Nashville Library unveils oral history of Music Row
The Nashville Public Library has unveiled an oral history of Music Row featuring the executives and industry insiders who know the iconic thoroughfare best.
Why it matters: Music Row may be the most commercially and culturally significant stretch of music industry history in the entire country.
Driving the news: The stories behind Music Row's recording studios, publishing houses and record label offices are in danger of being lost over time.
Music Row is a shadow of its former self in part because some of its anchor tenants, including large record labels, have set up shop in other parts of town.
The Row still has character and plenty of major music companies headquartered there, though it's not always immediately apparent to passersby.
Case in point: From the sidewalk, RCA Studio A has the architectural charisma of an old mop.
The building is a sort of brownish-tan color with bland doors that look like the side entrance to your high school.
Yes, but: The magic of Studio A isn't in its bricks and mortar. It's a marvel because Dolly Parton recorded there. Country music icons like Willie Nelson, George Jones and Waylon Jennings also recorded at Studio A.
Studio A was the subject of Nashville's most prominent recent preservation fight when philanthropist Aubrey Preston dramatically saved it from the wrecking ball at the last minute in 2014.
Zoom in: The oral history tells the tale of Music Row going back to the 1940s. The project was created in 2015 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and features interviews with 35 insiders.
If you go: Excerpts from the oral history are available online, or you can go in-person to the downtown library for a deeper dive inside the special collections area.
Zoom out: The library has been leaning into oral history projects to tell the broader story of Nashville. Previous oral histories include the 2010 flood, the Civil Rights Movement and military veterans.
💭 Nate's thought bubble: When I was a music business reporter for The Tennessean, I loved learning fantastical tales of Music Row. One of my favorites is the night in 1970 when Joan Baez was recording at Quad Studios and needed singers to fill out the choral part of her legendary song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."
Quad had become the most popular non-country studio in Nashville, and a sort of unlicensed bar/hangout for musicians. Baez's producer Norbert Putnam had the idea to create a makeshift choir of the people hanging around the studio to sing the backing vocals.
As he told me in 2015, "We said, 'Let's get all the drunks in here and see what it sounds like,'" Putnam said.
It ended up being the most legendary drunken choir in music history including Dave Loggins, Guy Clark and Jimmy Buffett.
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US musician Willie Nelson performs on stage during the Luck Reunion at Luck Ranch on March 13, 2025, ... More in Spicewood, Texas. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP) (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images) The great B.B King once said to me, when he was 71, 'Any day you don't learn something is a day wasted.' At 92, nobody embodies that profound philosophy better than fellow legend Willie Nelson. In the first half of 2025 alone Nelson has performed on his 'Outlaw Music Festival' tour with Bob Dylan, he has a duet out with Steve Perry, he has an album of Rodney Crowell covers out, Oh What A Beautiful World, and his new THC drink, Willie's Remedy is one of the top products, top five to be specific, in the booming THC drink business. I spoke with Nelson about how staying positive keeps him young at heart. Steve Baltin: Where are you on the tour today? Willie Nelson: We're in Maui. Baltin: Is the tour done or are you just there on the tour? Nelson: We're a few days off and we've come over here for a while. Baltin: I know you've been playing with Dylan a little bit on the shows. Do you ever tease him about not being the oldest guy on the tour this time? You beat him by about eight years. Nelson: (Laughs) We're having a good time out there. Baltin: You just did the song with Steve Perry and of course you have this wonderful new album where you do Rodney Crowell songs and you duet with Rodney. How much fun is it for you to get to work with all of these different artists still and keep things fresh by collaboration? Nelson: Well, it's as good as it gets. I can't ask for anything better than that. Baltin: How did the Steve Perry one come about because that one's a little different for you? Nelson: That was someone's idea, they asked me about it, and I said, 'Great, let's do it.' Baltin: Then for the Rodney album, was there one song that jumpstarted the album and gave you the idea of covering his songs? Nelson: One of the greatest country songs ever written Rodney wrote. It's called 'Till I Gain Control Again,' and he's a great writer. He doesn't write bad songs. The other greatest song country wise is George Jones 'He Stopped Loving Her Today.' Those are, in my opinion, the two greatest country songs. And Rodney is a great writer. Baltin: I imagine you guys have been friends for some time too. So that probably makes it more fun. Nelson: Oh yeah. It's nice being able to do things with old friends. Like they say, they don't make old friends. Baltin: It's really interesting to hear your choices for greatest country songs of all time, because there's about a million people who would pick 'Crazy.' Nelson: (Laughs) Well, I won't argue with them. Baltin: Do you have to take a step back from your own stuff a little bit though? Because I know as an artist you get too close to your own stuff and it's hard to look at it with perspective. Nelson: I think that's right. I've written a lot of songs and at the time I wrote them I liked them all and I guess I still do. Baltin: I talk about this with so many songwriters and songs have a tendency to come out of the subconscious or from the universe, whatever you want to call it. Are there songs of yours that you've written that you're like, 'I don't even know where that came from but it's a great song?' Nelson: Yeah, all of them are usually like that Baltin: Are there any then that particularly still surprise you or that you get a different perspective on and appreciate more? Nelson: I believe songs, they don't get old. 'Stardust' is one of the greatest songs of all time. 'Moonlight In Vermont,' 'Your Cheating Heart,' all those songs don't get old, they just get better. Baltin: Let's talk about Wilie's Remedy because we talked about the collaboration. But how much does Willie's Remedy help keep you young on the road? Nelson: Well, I can't smoke anything anymore. My lungs have already said, 'Don't do that.' So, I don't really do anything now much except a few edibles. Baltin: How important is it then to have the drink because the THC drink is a whole new thing? Nelson: I think it's good, the people like it from what I've seen and heard. It's getting to be pretty popular out there. Baltin: Are you involved in putting it together? Nelson: I think it's great. I don't do a lot. My wife does a lot for it. She works hard and talks to a lot of people, and I nod my head a lot and say, 'Yes, thank you.' Baltin: Said every good husband ever in the history of the world. That's probably got more to do with growing old than any THC, saying yes. Nelson: Thinking positive is the best thing you can do. Imagine what you want and then get out of the way. Baltin: How important is it then to have an album right now like Oh What a Beautiful World, which is such a beautiful title. Was it important to you to put that out now to help motivate and make people happy? Nelson: Yes, I think it's time we try to make people happy and talk about the good things and be positive. Baltin: When you think of the things that make you happy and are positive what are a couple of the things that come to mind for you? Nelson: They need to ask themselves that question, 'What is the greatest thing in the world?' And we all have different answers. When it comes down to it you'll know what to do if you honestly ask for an answer. Baltin: What are your personal things that make you happy? Nelson: I enjoy playing music, I enjoy seeing people get together and forget about everything except music. I think there's a great positive exchange that takes place. We don't care what political affiliation you're with, what color you are, it doesn't matter if you like music, come on. Baltin: You have coming up the fortieth Farm Aid. How much fun is something like that in terms of getting to collaborate with great musicians, but also obviously deliver a very important message and support people that you believe in. Nelson: Those guys (Neil Young and John Mellencamp) have been with me all along and I couldn't have done it without them. And we're still doing it 40 years later. I think the small family farmers appreciate what Farm Aid has done and we hope to continue to do it. Baltin: With Willie's Remedy, you are giving back to the farmers as well. So is it important to you to walk the walk, not just talk the talk? Not only do you do Farm id, but you give back to them year -round through your different programs. Nelson: I think we all have a reason to be here. We're all missionaries of one kind or another. We were all sent here to do something, and we know what it is, what it was. And we try to do it, we try to show people the way that we think it should be done and I'm a big believer in treating others the way you want to be treated.
