Why do musicians like Jack White lof the White Stripes live in Nashville? Many more musicians do today than did in 1970, when Nashville was just a country-music town, says Richard Florida. In fact, he says, musicians have become more clustered geographically than they used to be. Excerpt:
While Nashville may not possess the size and scale of New York City, the celebrity-making allure of L.A., the top-40 hit-making appeal of Atlanta, or even the critical cachet of Austin or Montreal, across many genres it possesses the world's best writing and studio talent and the best recording infrastructure. Today, it's home to over 180 recording studios, 130 music publishers, 100 live music clubs, and 80 record labels. It's turned into the Silicon Valley of the music business, combining the best institutions, the best infrastructure, and the best talent. And, like Silicon Valley's broad reach across many high-tech fields from hardware to software, biotech to green energy, Nashville has become the center for multiple musical genres from country and gospel to rock and pop, attracting top talent from across the United States and the globe.
Plus, it seems to me Nashville is a much saner place to raise your kids than L.A. or NYC. Chris Willman, what say ye?
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Having been a kid who was raised in Los Angeles (though I've never been to Nashville), I'd guess that Nashville was a much healthier place to raise a kid than L.A.
In L.A. we saw the Hollywood slop-over factor, due to the influence of the HOllywood industry-- even though as kids we were certainly aware but didn't realize just how into our lives it protruded. Hollywood is all about looks and image; and that pressure spills over into the general populace, which is why so many people there seem pre-occupied with how they look and what they're driving. I didn't realize how yucky it all was until I got out of it and found myself in Seattle. What a cultural shock. And Nashville would be even more, no doubt. In fact, if it weren't for the killer humidity, I'm sure I'd enjoy Nashville a great deal. But since I'd be taking three showers a day in that kind of humidity I'll be staying in Seattle. :-) But culturally, Nashville sounds wonderful. And I had heard there were a lot of musicians making very nice livings via multitudinous recording gigs.
Well, if you think raising your kid to expect his granola to be rolled in corn meal and deep fried and to choose from 500 different varieties of Baptist for worship is a good idea, move to Nashville.
If I had to summarize Nashville for someone of Rod’s perspective, I’d say—crunchy si, con no. In Nashville, the people who care about things like community and environment tend to be simply across-the-board cultural liberals. Our conservatives tend to be people like the earlier poster who loves Mark Levin. He, and Michael Savage and Ann Coulter and Jabba the Rush pretty much set the tone for the right around here. And, as noted above, we’re the state everybody thinks New Hampshire is about taxation. Woe to anyone around here who suggests that there might be more to conservatism than that. As for the homeless problem, it really is worse here than anyplace I’ve ever seen. When I first came to Nashville, total strangers would greet one another and chat pleasantly on the streets of downtown. The panhandlers have put an end to all of that—if someone says hello to you on the street, you assume that he’s about to hit you up for money. Also, believe it or not., there a re only a few places in town where you can get good barbecue. (The best is in little country towns just east of Memphis.) The public schools, if not satisfactory, are at least not an intellectual (or actual) death sentence for your children. And there are some really good private schools here. My wife and I have raised three sons here, more or less successfully. As for music, there is a fairly lively scene in the clubs, though you won’t see big name artists—usually it’s newer talent trying to break in.
All in all, I love the town—but as a Mississippian in exile, there’s only one place that will ever be home to me.
Brian Roberts, we want to hang with you if our family moves to the Nashville area. You sound simpatico!
Having lived in Nashville for 12 years before moving back closer to family in Alabama, I take issue with this comment:
Well, if you think raising your kid to expect his granola to be rolled in corn meal and deep fried and to choose from 500 different varieties of Baptist for worship is a good idea, move to Nashville.
While it's true there are tons of Baptists around (it is after all the headquarters for the SBC), there are tons of great churches there of all stripes. Multiple great non-denominationals like Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood. Several great conservative Anglican congregations like St. Bartholomew's in the Green Hills area or Church of the Resurrection in Franklin (about 10 minutes outside of Nashville proper). A thriving Eastern Orthodox church, St. Ignatius Orthodox Church, also in Franklin. Several outstanding Presbyterian congregations like Christ Presbyterian or Christ Community Church in Franklin. There's Holy Family Catholic Church in Brentwood. I literally could go on and on. I knew people that went to great churches all over town and honestly very few were Baptist. And these are all churches of decent size (some quite large actually), not some small hole in the wall congregation with no youth or children's programs and such.
Nashville and the surrounding communities (Goodlettsville, Smyrna, Mt. Juliet, Hermitage, Brentwood, Franklin, etc.) are rich with wonderful, orthodox (small "o") Christian churches of the non-Baptist stripe.
Now, smaller towns in Alabama are another story...
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