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The red hot town of the South, by the Cumberland river, second only to Memphis in size in the state of Tennessee, is the centre of the music industry lending it the nickname Music City. True! Nashville brings a tune to your lips, be it Elvis’ "It’s now or never", the Jolene Everly brothers’ "All I have to do is dream" or Dolly Parton’s "I will always love you". This town has thrown up a number of country music greats but there is more: basketball and football players, journalists, TV and Hollywood actresses, senators, artists, activists, NASCAR drivers, reformers, wrestlers, inventors. The big four record labels and a slew of independents have a base in Nashville that made it to number five on Forbes’ 2013 list of Best Places for Business and Careers. Named after Francis Nash, an American war hero, Nashville was a bustling manufacturing, rail hub and port much before it built its first skyscraper, the Life and Casualty Tower, in the late 1950s. An interesting office complex is the tallest building in Nashville, the 33-storey AT & T Building known as the Batman Building.
Predominantly white, Nashville has seen its immigrant population grow in the past two decades, in part due to low cost of living as also its easy-going attitude. The Country Music Hall of Fame Rotunda and curvy building brightens the skyline on the west bank of the river adjacent to Ryman Auditorium and Lower Broadway. Although the museum opened its doors to a lilt of music in 1967, the first three inductees being Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and Fred Rose, it was closed in 2000, to be renovated and reopened in 2001. Two hundred years of music history lies in the two floors: video clips, recordings, instruments, costumes, artefacts, photographs, live performances, programmes, live broadcasts, films, and interactive screens lead you from song to rhythm. No trip to Nashville is complete till you visit the Grand Ole Opry with a seating capacity of 4400, the longest running radio show since 1925; its popularity gaining ground, it had to move location thrice to accommodate the fans that thronged the performances. Tennessee State Museum exhibits the history of the state through a selection of furniture, weapons, and paintings from the early 19th century. Bicentennial Mall State Park opened in 1996 to commemorate 200 years of statehood, a magnificent public space created in the heart of the city with an amphitheatre, fountains, a granite map, memorials and walkways. For reasons best known to them, the early architects had a fascination for Greek architecture. The Parthenon, an art museum in Centennial Park is a replica of the original in Athens; architect William Strickland's Tennessee State Capitol is Greek inspired too.
Food trucks have made a comeback, of late. Longer working hours, less time for a sit down dinner at home, American families are taking to eating good and cheap via the trucks. Get your fill of Hoss' Loaded Burgers or a frozen dessert at Retro Sno or Moovers and Shakers. With names like Bare Naked Bagel, Deg Thai, Riffs Fine Street Food, Biscuit Love, Confeastador, Smoke Et Al, Crepe A Diem and Dough Works, it's tough deciding whether the food is spicier or the name of the truck. Timings and location of the trucks may be found on NashvilleFoodTruckJunkie.com. Bar No 308 may be the hippest and friendliest bar in town with a drink suiting all budgets. Hitting the Whiskey Bar has a twofold benefit — the choicest of whiskies, bourbons and rye (two for the price of one on Tuesdays), and the likes of Reese Witherspoon on the next bar stool. Look to spot Faith Hill, Nicole Kidman, Billy Ray Cyrus or Niki Taylor, they call Nashville home. Jack Daniels Distillery is an hour's drive. Robert's Western World has boots hung up and the best live music in town; the place the locals venture. Awesome April has a major musical event every weekend but there's plenty of live music in town all through the year, from the live performances in bars to the symphony halls. Check the events calendar.
An unexpected champion in the food genre is the Moon Pie (similar to a Goo Goo Cluster), a 4 inch diameter of confectionery; two outer layers of cookies with a marshmallow centre all dipped in chocolate sauce. It is taken seriously; enough to raise a 12-foot-tall lighted pie since New Year's Eve in 2008, baking the world's largest Moon Pie at 25 kg, and the giveaway at the Mardi Gras parade. The century-old story goes thus: Ed Mitchell, a bakery salesman in 1917, happened to be in a store frequented by miners, who wanted a compact fulsome meal they could carry with them to work. He noticed workers at the bakery would dunk cookies in marshmallow before eating them. Thus the idea was born. Legend also has it that when Ed asked a miner how large it should be, he framed the moon with his hands to come up with the size; hence the name Moon Pie. For the past 20 years, Bell Buckle has been the venue for the RC Cola and Moon Pie festival. Fifty miles from Nashville, nestled in rolling hills, the quite town with tree-lined streets livens up to welcome guests not just from within the nation t from all over the world.
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