"A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Rock and Roll Third Man Records, the Nashville outpost of musician Jack White's record label and store, is hard to define. It's both a retail outlet for vinyl and offices for hislabel, sure, but it also includes a "novelty lounge" with coin-operated video jukeboxes and whimsical contraptions. What draws the crowds, though, is Third Man'smusic venue (decked out with curved blue walls adorned withtaxidermy), whichregularly holdslive performances, shows movies, and hosts record-release events. Visitors also can step into thetiny Record Booth, a refurbished 1947 Voice-o-Graph machine, to record up to two minutes of audio that they can take home on a 6-inch phonograph disc."

"Inside adowntown complexthat also houses the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the shiny, 23-story Omni Hotel sits Hatch Show Print, Nashville’s famous letterpress company. Established in 1879, the print shop created show posters for the likes of Elvis, Hank Williams, Duke Ellington, and Johnny Cash, and its straightforward, graphically bold signs continue to advertise every performance at the Ryman Auditorium to this day. Visitors to the shop can watch designers arrange hand-carved woodblocks or operate theantique letterpress machines that turn out the posters. In the gift shop next to the workroom, it’s a challengeto choose just one image from the colorful wall of posters for sale."

"A Building Full of Noise Grimey’s is the place where Nashvillians buy music and catch numerous in-store performances. The Basement, located in the floor below, is where Nashvillians go for the slate of cutting-edge indie bands booked by Grimey himself. An annex with books and coffee, Howlin’ Books, is under way. By Melissa Davis"

"A Place to Listen, Learn, and Shop The best creative spaces should be hard to describe. And that’s the case with this building in East Nashville that hosts a record store, a vintage décor shop, a local designer’s boutique, and a backyard area where bands play on a separate front porch under a string of paper lanterns and before an audience sipping beer and sometimes sitting in the grass."

"Guitar Greats This famed guitar shop opened in 1970 and recently relocated from downtown to this space on 8th Ave. It’s where you’ll find an enormous range of equipment from starter guitars to a 1940 Stromberg Master 400 owned by Freddie Green in the Count Basie Orchestra and still strung with Freddie strings. Even if you don't play, this place is worth a visit."

"After the Grand Ole Opry left the Ryman Auditorium, country legend Roy Acuff said the redbrickbuilding with its Gothic arches and stained glass windowsmight as well be torn down. The Rymanhad been home to performances and broadcasts since the 1940s, but it wasin poor condition and lacked air-conditioning and proper dressing rooms. Fortunately, its legacy as “The Mother Church of Country Music” prevailed and, after years of sitting practically empty, the auditorium was renovated and began hosting shows once again. Originally built as a church, the grand hall has spectacular acoustics and a lingering magic in its pews from all those years spent witnessing country music history. A trip here is practically obligatory when visiting the Music City."

"The radio show that made country music famous, the Grand Ole Opry aired its first broadcast in 1925 and continues to entertain music lovers to this day. Held weekly, the show involves a fast-moving, rotating cast of musicians performing onstage, with past guests including legends like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline. It moved from the Ryman Auditorium downtown to this eponymous, purpose-built theater in 1974, and while you won’t find much else in the area, a trek to the Opry is a Nashville tradition worth indulging."