The Infamous Witch. El Protector. Opryland. The Strange Case of Scenic Drive. Blogger Aunt B. of TinyCatPants uses Google Maps to link to the "locations" of her original Nashville-area ghost stories, one for every day of October. Link takes you to the map; start with "The Infamous Witch."
posted by emjaybee on Oct 27, 2009 - 13 comments

Multiple stories (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) from and about Tent City, a homeless encampment in Nashville, Tennessee.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Sep 28, 2009 - 18 comments

Character actor and comedian Henry Gibson died today at 73. [more inside]
posted by QuestionableSwami on Sep 16, 2009 - 62 comments

Sometimes, when you've had your fill of people basking in the golden light of their self-righteous indignation, you just wanna hear a song about somebody telling those holier-than-thou-ers where to get off. Something like, say, Harper Valley PTA. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Apr 24, 2008 - 39 comments

Porter Wagoner has gone to his reward. [more inside]
posted by smartyboots on Oct 29, 2007 - 41 comments

Do you have a hard time relating to popular country music? Hank III is doing his best to play country music the way he thinks it should be. Not everyone likes him, but he drives some folks wild. [more inside]
posted by nola on Oct 8, 2007 - 49 comments

Boots Randolph has died. The Nashville saxophonist's signature was the hit Yakety Sax, better known to some as the Benny Hill Theme Song. Boots was one of the A-Team studio musicians who defined the Nashville Sound. He played with Elvis, recorded hundreds of albums both as backup and headliner, and never retired from performing. Listen to his music.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot on Jul 10, 2007 - 13 comments

Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, and Loud, Loud Music Photgrapher Henry Horenstein's Honky-Tonk: Portraits of Country Music, 1972-1981 captures a sound in transition. This evocative collection of informal, black-and-white portraits of country musicians and fans in bars, backstage, and on the road illustrate a decade when smoky roadhouses and venerated venues began to give way to the more mainstream Countrypolitan or "Nashville" sound. Seminal artists like Mother Maybelle Carter and Bill Monroe mingled backstage with shinier newcomers like Dolly Parton and Anne Murray. But even as the commercial sound was dominating, youngsters mixing with old-timers sparked the first wave of old-time/bluegrass revival, and some of the artists who got started then still carry the torch for a non-Nashville sound today. In this online exhibit you can watch it all unfold.
posted by Miko on Feb 2, 2007 - 30 comments

Prince's Hot Chicken. Three words that get Nashvillians (and others) sweating and drooling. Don't believe me? Ask Yo La Tengo.
posted by 1f2frfbf on Jan 24, 2007 - 23 comments

Meet Becca Stevens, Episcopal priest, Tennessean of the year, Nashvillian of the year, author, podcaster and wife of an equally cool husband. In addition to tending her flock and raising a family, the Rev. Becca runs Magdalene House, a residential program for women overcoming lives of addiction and prostitution that has an 87% success rate. Women in the program work at Thistle Farms, making all natural lotions, balms and bath products that put Mary Kaye to shame.
posted by Biblio on Apr 10, 2006 - 8 comments

Former Nashville Music Venue Manager Files Lawsuit in Seattle Against Comedian and “Arrested Development” Actor David Cross and Sub Pop Records for Copyrighting his Likeness on “Shut Up, You Fucking Baby!” which was Nominated for a Grammy for Best Comedy Album of the Year in 2003. With video.
posted by mr.marx on Oct 15, 2005 - 34 comments

Nashville cops target gays: Since the fall of 2004, officers at the Hermitage Police Precinct have been quietly conducting a sting operation exclusively targeting gay men. Nobody there denies that.
posted by mrgrimm on Jun 23, 2005 - 40 comments

Last Saturday afternoon, protesters used Nashville's public Musica statue (which features nine bronze nude dancing figures) as the backdrop for a protest against such disparate issues as abortion, strip clubs, and homosexuality. Calling themselves the Pure Life Revolution, the group describes itself as "a prayer and repentance movement on behalf of purity, justice, righteousness. We are a moral outcry for society." [MI]
posted by ChrisTN on May 31, 2005 - 34 comments

Husband Wanted. Girl looking for husband in Nashville, TN, puts picture on billboard. "I just want one man driving by this billboard who wants to marry me." Is this a Red state thing?
posted by metaforth on Nov 25, 2004 - 59 comments

The Citypaper, sort of the Fox News of Nashville newspapers, ran an editorial today advocating the partial legalization of drugs and prostitution in Nashville. Could such an idea ever be sold in the Buckle of the Bible Belt?
posted by mikrophon on May 16, 2003 - 20 comments

The Nashville Scene proudly presents the 12th Annual Boner Awards. Named for disgraced Nashville mayor Bill Boner, this is a rundown of all things "goofy, grisly and gnarly" that went down this year in Music City. From nude fender-benders to shop-lifting Vice Mayors, it's local interest, Nashvegas style.
(The previous few years are also available for the truly curious.)
posted by mikrophon on Dec 18, 2002 - 11 comments

Loaves and Fishes. Neatly tucked in amongst guitar stores and honky tonks, these folks are serving up the Bread of Life in Downtown Nashville.
posted by mikrophon on Oct 11, 2002 - 7 comments