Posts Tagged ‘international bluegrass music association’
Nashville can thank Fisk, not fiddles, for its nickname
Did you know that Nashville’s identity as Music City didn’t originally have anything to do with country music? The Fisk Jubilee Singers, who celebrate their 138th anniversary with a performance today, received high praise from the England’s Queen Victoria when singing for her during a fund-raising tour in 1871. Impressed by what she heard, the queen remarked that the singers must hail from the “city of music.”
The queen was right. In the years since that fateful trip, Nashville has never relinquished that name. It may be even more true today than in the past, as the city’s music scene is more vibrant and diverse than ever before. That’s clear from looking at Next Big Nashville, the festival opening its fourth-annual session today, and last week’s International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass events, and that’s just scratching the surface. Nashville is fortunate to have such a large presence in such an important creative industry, even as the recording industry struggles to embrace the digital era.
Tags: fisk jubilee singers, fisk university, international bluegrass music association, music, music city, nashville, next big nashville, recording industry, tennessee, the tennessean, WTVF-TV
