Posts Tagged ‘music city’
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
Airport doesn’t need a “legendary” name
I really hope no one decides to name Nashville International Airport after a country music legend:
Would we have bumpy landings at Dolly Parton International Airport? Would you like the all-black décor of the Johnny Cash International Airport? Would the terminal in Al Gore International be unusually warm? Would a few flights be no-shows at George Jones International?
I’ve struggled to reconcile the negative elements of Nashville’s identity as Music City with the emerging reality that we are a growing and progressive city, and I don’t think naming the airport after a country star is a good idea. I have come to respect the incredible amount of talent here in town and to acknowledge that there is a great deal of great music, plenty of it country, written and recorded here.
That said, we are extremely well known for our musical pedigree, and unfortunately that sometimes means that the pejorative pieces of that legacy are what people elsewhere choose to focus on. Naming one of the front doors of our community, the airport, after someone who will only reinforce that image doesn’t help the city in the long run. Let’s name it after Dick Fulton, Phil Bredesen, Bill Purcell or Ross Alderman instead.
[Full disclosure: My employer works on behalf of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority. I have no involvement with that work; I just think the suggestions referenced above are poor choices for an airport name.]
Tags: bill purcell, country music, dick fulton, dolly parton, george jones, johnny cash, music city, nashville, nashville international airport, phil bredesen, ross alderman, the city paper, the tennessean
