It’s boomtime in America’s Music City. And alongside Nashville’s healthy economy and rapidly growing population, the celebrated culinary scene that’s been developing in this country music heartland has recently come of age.
Tucked in the northern corner of the Bible Belt, Nashville is known for its tight knit musical community that has produced Jack White, Justin Timberlake and India Arie, alongside a host of country music heroes. Throw in a full-size replica of the Parthenon, something called ‘hot chicken’, and North America’s largest Kurdish population, and you have an intriguing destination demanding to be explored. Following a pandemic pause in operating the route, British Airways resumed direct flights from London Heathrow to Nashville in May 2022.
What to do
Feel the music
Brush up on your knowledge of the genre once summed up as “three chords and the truth” at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in the Downtown area ($28/£22 per adult). It’s one of the largest museums in North America dedicated to American music, with a treasure trove of two million plus artefacts. Even if country music doesn’t twang your steel string, it’s worth the price of admission alone to check out the stars’ daredevil fashions and curios such as Elvis’s Gold-Plated Cadillac – the twinkling paintwork achieved with 40 coats of a crushed diamond and fish-scale emulsion.
National Museum of African American Music
(353 Media Group)
If you’re not too mesmerised by the fish-plastered cars, the museum will teach you that Nashville has been a national hub for music publishing since the 1800s. Its ‘Music City’ moniker was established in 1943 with the launch of the Grand Ole Opry, a musical variety show of southern culture that’s featured anyone and everyone in country music, including Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, and Johnny Cash. Check the website’s calendar to find out when you could join the audience of a live recorded show (tickets from $40/£31). With popcorn and IPA in hand, it’ll be one of the most uniquely entertaining nights of your life.
Open since the start of 2021, the National Museum of African American Music ($25/£19) is a vast space dedicated to the Black pioneers of jazz, blues and hip hop. Tour the six interactive exhibits, touching on topics like post-WWII rhythm and blues, or the history of…
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