Description
Like Beale Street in Memphis and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Lower Broadway was once the center of the rustic music scene in Nashville, the place where locals could rub elbows with stars and impromptu jam sessions could last overdue into the night. But after the Grand Ole Opry moved out of the Ryman Auditorium within the 1970s, Lower Broad deteriorated into a down-and-out skid row. When the Ryman’s reopening and urban gentrification began bringing people—especially tourists—back to Lower Broad within the 1990s, locals fought to retain a few of its old-time authenticity. Bill Rouda’s evocative photographs capture the return of the spirit of real country music in honky-tonks like Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and Robert’s Western World. Here bands like the hip, unfashionable BR549 played for tips at the same time as fans danced the night away, ignoring the shadows of the newly constructed convention center and the glare of Planet Hollywood. Rouda’s photographs also capture legends like Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson and attest to the actual heart and soul of country music.