The Quonset Hut, later known as Columbia Studio B, was the first music recording studio in the historic Music Row district of Nashville. In 1954, music producer Owen Bradley and his brother, musician Harold Bradley, converted a house and a surplus Quonset hut into a makeshift music studio on 16th Avenue. Noted musicians such as Brenda Lee and Johnny Cash recorded at the Quonset Hut, known for the superior acoustics it provided. As the studio became more successful, other music labels moved into the neighborhood and it became known as "Music Row." After Bradley sold Bradley Studios and the Quonset Hut in 1962, Columbia Records owned and operated the studio until 1982, repurposing a portion for offices. In the 2000s, music producer and philanthropist Mike Curb purchased the land and office space, and it currently houses facilities for Belmont University’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.
RCA Studio A is a historic recording studio in Nashville's Music Row. It was created in 1965 by music producers and musicians Chet Atkins, Harold Bradley, and Owen Bradley. Over the decades the studio has hosted recording sessions for many pop and country musicians such as Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, and Keith Urban. The studio became the center of an intense public debate over historic preservation in Music Row after it was threatened with demolition in 2014. Community efforts succeeded in saving the building and it was restored to its 1960s appearance. Today Studio A continues to function as an active music recording studio. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
Historic RCA Studio B was the original recording home of Elvis Presley and has been used by dozens of country and folk music stars such as the Everly Brothers, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, and Willie Nelson. In 2002, the Mike Curb Family Foundation purchased the building, renovated and restored it back to its appearance in the 1970s, and then granted the Country Music Hall of Fame a perpetual lease of the building so that they could operate tours of the studio for the public.
Artist Gary Ernest Smith created this sculpture of music industry pioneer Owen Bradley. In 1954, Bradley's recording studio at 804 16th Ave. S. became the first major studio on Nashville’s now-famous Music Row. Bradley was also a musician and became an architect of the Nashville Sound through his own work and his recording work with country stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Conway Twitty. Along with fellow producer Chet Atkins, Bradley helped country music transition from its Southern folk music origins to a more nationally appealing and radio-friendly format by blending pop production and songwriting techniques with traditional country music and lyrics.
Musica is a bronze statue by Alan LeQuire. The statue pays tribute to the whimsical nature of music, and features men and women dancing around a woman playing the tambourine. The statue is located in the traffic roundabout near Music Row in downtown Nashville. It was built as part of an urban renewal project for the Music Row neighborhood and unveiled in 2003. The total cost of the project exceeded one million dollars, with funds coming from a number of local patrons of the arts.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This brief walking tour includes monuments, landmarks, and recording studios throughout Nashville's famed Music Row. Additional sites are being added to expand this walking tour in the near future.
