Nashville and Music Row: Home of America’s Music Heard Around the World

Nashville, one of the world’s leading music centers, started on its way to fame in the 1920’s with a WSM radio show called the Grand Ole Opry (now America’s longest-running radio show). The Opry Players soon became radio stars, which naturally led to their becoming recording stars.

The Hank Williams and Elvis Presley Influences

In the 1940’s came Hank Williams, writing not only the biggest hit songs of the day, but songs that spread far beyond country music, and still are some of the most widely recorded songs of all time. The 1950’s brought Elvis Presley, who recorded his greatest hits in RCA's Nashville studios, located in an area that was becoming known as Music Row. 

The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline

Along with Elvis, came The Everly Brothers and then Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline. Mixed with a brand of music dubbed The Nashville Sound, they and many others expanded the boundaries of Nashville Music far beyond the Country brand and exploded the “Music City” experience.

Nashville Noses Out Hollywood

In 1960, Time magazine reported that Nashville had "nosed out Hollywood as the nation's second biggest (after New York) record-producing center." The momentum was building.

Update: A recent Wall Street Journal article hailed the 2008 telecast of the Country Music Awards, viewed by more than 34 million people, as a symbol of health in country music. The article pointed out that country music is "an exception in the ailing music business." It continues, "You might have seen the September telecast of last summer's CMA Music Festival, too -- the only festival of any musical variety that is broadcast on network prime time."

Nashville and Music Row provide the genesis of much of the world’s most popular music. Known as a “Songwriters Town,” the whole area is a fountain of creative writing. And a saying often heard in Nashville, popularized by the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is so true: “It all begins with a song.”

Is it time to begin something great with your writing?

Maybe it's time for you to go for a new beginning with your talent. If you're considering the possibility, you should at least get full details on how ParamountSong can help you establish a valuable connection with the music business. You may start with a simple click on the link below. The information is free, and there is no obligation whatsoever.

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