Curb College, Quonset Hut, and Columbia Records

Hi, this is Michael Janas and we are now standing inside the historic Columbia Studio A. Professional musicians since their teen years, Owen and Harold Bradley were the earliest recording studio owners on Music Row. After operating recording facilities in two other Nashville locations, in 1954 they prevented Decca Records from moving the bulk of the label’s country music recording sessions to Texas by promising label head Paul Cohen that they would build a first-class recording studio in Nashville. The Bradley brothers purchased a house on this lot for $7,500 and revamped it into the new Bradley Film and Recording Studios.Their business increased, and in 1955, they added an Army surplus Quonset Hut to the back of the house as an additional studio for film, television, and music recording.

During the Bradleys’ tenure as owners country stars Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and George Jones; R&B greats Brook Benton and Ruth Brown; and rockers Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly recorded in the Bradley Studios. In 1962, the Bradleys sold the property to Columbia Records. Columbia demolished the original house studio, and built additional office space. In 1964, they added a larger studio named Studio A. The Quonset Hut studio was renamed Studio B. In 1982, Columbia closed their Nashville studios, and re-purposed the studio spaces into offices. In 2005, music producer and philanthropist Mike Curb purchased and restored the studios, and now Belmont University uses them for classes and offices. Be sure to check out the historical marker about Owen and Harold Bradley and take a picture with the larger than life guitar sculptures out front.

The building that houses the offices for SESAC and Country Music Association is immediately across the street from you. Feel free to view the building from this side, or cross over Music Square East for a closer look.