Cowboy Boots and Country Music: Debunking Nashville's Biggest Rumors

While dispelling some of these rumors may make one sound like a broken disc , it would storm you how many tourists still come to Nashville and are – well , surprised , to find that Nashville is more culturally , culinarily , and sonically divers than it gets credit for . We ’re proud to represent land euphony and hot volaille , but there ’s so much more to love about Music City . There are thing you ’ll find to be on-key : gratuitous live euphony , anywhere , anytime ; the volaille is that hot ; no one likes a Blackhawks sports fan ; all worship at the Mother Church . But the follow eight hearsay about Nashville are decidedly off-key .

Everyone wears cowboy boots and hats

Aside from Canadian tourists on Lower Broad , and a few old schooltime country crooner , no one in Nashville walks around in a cowboy lid . And while a good brace of iron heel is a raw material in every Southerner ’s closet , Nashville prefer less boots and bling and more high mode ( and sooner local make ) . You ’re more likely to see labels like imogene + willie , Elizabeth Suzann , Otis James , Nisolo , Emil Erwin , Black by Maria Silver , Amanda Valentine , and Ceri Hoover represented in casual street way . The urban center is steady earn traction as a fashion destination , and , through the Nashville Fashion Alliance ( est . 2015 ) , actively working to have the best former obstacle like production and textile availability that may have deterred interior decorator from opening shop before .

Music City is ALL country music

The nickname " Music City " originated in the ‘ 50s with WSM radio host David Cobb , pertain to the metropolis as a internal hub for all variety of music – at the time , everything from country to blues , gospel , and dad were being record here . The Fisk Jubilee Singers were the first local musicians to give Nashville international recognition when they tour Europe in 1873 . Artists of all styles , from Elvis ( Presley AND Costello ) , Bob Dylan , Neil Young , Joan Baez , R.E.M. , Lionel Richie , and Jon Bon Jovi to Paramore , The Black Keys , Kings of Leon , The White Stripes , Ben Folds , Ed Sheeran , and Meghan Trainor ( among many others ) have recorded here .

Nashville is definitely not a culinary destination

The Nashville food view is more than just biscuits and Viscount St. Albans . While we proudly represent our blistering chicken and substance & troika , our culinary landscape is as diverse as our music . And with the winner of fresh eating place and artisan food shops established by award - come through chef and realism TV stars – Maneet Chauhan , Jonathan Waxman , Richard Blais , Dale Levitski , and Sean Brock , among others – the celebrity sightings are becoming as much about the chefs as the musician .

Isn’t music the only art Nashville really has?

Nope ! There are sinful facility contribute one - of - a sort experience and world - class exhibits to town , like the Frist Center for the Visual Arts ( its current showing , hoarded wealth from the House of Alba : 500 Years of Art and Collecting , is a must - see ) ; OZ Arts Nashville , with its year - bout calendar of innovational , contemporaneous performance art ; Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art , a 55 - Akka land and diachronic watershed dedicated to artistry and gardening ; the 5th Avenue galleries ; and the historic Arcade ( if you ’re visiting the first weekend of the calendar month , the First Saturday Art Crawl is a unique experience ) . There ’s even the mobile site ExploreNashvilleArt.com , which will guide you through more than 120 public art installations .

It’s so expensive to visit

Crazy , right ? Some citizenry really believe this . While hotel prices can be high in the engaged season – increasing the popularity of local AirBNB rentals – rooms still average about $ 178 per night compared to New York ’s average , $ 246 . Food and potable prices are comparatively punk compared to other major metropolis ( though you should n’t dictate anything with Red Bull on Lower Broad ) , and most of the entertainment in townsfolk is practically complimentary . There ’s live music in almost every legal profession , every night of the calendar week , and all it will cost you is a generous tip – provided you like what you hear ( which you will ) . And one of the greatest perks of Music City is that it ’s not uncommon for famous musicians to jump on level at any given bar for an extemporaneous jam session . Those rumors are lawful .

The only place to party is Lower Broad

You ’re a tourist . You ’re thinking of tally Lower Broad . ABORT ABORT . Here ’s why : the nightlife in surrounding neighbourhood is just as right , if not better , than what you get during the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . There are majuscule restaurants in East Nashville , Germantown , and 12South ( The Treehouse , City House , and Urban Grub , severally ) , not to mention some of the best music venues and dive bars , like Marathon Music Works ( Germantown ) , The 5 Spot ( East Nashville ) , Springwater Supper Club & Lounge ( West End ) , and The Bluebird Café ( Green Hills ) . And walkability is no apology with access to Uber and Lyft now available .

The traffic is terrible!

As sore as it is to admit , it ’s not , specially equate to the traffic in a larger city . Nashville is undeniably grow at an impressive charge per unit – about 80 newfangled residents a solar day , according to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce – so to locals , it feel like a perpetual gridlock . But to others , a 30 - moment commute is perfectly normal , realizable even .

The best whiskey is distilled 90 miles away

Have we mentioned Nashville loves local ? While Jack and George are innovator in Tennessee whisky , you ’re less potential to see their names at the local prevention . And visitors are catch on . Local favorite are Belle Meade Bourbon from Nelson ’s Green Brier Distillery , any mixed bag from Corsair Distillery ( try the quinoa whiskey blend ) , and SPEAKeasy Spirits Distillery , with its Pennington ’s Rye and Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream , which’ll easily give Baileys a run for its money .

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Kendall Gemmillis a Nashville aboriginal who welcomes all tourists , peculiarly ones with really swelled hats .

boots in Nashville