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HOW NASHVILLE BECAME MUSIC CITY

Nashville's musical roots go back to the very beginning. Legend has it the city's first real "Star" was Davy Crockett. It's said he used the fiddle-playing skills he learned in Tennessee to rouse the troops at the Alamo.

By 1824, Nashville was already in the music publishing business. That first effort produced a hymnal, paving the way for Nashville to eventually become the established headquarters for religious music and publishing that it is today.

In the last 1850,s, Charles Benson wrote and published the tune, "Here's Your Mule." Although it might not get much radio play nowadays, it was an immensely popular song during the Civil War and the first of Nashville's many hits.

A decade later, the city produced it's first touring group. Not long after the Civil War ended, Fisk University was founded in Nashville fhr the higher education of blacks. As financial woes mounted for the young university, the school's choral group, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, embarked on an international tour in an effort to raise funds. Jubilee Hall stands today as a reminder of the group's rousing sucess and the Fisk Jubilee Singers were honored with a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in 2006.

The Mother Church of Country Music
In 1892, the Union Gospel Tabernacle was completed in downtown Nashville. The a coustics were so perfect, it was soon hailed as the Carnegie Hall of the South, doing double duty as a church and concert hall. Upon the death of riverboat Capt. Tom Ryman, the building's primary benefactor, there was a vote to change the name of the building and today, it's known the world over as the Ryman Auditorium. It's three-decade stint as the home of the Grand Ole Opry, in conjunction with its religious roots, led to its well-known nickname, the Mother Church of Country Music.

By the turn of the century, Nashville had it's first permanent music publishing business, a union chapter of the American Federation of Musicians, and a resident songwriter. The city was well on its way to being recognized as one of seveeral American music centers when WSM radio was founded in 1925. The fledgling station would catapult the city's musical reputation to the next level. In 1932, WSM was granted clear-channel status, which made its programming available to much of the country. Each Saturdayn night, after a sateliite broadcast of the New York Opera, the station aired a down-home program known as the "WSM Barn Dance", featuring pickers and singers from across the rural Southeastern United States.

On evening in 1927, announcer George D. Hay quipped, "Folks, for the last hour, you've been listening to music taken largely from the grand opera - well, y'all just sit on back 'cause from now on you're gonna hear the Grand Ole Opry!". And a legend was born.

A Mecca for Songwriters
Once the city was clearly established as a performance center, it didn't tak elong to extend its musical reach to the businness side of the industry. Popular Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff teamed up with Fred rose to form the Acuff-Rose song publishing firm. By 1944, RCA Victor had come to town to record the music of Eddy Arnold, and that was the beginning of the recording industry. A few years later, the city had its first million-selling song and had to build a record-pressing plant to keep up with demand. That plant is still in operation today and visitors can take scheduled tours of some of the plant's preserved history and current operations.

In 1950, another WSM announcer coineda phrase that, like the Grand Ole Opry, would become famous. Ad-libbing on the air, David Cobb referred to Nashville as Music City USA. Even back then, he didn't limit the moniker to one genre, and that inclusiveness still holds true today. Nashville's reputation as both a creative and business center for the entertainment induscty has attracted musicians from all genres. Elvis Presley, James Brown, the Everly Brothers, Sir Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Buffet, Bob Dylan, Nelly and Jon Bon Jovi are just a few of the musicians that have written, recorded and produced hits in Nashville.

For more than 200 years, music has shaped the history of Nashville. And in return, Nashville has shaped the very nature of music in America and around the world. Today, Music City still attracts not only visitors with a song in their hearts, but also thousands of songwriters, musicians, singers, producers and engineers from far and wide. From it's early religious and country roots, Nashville has grown into a true center for all musical styles, so it's no wonder that this is the place music calls home.