Nashville is an ever changing town. Traditionalists may argue it changes a little too much at times. But there is an underlying thread that, despite towering high-rises, nascent sub-culture hot spots, and an evolutionary music business, still remains woven deep into Nashvillia. Cool.
Plain and simple. Music, pop culture, social trends, entertainment, restaurants and bars. You hear it in the ambient city air and feel it with every step down the hallowed halls of music row. Nashville has always been at the forefront of what’s groovy. Even when no one else knows it.
Every once in a while folks need to be reminded. The Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum is making sure we don’t forget a few guys that did just that with Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City, opening March 27. The exhibit will take a look at Nashville during the 1960’s-70’s.
In the early 60’s Bob Dylan reluctantly came to town to record tracks for Blonde On Blonde. The story goes, after he discovered the musicianship and diligence among studio players Dylan decided to record most of the album here, transforming Nashville form a “recording artist” town to “singer-songwriter” town.
Around this period Johnny Cash began featuring folk and contemporary artists on The Johnny Cash Show. Names like Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, James Taylor and Bob Dylan himself found themselves alongside Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson and Carl Perkins.
Paul McCartney, Joan Baez and The Byrds are just a few others who brought their distinct flavors of cool to Nashville. This renaissance fueled the dawn of the Nashville cats. Nestled snug between Elvis and Alan, this is one of the most important epochs of country music and where we get a lot of the artists now known as legends.
The exhibit is set to run till December 31, 2016. So there’s time, but I would procrastinate too long, as you are not going to want to miss this one. For more info visit CountryMusicHallOfFame.org
