Howdy Nash

Nashville is called Music City because of a nickname that dates to the 1870s and a recording industry that spent the next century earning it. The phrase is most often traced to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the choir that carried Nashville's name around the world.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers

The story most often told goes back to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a choir from Fisk University in Nashville. In the 1870s the group toured widely to raise money for the school, performing spirituals for audiences across the United States and Europe, including for Queen Victoria. As the story is told, the Queen remarked that singers this good must come from a city of music. The phrase stuck to Nashville.

The industry that backed it up

A nickname needs substance, and Nashville built it. The Grand Ole Opry began as a radio show in the 1920s and turned the city into the center of country music. Recording studios, publishers, and labels clustered along what became known as Music Row. Generations of songwriters, players, and producers moved to town, and the music business became one of the city's defining industries.

Today the name covers more than country. Nashville records and performs across genres, and live music runs every night of the week, from Lower Broadway to listening rooms to the Ryman.

Where to hear it

The nickname is easy to test. Broadway has free live music all day in the honky tonks. The Ryman, the Grand Ole Opry, and a set of smaller venues carry the serious shows. Even the airport has live stages. For where to go, see the music venues guide.

Read Next

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• Best Honky Tonks in Nashville - free music on Broadway
• All Nashville Guides - browse every guide