Historic Music Row

Welcome to the Historic Music Row tour on Nashville Sites! I’m Don Cusic and I have lived and worked in Nashville for a long time. I’ve been a musician, songwriter, producer, music executive, college professor and author. And today I’ll be your host as we walk in the footsteps of those who made the Nashville Sound. If you want to know more fun facts and figures, check out my book Nashville Sound: An Illustrated Time Line that explains how and why Nashville became Music City U.S.A. If you don’t like to read, there’s plenty of pictures. 

Well, first things first. You probably want to know “What is Music Row?” The short answer to that question is that it’s two streets—originally 16^th and 17^th Avenues South—the home of many music businesses and studios. It’s a mixture of private homes and businesses, and the streets have been renamed Music Square East and West.

The longer answer is that Music Row as a place extends over to 18^th and 19^th Avenues South. It goes all the way from the Roundabout on the north end to Belmont University on the south end. For more on this larger area take our Music Row Neighborhood tour. 

Here on the Historic Music Row tour, we will focus on a smaller area from the Buddy Killen roundabout down to Grand Avenue. This tour packs in all the greatest hits and you will see historic studios and music businesses along this one-mile walk filled with the sights and sounds that made us Music City.

To begin the tour, make your way to Owen Bradley Park located at 1 Music Square East. You’ll see the statue of Owen Bradley playing the piano. Once you’re there, hit the “start tour” button and we’ll get started.