It’s Not Just About Acme Feed & Seed. It’s About The Soul of Nashville
Nashville has a choice, and it’s one with major implications on how the city will be perceived heading into the future, its economic viability as a tourist destination, and how the musicians and the music fans who actually live in Nashville will be both supported by the city, and be able to enjoy the city they call home.
In late December of 2025, the U.K.-based travel agency Insure and Go conducted an in-depth study into the most “authentic” and “inauthentic” cities and tourist destinations in the world. As most any country music fan probably knows, “authenticity” is one of the hallmarks of the country genre, and thus, of Music City. Is an artist perfecting a put-on, or are they being true to themselves? Turns out that cities and towns can be judged similarly.
Insure and Go analyzed over 1.3 million online travel reviews for how often travelers described restaurants, attractions, shops, museums, and cultural venues as ‘authentic’ or ‘traditional’ in over 140 cities. They then calculated how many times locations were referred to as ‘tourist traps’ or ‘inauthentic.’ Then they created an ‘Authenticity Score’ from 1 to 100 to diagnose the cities offering the most authentic experiences around the world, and those offering the most inauthentic.
Where did Nashville rate on that scale? It came in at the 4th most inauthentic city in the entire world, and the 3rd in the United States behind Chicago and Las Vegas with a deplorable score of 3.8 out of 100.
The study concluded, “Known as the ‘Country Music Capital of the World,’ Nashville has been a standout destination for those who want to get immersed in the music genre’s history for quite some time. However, the famous Broadway strip has lost a bit of its shine the more it curates for visitors. Branded bars and polished venues overshadow the more organic local music scene, contributing to its lower authenticity score according to those who’ve been there.”
There might not be a better way to introduce the battle the Lower Broadway venue Acme Feed and Seed is currently undergoing to stay alive—one they seem to be losing, and very quickly. The response from Nashville’s mayor has gone viral and enraged many, especially local musicians who rely on the venue for regular gigs, and local residents who make the venue their regular Lower Broadway haunt, along with the tourists in search for authentic Nashville.
Though all of Lower Broadway tends to be painted with the stereotypical brush of tipsy bachelorette parties on pedal taverns, and cover bands belching out Def Leppard covers from multi-tiered bars named after mainstream country music stars, those who know how to navigate Lower Broadway understand where the pockets of authenticity still linger.
There’s Robert’s Western World, dubbed Nashville’s “Undisputed Home of Traditional Country Music.” There’s AJ’s right across the street owned by Alan Jackson, which also has a surprising list of actual country music artists performing on stage on a nightly basis. There are other bars that also get overlooked, like Layla’s located right next door to Robert’s. And at the very end of the entertainment corridor is Acme Feed and Seed located at 101 Broadway.
But it won’t be located there for very long, unless something changes. Acme Feed and Seed is one of the few Lower Broadway businesses that actively invites in locals as well as tourists, only features original artists as opposed to cover bands, and has been a mainstay stage for country music preservationists such as The Cowpokes.
Acme Feed and Seed operated as an actual feed store for 56 years before it closed in 1999. The building itself dates back to the 1890s, and was opened to be a music venue and restaurant in 2014. Current owner Tom Morales has also helped preserve Nashville’s beloved Loveless Cafe, as well as the city’s historic Woolworth building. Preservation has always been his motivation over profit, but for these historic places to remain open, a profit needs to be turned.
The biggest impediment to turning a profit moving forward is the recent tax hike the business has incurred that will almost immediately put it out of business. “It’s our property tax,” Morales says. “It went from $129,000 a year to $600,000 a year. That’s more than our rent and net profit combined. We can’t pay it. It’s punitive.”
When Morales approached the mayor to at least have a meeting about the nearly half million tax increase in one year, his request was denied. When the local FOX affiliate talked to Mayor Freddie O’Connell, his response was, “It’s not up to me whether he keeps that business open. The market evolves. New businesses start even as beloved old businesses close.”
Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s statement has since set off a firestorm, at least among the local musicians, music fans, and preservationists in Nashville and beyond.
Tom Morales goes on to say, “The way we survive as a city is embracing what is authentic. Tourists see through make-believe. They see a $17 drink and think ‘tourist trap.’ There are towns across America that wish they were Music City — and we’re trying to be Las Vegas. Why?”
This takes us back to the authenticity study out of the U.K. that verifies exactly what Tom Morales asserts. Though Nashville might be getting fat and sassy in the short-term off of $17 drinks and Def Leppard cover bands, they are undermining the authenticity that makes people want to come to Nashville in the first place, and not just from the region, but from all over the world.
Related: Why The Re-Opening of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop Failed
A town like Nashville probably needs businesses and locations that also appeal to a more generalized audience that doesn’t necessarily care about authenticity. The bachelorette parties that locals and other tourists complain about also import a significant amount of revenue into the city that allows local businesses and the music performers they employ to be supported.
But if Lower Broadway and Nashville in general become a monoculture awash in such establishments, it will doom the tourist boom for the city in the long-term, limiting it’s greater appeal to people from all over the world looking for the real deal country music experience locations like Acme Feed and Seed serve up, along with some of the best food on Lower Broadway, incidentally.
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February 18, 2026 @ 12:21 pm
Chicago being the #1 inauthentic city in the world surprises the hell out of me. Ahead of Vegas seems crazy. On that list I have been to Chicago, Vegas, and Vancouver. I thought Vegas and Vancouver were worse than Chicago for sure. In fact, putting anywhere ahead of Vegas makes me question the results. Vegas sucks (there are great things about it, but it sucks).
February 18, 2026 @ 12:47 pm
I had that same thought too initially, but I think what’s baked into that is that Chicago used to be a big tourist destination for Europeans, and has probably fallen off dramatically over recent years due to the crime and such. Also, Chicago also does have some pretty hack tourist trap stuff like The Bean.
Chicago also has some of the best art museums between the coasts and other great stuff. But I took the score as a reflection on Chicago the tourist destination, not necessarily how “authentic” the town is.
February 18, 2026 @ 1:18 pm
That makes sense. And as I think about Chicago it was like 30 years ago I was there. Shit changes.
February 18, 2026 @ 12:28 pm
I’ve never been there and never will go there. It’s called Nashvegas for a reason. The city made a choice to be what it is. When the CMA Awards moved out of the Opry to Bridgestone Arena, that told me everything.
February 18, 2026 @ 2:18 pm
Todd,
There was a time i shared your sentiment, but I have friends and relatives in Nashville and some of the most rewarding musical experiences in my life have taken place there in the last decade or so. There does remain an authentic culture in Nashville, if you know where to find it. You could have the time of your life there or you could throw away a lot of money and be disappointed, it depends on what you’re looking for and what your attitude is. I’ve taken a fair amount of folks there over the years and they’ve always come away loving the experience.
February 18, 2026 @ 12:30 pm
Mayor Freddie O’Connell is an LGBTQ Democrat.
February 18, 2026 @ 12:53 pm
From what little I read online a city mayor cannot directly control property tax rates. My guess is that the value of the Acme building with it’s large square footage has increased exponentially and thus influenced the property tax rate. You would think elected officials would care about maintaining the culture of the city and try to keep some elements of Nashville true to it’s roots – but the gay pride events will persist nonetheless, and the musicians who are decrying this issue will sooner pack up and go back to Ohio than vote for a Republican mayor. You can say “Well the Republicans would do the same!” Maybe but considering who is in power now and how things currently are…what does that tell you?
February 18, 2026 @ 1:01 pm
What in the world does *anything* written about here have to do with gay rights and pride events?! You might want to put aside your own bizarre, brain-scrambling bigotry long enough to try to formulate a coherent sentence.
February 18, 2026 @ 1:21 pm
It’s very obvious but I will explain it like you are in 7th grade. O’Connell’s remarks in regards to Acme’s survival was essentially that he didn’t give a damn. He ran for office as the Nashville Progressive option for the mayoral position and he closely aligned himself with LGTBQ causes. While the culture and music that made Nashville is slowly being suffocated, the gay pride events will be as big as ever.
February 18, 2026 @ 2:22 pm
One thing I’ll say here is there is a lot of people hectoring the Acme owner because he voted for the Mayor, or because he’s a Democrat and saying, “You got what you voted for.”
If you’re against exorbitant taxes and bad governance, this is a great teachable moment. Don’t shame people just because they have a different political persuasion. Fans and performers from the right and the left enjoy Acme Feed and Seed. It’s not a political business.
February 18, 2026 @ 1:33 pm
“…brain-scrambling bigotry…”
Having an opposing view is not bigotry. 🙄
February 18, 2026 @ 1:04 pm
The mayor likely does not have the unilateral authority to issue a property tax exemption. He’s also the most powerful man in the city government, and the first person you would want to talk to in an effort to alleviate the problem. It doesn’t make sense to me that taxes would nearly quintuple over one year as opposed to going up moderately like everything else. That is what has made this so existential. Requesting some dispensation to a more reasonable hike seems to me to be a reasonable solution. If you have abandoned buildings all throughout your city because of intrusive tax codes, that doesn’t help anyone.
February 18, 2026 @ 1:18 pm
My numbers will be off some but roughly calculating the $600,000 property tax means the ACME property is valued at around 100 million. Finding a way to mark certain establishments as culturally relevant seems to be the only way out.
O’Connell’s remarks directly contradict this puff piece in 2023.
https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/09/18/a-bloody-clipboard-and-biodiesel-car-the-story-behind-freddie-oconnells-rise-to-nashville-mayor/
February 18, 2026 @ 1:02 pm
I mean, they don’t call it Nash Vegas for nothing. Having lived somewhat near Nashville and in Las Vegas, before that, the comparison isn’t a hard one to make. While being a party city isn’t bad for business in the short term, it can be pretty problematic in the long run as people start to look for more authentic – and cheaper – ways to spend their time. Not living near there anymore, I have no intentions of ever going to Nashville voluntarily ever again.
February 18, 2026 @ 1:20 pm
With the influx of people moving to the area from out of state, Nashville’s culture has been watered down. Now it doesn’t feel any different than every other big city. I used to go to Nashville annually starting around 1990. Stopped doing that about 15 years ago when it got too touristy. That being said, I understand why the present version appeals to more people. Frankly, authentic Nashville was a dump.
February 18, 2026 @ 1:37 pm
Who gives a shit what a UK company has to say? Lol. Nashville will be fine. The tax hike is insane, and should be dealt with. I’m sure there are legal actions Mr. Morales can pursue. The fact that the mayor wouldn’t talk to him should be alarming to all business owners.
February 18, 2026 @ 3:07 pm
The mayor may be talking to other people with deeper pockets. Let’s face it, SOMEBODY wants that corner piece of property in downtown Nashville. But where does it end? Robert’s and Tootsie’s are in this prime area, also. How long before someone decides they want the Ryman Auditorium for their little neon club? Trigger might need to do a little investigative reporting on Mr. Mayor and sees what is up with him.
February 18, 2026 @ 3:56 pm
I’ll say this about the mayor: he really stepped in it here, and was very non-political in his response. You divert, you delay, you make veiled promises to “look into” something. You don’t say, “Hey, sucks to be them.”
Remember when Jelly Roll was asked to speak about the political climate at the Grammys and he told them, “I’m gonna have a lot to say in a week!” Well guess what, it’s been two, and mum’s the word. He had no intention of speaking. It was just to get the mic and camera out of his face.
The Nashville mayor made himself the boogey man in this situation when he probably has little to do with it. If there’s any silver lining, maybe now that he’s made a PR nightmare for himself, Mr. Mayor will have a greater incentive to look into it to help clean it up.
February 18, 2026 @ 1:50 pm
I’ve been following this story on socials for the last day or two and just saw your take on the situation.
Some thoughts…Broadway is a center of commerce, the modern version of Opryland. It hasn’t been that way very long in the whole timeline of country music in Nashville. The most meaningful things in country music in Nashville don’t happen on Broadway.
Morales is noted as having saved Loveless Cafe. That’s all well and good but that place is also a tourist attraction. The city has lost a number of truly local Meat & 3s such as Dandgure’s and those businesses were far more *authentic* and valuable than Loveless or Acme
Authenticity as it relates to country music is still alive and well in the city. If you’re looking downtown or on Broadway, you won’t find it.
The former home of Groove Records in East Nashville was recently torn down. That was a significant, *authentic* music location in the city. That was a much more significant loss to the community than the Acme situation.
Seems like some of the more conservative members of the community are barking about their usual hot button issues. Capitalism is capitalism. If for whatever reason your business fails, the city doesn’t owe you anything. You want a handout to save your business? You must be a socialist or communist.
We need to see better quality news about what exactly is happening with the business. At the moment, what “news” we’re getting is only coming from Fox or social media. Neither are well-known sources for good news about complicated subjects such as this.
February 18, 2026 @ 2:18 pm
A couple of things I’d like to point out respectfully.
“The most meaningful things in country music in Nashville don’t happen on Broadway.”
As I said in the article, people love to paint Lower Broadway with a broad brush that is not always fair. We all understand the majority of businesses down there are for douchebags, and by douchebags. But there are also a host of businesses like Acme Feed & Seed that help support traditional country artists that I talk about here at Saving Country Music all the time, artists like The Cowpokes, Joshua Hedley, The Royal Hounds, Wild Bill, Sarah Gayle Meech, Victoria Camp, and so on, and so forth. It’s the economic activity of Lower Broadway that allows them to have sustainable careers playing traditional country music that otherwise might not be economically viable.
“If for whatever reason your business fails, the city doesn’t owe you anything. You want a handout to save your business? You must be a socialist or communist.”
Nowhere have I seen the owner of Acme ask for a handout. The business is not failing because of low economic activity. It’s failing because their property tax got raised by FIVE TIMES over the span of a single year. This is not about the city bailing a business out. This is about the city destroying a locally-owned business with an economic policy any economist would tell you is terrible governance.
If the property tax went up 20% year over year, they figure out how to cinch the belt, raise prices, book more private events in their private event space, etc. to figure out how to make it work. No single standing brick and mortar business is going to be able to shoulder a $500,000 overhead hike overnight. And what I have been able to confirm is other businesses on Lower Broadway are facing this same thing.
It would be terrible governance/economic policy for the city to hollow out Lower Broadway and the revenue engine it has become for the city by imposing massive property tax spikes. At $500,000/a year for property taxes, NO business will be sustainable at that location.
This is just bad policy all the way around.
February 18, 2026 @ 3:35 pm
I appreciate the response. I think there is work available on Broadway but I don’t think it’s wise for anyone to expect it to be sustainable. It’s just another gig until it ain’t. The only significant commercial venue, IMO, that truly was an incubator for up and coming artists was the Station Inn. It is also in the rare situation of truly being a major historical and culturally important landmark. Robert’s is perhaps the only place on Broadway that comes close. Having watched the rise of the Cowpokes, I would argue that it was their regular gigs at the Legion Hall, a social club, that supported their foundation. The Station Inn is the only other place that actively, altruistically supported musicians. The Bluebird might be a similar situation.
As to taxes, TN in general does a horrible job with collecting taxes in a fair, just manner and then spending the money in a way that provides value to the citizens.
I still seek better news and more details about the whole situation.
February 18, 2026 @ 4:00 pm
Joshua Hedley has created a sustainable, national impacting career from his regular position at Robert’s Western World. As he puts it, he can tour around the country to entertain people (and he does tour regularly). Or, he can have the world come to him at Robert’s, with a different crowd there each night.
Daniel Donato started out busking outside of Robert’s. Then he got to play Telecatser for the Don Kelley Band. Now he’s a national touring artist selling out venues and playing headlining slots at festivals.
I agree we need to continue to look into the situation, and I fully intend to. But I don’t think there’s any mystery here of what the underlying issue is, especially after I confirmed a neighboring property is facing the same thing. There was a massive, massive property tax hike that will be unsustainable for any business. Seems like addressing that will solve all kinds of problems.
February 18, 2026 @ 2:05 pm
Acmes a very decent venue. I have seen many a Cowpokes show there. For years, they had a Friday Brunch gig held weekly, it was a great time. They also have had a bluegrass brunch. Wild Bill is a frequent performer. Additionally there are some great blues shows happening with local talented musicians like JD Simo, Austin John, Mckinley James, Hi-Jivers and many others. I am saddened by the reckless stupidity of those behind the exorbitant taxation being thrust upon the business. This will benefit no one. Acme packs people in on multiple floors, how would another business do any better? There are reasons why this is happening, but I’ll leave people to their own opinions on the matter. Clearly though, this is unsustainable.
February 18, 2026 @ 2:50 pm
“Authenticity” is such a vague and subjective construct that I struggle to see how a UK-based poll ranking the alleged authenticity of various American cities has much real meaning. That said, people being priced out of their homes and businesses due to exorbitant tax hikes is obviously a serious issue…just not one that has anything to do with LGBTQ or Jews or women who work outside the home or whoever else some moronic MAGAs on this thread have decided to scapegoat.
For the “Republicans would never let this kind of injustice happen!” crowd —yeah, they would and they have. Many, many times. True conservatives tend to be interested in lowering taxes and “conserving” the institutions, establishments and values many hold dear, but Trump’s party is not by any definition conservative. Instead of conserving, they destroy. Instead of valuing character and integrity, they cast aside all morals to support a psychopathic, cheating, lying conman. Instead of valuing SMALL government, it supports fascism. Instead of being the party of “law and order” as we former Republicans used to believe, it’s now the party that chaotically tramples all over the law and the Constitution to satisfy the whims of its cult leader.
So this is not about the fact that Nashville’s mayor is a Democrat. It’s about broader economic trends and injustices that both parties are culpable for.
February 18, 2026 @ 3:49 pm
Authenticity is not riding a horse to work or having been to prison as the detractors of the term like to characterize it. It’s about being true to yourself and coming across as real, whatever your real self happens to be.
February 18, 2026 @ 3:13 pm
I first went to Nashville in Sept 2001, and we went up and down lower broadway from one local bar to the next all night. What wasn’t bars was guitar stores, Hatch Show Print, and other local businesses that have been around as long as the music industry. I next went to Nashville in 2008-ish, and it was more or less the same – up and down lower broadway and it was almost all local bars. Some stuff had changed, but not much. When I went in 2022 (finally saw REK at the Ryman!), lower broadway was soulless generic brand new bars with a pop country singer’s name on the front and the Gap. No buskers, no bars that have been there for 50 or 100 years, Hatch Show Print shoved out and moved to the hall of fame. Just a bland entertainment street that could just as easily be anywhere else in the country. I’d say Las Vegas is way more authentic than Nashville now – at least it has some things that you really can’t find in other cities.
February 18, 2026 @ 3:41 pm
One of the very few places I’ll stop at on Broadway. Love catching shows there, from The Cowpokes to Wild Bill and The Bruisers. Hope to see something worked out because not many places left on Broadway to catch real authentic and original country music.