Nashville Spotlight

Can you tell we’re really excited about returning to Music City this May? There’s a LOT to love about this place. Great food and beer, endless opportunities to catch live music. What’s more, the average high temp in May is 80 degrees, the low 58. Pretty nice!

If it’s your first time visiting, here’s a super quick primer on what makes this town so cool.

Hot Chicken

Nashville’s best known culinary contribution, hot chicken, was an accidental creation by a woman seeking revenge …

Prince’s Hot Chicken, the first and most well-known hot chicken restaurant, began when Thornton Prince’s girlfriend suspected him of cheating on her, so she put extra pepper in his fried chicken. Thornton liked it so much that he opened the BBQ Chicken Shack in the mid-1930s, which would later become Prince’s Hot Chicken.  

Here’s a list of hot chicken spots.

Honky Tonk Highway

Nashville’s Honky Tonk Highway, which boasts enough neon tubing to extend to the moon and back, is just a short stroll from the convention center. This legendary row of venues pumps live music into the streets from morning to night (and into the morning).  

Trivia: Which musician rose to stardom in Nashville?

  1. Elvis
  2. Jimi Hendrix
  3. Taylor Swift

Scroll to bottom to see the answer.

Go deeper: How did Nashville become such a powerhouse in the country music industry? Strange as it sounds, it all started in 1925 with the National Life and Accident Insurance Company. The insurer started a radio broadcast under the call letters WSM (for the company’s motto “We Shield Millions”) that aired the Grand Ole Opry. The rest is history …

Craft Breweries

As with its music scene, Nashville punches above its weight in terms of craft breweries. Here’s our list of all area craft breweries and craft beer retailers. Here’s Hop Culture’s list of their top seven faves. Eater Nashville has a comprehensive list as well.

Key Sights

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum: Located across the street from the Music City Center is the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Ryman Auditorium: Take in a show or the full historical tour at the Ryman Auditorium—the “Mother Church of Country Music” and former home of the Grand Ole Opry and The Johnny Cash Show.

Johnny Cash Museum: The life and legacy of the Man in Black. Ranked the number one music museum in the world by Forbes, Conde Naste, and National Geographic Traveler!

Hatch Show Print: One of the oldest letterpress shops in the nation, operating more 140 years. Just across the street from the convention center. Super cool.

P.S. Have you tuned in to our Spotify playlist? Get in the Music City state of mind!

Answer: Trick question! Nashville launched all three.