’s Nashville, the Sound Stages

Here is where many of the scenes are shot, where Joanie the seamstress puts together all the costumes, where Gary the set designer does his magic, and where everyone seems to always be hard at work.