Curb College, Quonset Hut, and Columbia Records

In 1954, brothers Owen and Harold Bradley opened Nashville’s first commercial recording facility—housed in a repurposed Quonset hut on 16th Avenue South. Known as Bradley Studios, it was originally designed as a sound stage for film and television, but quickly evolved into a recording powerhouse. The Quonset Hut earned legendary status, laying the foundation for what would become Music Row and recording hundreds of hits by artists like Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins.

Cash and Robbins were frequent visitors to the studio—and eventually stepped beyond the sound booth and onto the screen. Johnny Cash appeared in numerous television Westerns, made-for-TV movies, and feature films, including A Gunfight (1971), opposite Kirk Douglas. That film also featured Keith Carradine and Karen Black—who would both go on to appear in Robert Altman’s Nashville (1975), another film that blurred the lines between country music and movies.

Back on the music recording side, Columbia Records, owned by CBS, purchased the Bradley studio in 1962, expanding the facility while preserving the Quonset Hut as Studio B. For the next two decades, the studio produced records for stars such as Bob Dylan, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Merle Haggard. For more on the significance of this studio, check out our Music Row Neighborhood, Historic Music Row, and Grand Ole Opry tours.

Cinema and music first intersected here in Music City U.S.A. (1966), a musical feature that showcased the studio’s interior and performances by country stars such as Loretta Lynn, Jean Shepard, and Webb Pierce, one of the original rhinestone cowboys. 

Decades later, the studio’s legacy was spotlighted again in Walk the Line (2005), the Oscar-winning biopic of Johnny Cash, filmed in and around Nashville. Joaquin Phoenix played Cash, with native Nashvillian Reese Witherspoon portraying June Carter—a performance that earned her an Academy Award. In one of the film’s most memorable lines, June tells Johnny, “You can’t walk no line.” The phrase is a playful way of saying that they are not following traditional paths or expectations—a key aspect of both their personal lives and their music. 

But when Bradley Studios' future was on the line in 2006, it was philanthropist Mike Curb who stepped up. Curb restored it as a teaching studio for Belmont University’s Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business. Although Mike Curb is primarily known as a music producer, he also worked in film, producing the sci-fi musical comedy Voyage of the Rock Aliens in 1984. It just goes to show—there are many layers and connections between music and movies here at Columbia Records. Now, onto our next stop, a place I’m pretty familiar with—The Filming Station located at 501 8th Avenue South.

Continue driving on 16th Ave S and take the first exit on the Buddy Killen roundabout to Division Street. Don’t get distracted by the dancing statues! Cross over 12th Ave S in the Gulch then turn LEFT onto 8th Ave S. Keep driving down 8th Avenue then turn LEFT onto Lea Ave. The Filming Station is immediately on your left. The address for the Filming Station is 501 8th Avenue South.