Nashville is undoubtedly the capital of the South
It’s obvious
When you hear “Capital of the South,” what cities come to mind? Atlanta, Georgia? Charlotte, North Carolina? Roanoke, Virginia? How about Nashville, Tennessee? That’s right – country music’s not-too-big, not-too-small home should be considered the real capital of the South.
It’s Music City, U.S.A.
Let’s start with Nashville 101: we love our music. Yes, we love our country music. Even if some of us don’t like to admit it. But there’s so much more to the Nashville music scene than that sweet twangy sound. We have a wide variety of indie acts frequenting our stages.
The popular Exit/In venue has hosted Johnny Cash, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elvis Costello, Muddy Waters, and many other iconic musicians. The beautiful thing about the Nashville music scene is that you never know when you’re looking at the next big thing on stage. It’s enough to keep your eyes–and ears–open at all times.
Hot Chicken is life
“I’ve had hot wings before, though,” you say because you are a naive, small child.
You know nothing of Nashville hot chicken. Except for that crappy KFC hot chicken that dare put Nashville in its name. Hot chicken is marinated in cayenne pepper before it is fried to golden perfection. It’s then served on white bread (which sops up all that spicy goodness) and topped with pickles (which cool the palette with a bit of tang because we have a merciful God indeed). We have a Hot Chicken Coalition which hosts an annual festival, which shines brighter with Americana than any firework on the fourth of July.
If you want to shake things up a bit, you can get all sorts of hot chicken items, like these beautiful hot chicken tacos.
For the pescatarian crowd, there’s also hot catfish (which is amazing). If you’re vegan or vegetarian, we also have hot tempeh or spicy soy from some of our hipster East Nashville restaurants.
Jack White lives here
My brother once met him at a Nashville Predators game and he describes him as “tall and really awesome.” Plus Justin Timberlake also lives here. In fact, many stars have called Nashville home, mostly because of our laid-back attitude and overall realness.
It’s the Athens of the South
Me during my school days at a fine Nashville institution
As if the full-scale replica of the Parthenon where Athena resides (the largest statue in the Western Hemisphere) wasn’t enough, we were also the first Southern city to establish a public school system. We’re also the home to schools like Vanderbilt, Fisk, and Tennessee State University.
We figured that if we were gonna be awesome, we need to be educated, too.
You can get away from the city pretty easy
On top of having some amazing parks, it’s easy to get away from the hustle and bustle of Nashville. (Don’t know why you would want to do that anyway, but you do you.)
Nearby Franklin has one of the best Main Streets in America, the strangely beautiful Cumberland Caverns is just a day trip away, and when county fair season rolls around, you’re smack dab in the middle of the Wilson, Williamson, and Cheatham County fairs (And you get to argue with your friends about which one had the most unstable rides).
But the city is actually awesome
Whether you’re checking out the latest exhibition at the Frist Museum or flipping off the obnoxious Pedal Tavern patrons Downtown, you know you’re going to have a great time.
Nashville has something for everyone: the outdoorsy, the artsy, the party-goers, the church-goers, etc. It’s the place where the old meets the new, the rural meets the metro. You’ll find all the churches on Gay Street and all the gay bars on Church Street.
It is a city of sweet contradiction that is bursting at the seams with people desperate to get in on all the awesome.