Johnny Cash Restaurant to Replace Promised Merle Haggard Museum
In October of 2017, traditional country fans were all giddy to read that a proper museum for Merle Haggard was on the way in Nashville’s Lower Broadway district where similar museums for Johnny Cash, George Jones, and Patsy Cline hold court, finally giving fans of the Hag a Mecca to herd to after his death in 2016.
The estate of Merle Haggard had partnered with Icon Entertainment’s Bill Miller to launch the Merle Haggard Museum to be located at 121 Third Ave. S. in Nashville, which is right next door to the Johnny Cash museum. The location was also going to house “Merle’s Meat + 3 Saloon”—a restaurant concept operated by the Swett Family of the Swett Restaurant.
“The world lost one of the greatest country singers of all time and I lost the love of my life when Merle Haggard died on his 79th birthday April 6, 2016,” said Theresa Haggard, Merle’s widow, as part of the announcement on October 30th, 2017. “Now, nearly one and half years later, I have partnered with my friends Bill and Shannon Miller, owners of the acclaimed Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline Museums to open the Merle Haggard Museum. Merle would be very happy knowing that his museum will be next door to his dear friend Johnny Cash.”
Bill and Shannon Miller also own Nudie’s Honky Tonk, Skull’s Rainbow Room, and other Nashville concepts. The Swett Family has been running Swett’s Restaurant for 64 years.
“My family is honored to join with our dear friends, the Haggard family, to bring a new, world-class museum to Nashville,” said Bill Miller, Founder of Icon Entertainment Group at the time. “Merle Haggard is one of the most iconic country music singers and songwriters of all time. We are very excited to begin the process of designing and building Merle’s museum which will also feature a Southern-style restaurant and saloon bearing his name.”
The museum and restaurant was scheduled to be opened in the “summer of 2018.” The restaurant was going to be on the ground floor of the establishment, with the museum on the top floor. But the summer of 2018 came and went, an no new word on the progress of the museum was given. There was nothing about the installations or artifacts it might include. No menu for the restaurant was published. And in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, many folks forgot they were promised a Merle Haggard museum at all.
Then on February 5th, 2019, a press release went out across the wires announcing a new restaurant was coming to Lower Broadway in Nashville called Johnny Cash’s Kitchen and Saloon. Once again the owner and operator was going to be Icon Entertainment’s Bill Miller. Once again the restaurateur was going to be the Swett Family. And once again the location was going to be right beside the Johnny Cash Museum, and where the Merle Haggard Museum and restaurant was supposed to be.
“I’m beyond thrilled to expand our extremely successful relationship with the Cash Estate through this ground-breaking food and beverage concept,” said Icon Entertainment CEO Bill Miller in the press release. “My relationship with the Cash family extends to nearly my entire life, and there’s no greater pleasure for me and my family than continuing our partnership well into the future. The impression Johnny Cash left on Nashville is indelible and this venture further confirms that his presence will be a dominant force here for many years to come.”
Cathy Sullivan, representative of The John R. Cash Trust said, “On behalf of the Cash family and estate, I am honored and excited to have this additional alliance with Bill Miller to expand celebrating the lives of John and June Cash. Johnny Cash is still a vibrant force in the Nashville community and beyond. It is a fitting tribute to bring this unique venue where families and friends may gather in a way that brings new life to the Cash family style of entertaining.”
Clearly one concept has been switched out for the other, but there has been no explanation of why the Merle Haggard museum was scrubbed, and no further plans for a Merle Haggard museum have been announced. Saving Country Music has reached out to the respective parties for explanation, but emails were not immediately returned.
The switch from a Merle Haggard museum and restaurant to a 15,000 sq. ft. food and beverage venue as an extension of the current Johnny Cash Museum is good for helping to keep the memory of the Man in Black alive. But it leaves the legacy of Merle Haggard woefully under-represented in tangible properties for people to trek to. Where country music fans can visit the grave of Johnny Cash and June Carter, and have a range of options to explore their love for Johnny at numerous sites across the South, there’s little that exists for Merle Haggard at the moment aside from an overpass in Redding, California bearing his name, and the railroad car where Haggard was born in Bakersfield that has been moved to the Kern Pioneer Village.
More information on the museum and restaurant switch if and when it becomes available.
February 23, 2019 @ 8:46 am
Oh boy! A Johnny Cash restaurant! Really?! Sheesh…. there are plenty of eating spots on and near Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville. A Merle Haggard museum would have been a fantastic addition to the existing entertainment establishments, and near the Country Music Hall of Fame with its incredible collection of country music artifacts. Anyway, its obvious I don’t like the changes, whatever the reason. Meh, bleh…. color me sad. 🙁
February 23, 2019 @ 10:15 am
Take it to Bakersfeild near Merle`s hometown sounds like Nashville’s getting crowed, with country singers restaurants and bars.
February 23, 2019 @ 11:28 am
Johnny Cash will probably bring in more tourist $$$ than a Merle Haggard restaurant/museum. Nashville is becoming Orlando with a country theme.
February 23, 2019 @ 11:41 am
TRASHVILLE !! Nashville is dead and so are the people who run it. Nuck Fashville is what I say. They can put a Hag museum on wheels and bring it to the world which I think is a better idea than Tenn. haveing another food tourist trap. Merle was a road guy so let’s get it on the road. Just a thought concept, but it would open it up to those who can’t travel to a destination of as yet undetermined.
February 23, 2019 @ 7:04 pm
“Nashville is dead…”
Have you been to Nashville lately? You may not like it or the music coming out of it, but it’s one of the hottest tourist destinations in the country right now.
February 23, 2019 @ 12:03 pm
Come on. Merle deserves it!
February 23, 2019 @ 12:04 pm
Merle was the greatest country singer and songwriter of all time. There is already so much of Cash and Carter in Nashville, and Tennessee as a whole, a little diversity wouldn’t hurt. Would rather see a museum for Merle.
February 23, 2019 @ 12:39 pm
Worth pointing out that we don’t know exactly why they put the kibosh on the Merle Haggard Museum. Could have been that the family didn’t think that the location was right, or they were worried that it would take a back seat to everything else on the property, or that they have something bigger planned. Hopefully there is a Merle Haggard museum at some point, and a Waylon Jennings one as well.
February 23, 2019 @ 2:02 pm
I surely hope that it’s something bigger planned. But, it makes sense that they want to capitalize on the success of the Cash museum. When I visited Nashville last year, I went to both the Johnny Cash Museum and the George Jones Museum, which are not far from each other, as you know, all in the heart of downtown, west side of the river. The Cash museum was hoppin’. Lots of people. Immediately afterwards, we walked to the Jones museum. This was on a beautiful sunny day in June, so the streets were packed with people. Unfortunately, the Jones museum only had a handful of people, even though the size and quality was, to my mind, the same as Cash’s. I loved both, but Cash is definitely bringing-in the revenue. Interestingly, even though the Patsy Cline Museum is immediately above Cash’s, in the same building and with the same ticket booths, I didn’t see or hear anyone getting tickets for both. Admittedly that’s anecdotal. Even we didn’t do it, because $19 a piece (with all of the other money we were spending on Hall of Fame, RCA Studio B, Ryman tour, Ryman show, Opry, etc.) was a bit too much.
February 24, 2019 @ 4:07 pm
I recently went to both as well. The Cash museum didn’t really do it for me, the George Jones one however was incredible!
February 24, 2019 @ 4:57 pm
Yeah, if I had to pick my favorite, it would be the George Jones Museum. I loved both, and they struck me as very similarly comparable in quality — but the Jones museum has stuck with me the longest and the one I want to revisit the most.
February 23, 2019 @ 3:30 pm
Off topic but in light of your piece from a while back on blacks in country music I thought the ‘American Masters:Charley Pride’ was very good. It didn’t under or over sell the racism he faced but also focused on his music and the fact that he is greatly respected and loved by a great many people. The parts with Willie and Dolly were really cool.
Very well done and makes me sad about where popular country music has gone.
February 23, 2019 @ 5:57 pm
I started to watch it, but the moment I saw Bobby Bones, who probably discovered Charley 5 years ago, and Whoopi Goldberg, I turned it off. I can’t take anything about C(c)ountry Music seriously if either of them are involved in it.
February 24, 2019 @ 11:13 am
I was watching a Bobby Bones show video where the guest Brad Paisley had to explain to Bones and his crew who the Louvin brothers were. Ridiculous.
February 23, 2019 @ 7:22 pm
What channel was this on?
February 23, 2019 @ 7:23 pm
PBS. Is being replayed I think over the weekend. Check local listings. Believe it will be streamed online as well.
February 23, 2019 @ 7:25 pm
Yes, watched the American Masters Charley Pride episode too. Wish it had been a little longer and more in-depth, but was a really good snapshot. I may have some words about it at some point.
February 23, 2019 @ 7:38 pm
Agree it could have been two hours like some episodes. Personally could have heard a little less baseball career and little more music career but that’s just me. But wow what a gracious humble man he is. Don’t make ‘me like that anymore.
But yes Bobby Bones was a truly bizarre choice for commentary.
February 25, 2019 @ 9:13 am
Unless you’re talking Elvis, there’s little demand for a “museum” celebrating an artist who’s long-gone. Who would go to such a place and how much spending would such a person do? A Merle Haggard museum would be a bust. Unless, maybe, it’s in Bakersfield, and it still wouldn’t be a moneymaker.
Presumably the “Johnny Cash’s Kitchen & Saloon” will be a restaurant-and-bar that will stand or fall on its own right. The Cash name is just one element of the establishment. (If the owners make the Johnny Cash name into the whole focus, and don’t concentrate on the food, drink and ambience, then they’ll certainly fail, too.)
February 25, 2019 @ 9:55 am
I had to laugh at this comment. I’m in Memphis at the moment covering the Ameripolitan gathering, and woke up to the sound of Elvis being pumped throughout the streets down here near Graceland.
In my opinion, a museum is not just a place to display old stuff, but acts like a cultural institution, an archive for an artist, preserving artifacts, advocating for their legacy, hoping symposiums and educational events.
February 25, 2019 @ 12:53 pm
Nashville has that sort of institution. It’s called the Country Music H-o-F. A museum for a country artist is likely to–at best–take its cues from the old Debby Reynolds or Liberace museums in Las Vegas–which I don’t think survived their subjects.
February 23, 2019 @ 12:44 pm
Merle never really liked Nastiville anyway. Put it in Bakersfield where he called home.
Cash over Haggard? What an insult. Merle Haggard was , is and always will be the best.
February 23, 2019 @ 1:11 pm
I would like to see a Merle Haggard, Buck Owens Museum next to each other in Bakerfield were talking two California singers here. Nashville isn’t the place for Merle and never was for Merle. Merle, Buck turn away from Nashville and made their own kind of real county music. Johnny Cash was a good country singer who should be in the top ten of all time but Merle Haggard is in top three of all time with George Jones and Conway Twitty.
February 23, 2019 @ 2:38 pm
Agree, I’d just add that Merle is also in the top 3 country songwriters of all time as well.
February 23, 2019 @ 1:33 pm
Ok, another venue over rated artist. Johnny Cash was not that popular until his death for several years. I still cannot understand what millennials even see in the man. Everytime I seen him on TV as a guest star, the first thing that came out of the host was “So you just got out of rehab”? That always turned me off. When I was bar hopping on lower broadway, every band was singing and pickin Merle Haggard songs, not Johnny Cash. Merle to me was 300 percent better anyway. Vocally, writing ability, personality, family man, etc… Even if you didn’t know the man personally, you didn’t hear of him just getting out of rehab every time he was interviewed. It’s all about this individuals money. I’m sure he wanted more money from using Haggards name for profit, and couldn’t get it if you want to know the truth. Media wont be told the real truth in that. But a little digging and dirt will mount. With the excessive prices in drinks etc down there, nobody who owns a venue is gonna lose out on screwing a tourist with inflated stories, and a building with a star name on it. Because they are there in the “Now” and they take their silly little pictures, say they ate at their restaurant, heard their music, and did all this once in their life time. But spent way too much money, on something that the music legend never really owned themselves. Or even performed at. Now here is part of the truth v
February 23, 2019 @ 2:36 pm
Merle’s a legend….but family man?
Not sure I’d call 5 wives and 6 kids by multiple women being a “family man”.
February 23, 2019 @ 5:56 pm
I hope you never have a family member with an addiction problem.
Some alcoholics and addicts succeed and others don’t.
But even some of the worst get clean and sober ultimately by continuing to try.
I admire Johnny for trying.
Merle was a multiple felon.
I admire him for finally straightening up.
Sorry the Hag didn’t get his museum-he certainly deserves one.
Lower Broadway has become a freak show.
I used to go there once or twice a month, but I haven’t stopped there in years.
February 25, 2019 @ 9:21 am
Haggard was a bigger “country music star” but Cash was a bigger American Entertainment Star. For much of his career, Cash regularly hosted or guested on network TV variety shows/holiday/specials, talk shows, etc., appeared in movies/TV dramas, and was a commercial spokesman for major corporate products. Haggard did not travel in those circles.
February 23, 2019 @ 1:41 pm
On a hot july saturday night, Broadway Nashville smells like hot piss and bleach and overrun by bums tryin to hustle a buck. Let the nu-country crowd have it. Tradition has long since left that dump….
February 23, 2019 @ 2:24 pm
The Kaiser Foundation needs to pursue Merle’s collection and put it with the Guthrie and Dylan collections in Oklahoma City.
February 24, 2019 @ 2:27 pm
Tulsa. Plus it would be a natural fit when the.OKpop museum and the Dylan archives open.
February 24, 2019 @ 2:41 pm
Thanks for fixing the location. I think Merle would well complement what they have in Oklahoma.
February 23, 2019 @ 2:31 pm
Johnny Cash is the PBR of Country Music. Popular for the wrong reasons, and a distraction from the real quality offerings. Merle deserves better.
February 23, 2019 @ 2:55 pm
I love how people are quick to respond negatively and think that there’s drama between the families. Maybe it was a mutual decision.
February 23, 2019 @ 3:38 pm
Quite a mistake, someone else will get the job done ,in a true testament to Merle. I love Cash also , but Haggard is as much deserving of a tribute to the history of country music. We have plenty of choices for food. Let’s keep to our roots.
February 23, 2019 @ 3:45 pm
Where’s this place Nashville you write about? Is it like Austin, Texas?
February 23, 2019 @ 4:12 pm
Johnny Cash is popular with young today because they think he’s a bad ass outlaw. They love his photo/t-shirt giving the finger and the way he dresses in all black. He brings the young in because of his Rockabilly history. There are too many better real country singers then Cash: Hank, Waylon, Conway, Price, Willie, Merle, Trent I could go on with more names. Cash was good but over rated.
February 23, 2019 @ 5:02 pm
My step dad said cash couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket- LOL
Merle has a museum- his music.
February 23, 2019 @ 5:41 pm
In the canon of outlaw music, you won’t see Cash’s name listed. Johnny Cash never considered himself an outlaw. I don’t think the recent Outlaws & Armadillos exhibition even whimper Cash’s name.
February 23, 2019 @ 5:04 pm
Oh, full disclosure about my step dad: he saw Merle eating at a cafe in Llano, Tx- said he looked like he needed a hair cut- LOL
February 23, 2019 @ 5:38 pm
I love Merle and John. I think they loved each other. Why do most of the comments make it
seem like it has to be one or the other?
February 23, 2019 @ 8:04 pm
Seriously.
“I’m getting pretty tired of being treated like competition.” – Sturgill Simpson
They’re both heavy in my rotation. Y’all can thumb wrestle over who’s better.
February 24, 2019 @ 9:03 pm
Because real country music fans are tired of This false belief that Cash is the greatest and him getting 99% of media’s attention, while all time greats who were much superior singers, songwriters and musicians get overlooked.
There is no argument over who’s better between Hag and Cash. Hags a superior singer, songwriter and musician and he made better music than Cash. It’s not even debatable. His life is much more interesting than cash’s in my personal opinion and he’s more deserving of a museum.
Of course another rolling stone or cmt article will co e out next month claiming Cash the greatest country singer or artist or all time. We’re all tired of the fake news of Cash is king being shoved down our throats.
The thing is I like some of cash’s music. But he’s no Merle Haggard, he’s damn sure no George Jones. I don’t even think he’s in same category as Waylon.
February 25, 2019 @ 4:04 am
I grew up with John and found Merle while in the military in the late 60’s they both
mean a lot to me, I don’t expect every one to agree or even care.
February 23, 2019 @ 5:51 pm
I never understood the appeal of Johnny Cash. These days, he’s popular with the city kids and hipsters. He’s one of the most overrated of all time.
February 23, 2019 @ 7:10 pm
^^^What he said^^^.
February 24, 2019 @ 3:32 pm
Exactly… I agree with pretty much what everyone has said above. Johnny Cash is an America icon and his achievements are many, but as a country singer he may be the most overrated of all time. The movie, Hurt video, and perfect marketing at time of his death just blew his image up and the cash image is completely over saturated. He’s not a top 50 (possibly not top 80 or 100) country vocalist. His music in general is extremely overrated.
George Jones is the greatest country singer who ever lived, had extreme battles personally and professionally and lived as interesting life as anyone in the history of country music, yet his museum can’t draw close to what Cash’s draws.
Merle Haggard is easily a top 10 vocalist (likely top 5) and definitely one of the greatest if not The greatest country songwriter of all time. He lived an extremely interesting life as well, and his museum would be fantastic. However, it’s likely the owners knew the Cash image would bring in greater revenue and unfortunately that is probably the truth.
February 23, 2019 @ 6:57 pm
Johnny Cash had charisma in the same way Elvis had. So instantly identifiable. Just listen to Highwayman where the other 3 sound like they’re singing a song (really well) and then Johnny’s voice comes out and its like he IS the song.
I think Millennials can use him as a rallying point because he is singular. Sure, us close fans compare his songs and style to others, but popular opinion never does. He’s easy to agree on his ‘image’.
Incidentally, these are the twerps that Fred Eaglesmith summed up so well in ‘johnny Cash’ (great song)
February 23, 2019 @ 7:40 pm
I grew up around Merle.My grandfather owned a fishing tackle shop Hags tackle box was the name and there Merle spent a lot of time.Hag was always on the radio promotional tapes we’re always being played.Throgh my life I’ve come to notice that Merle I believe was a major influence on our great country which he so stood proud of.We see all of us in his music no matter who you are where you have been there is always a Haggard song to relate to to have that unique voice ease the hurt or the happiness.A museum is the least this country could do for a man that has influenced o many.
February 23, 2019 @ 7:59 pm
Who can hold a candle or do anything like Johnny Merle Waylon George Lefty or Hank and a few others on my list to nobody they have up there today besides Jamie Johnson even sounds real in my opinion and you can find him between Jennings and Jones if you haven’t heard
February 23, 2019 @ 8:07 pm
“These days, he’s popular with the city kids and hipsters”
Correct statement. We have been Johnny-Cashed to death.
February 24, 2019 @ 12:23 pm
That doesn’t make him less cool.
February 23, 2019 @ 9:58 pm
At least we don’t have Luke Bryan Country Pizza and The Sam Hunt Barbeque HQ.
February 23, 2019 @ 10:30 pm
Yet.
February 24, 2019 @ 8:38 am
I grew up listening g to Cash and never have tired of him. He did have a bump in the road in the 60’s but with the help of good friends he got back on his feet. The American recordings with Don’t Was are some of the best Americana ever. Haggard was great in his early days but I found his later stuff lacking. There are a lot of people just as deserving of a museum.
February 24, 2019 @ 12:34 pm
I don’t understand all the downtown Nashville hating. I avoid it like the plague, but to say it was so much better “in the old days” is lame. There are still a ton of great venues and performers playing the good stuff, plus we’ve got a lot of places to eat that don’t fry everything or drown it in butter and gravy. And why does it matter if Johnny Cash is popular among hipsters and young kids for “the wrong reasons?” There are no wrong reasons to love Cash. A lot of you seem like big ole grumpy pantses.
February 24, 2019 @ 5:36 pm
^^^this right here^^^
A lot of dumbasses like the Beatles, so I think I’ll
pitch my vinyl copy of the White Album “. ????
February 24, 2019 @ 5:31 pm
Cash is certainly more Folk/Rockabilly/Pop than Country, so yes I’ll agree he’s overrated as a “Country” singer.
Still, I love a few of his songs, or covers of others’ tunes he’s done. Most notably, his rendition of Ballad of Ira Hayes. One of my favorite songs of all time. Kudos to Peter La Farge for writing that one.
February 24, 2019 @ 8:16 pm
Johnny cash is the Andrew Dice Clay of country music. A guy who completely bought his own bullshit and sold the world a load of hogwash. If you watch the movie, you know his father’s initial impression of his music is completely correct. Cash’s “outlaw” persona is a contrived load of horse manure. There is nothing noble about turning base, subhuman dirtbags into folk heroes. 99% of the scum that inhabits prisons are there for a good reason. Stop “wearing black” for pieces of shit who deserve derision and loathing instead of praise.
February 25, 2019 @ 7:09 am
I must agree with a lot of people,, Cash is very overrated and I can’t figure out why some many are in love with him. I think he put on this phony outlaw image and many folks jumped on the band wagon, but in reality if you really applicate a good voice, you’ll quickly realize he was not a very good singer when compared to others like Merle and George. Kind of like Elvis in my opinion, lots of show. I feel that if Elvis didn’t shake his junk all around he would not have been as popular. Music should be judged on the music and the voice, not some image that says “look at me, I’m a bad ass, but I can’t carry a tune”.
February 25, 2019 @ 9:51 am
I’ll assume the Haggard family is being ultra cautious and careful. It’s been three years since his death and we haven’t even gotten any vault material. Hell, we don’t even have a damn Ben Haggard album.
Ok, actually none of this makes sense…
February 25, 2019 @ 4:34 pm
I don’t understand all the negativity towards Johnny Cash. A lot of his early stuff and the American Recordings are nothing short of phenomenal. Even in the 70s and 80s he had some damn good cuts here and there (I love his album “Silver” – come on his version of Ghost Riders in the Sky is a classic). Think how highly Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, and Bob Dylan thought of Johnny Cash. I don’t think he’s overrated at all. (To me Cash, Waylon, Willie, Kris, Haggard, Billy Joe Shaver, Hank Sr. are all atop the pyramid)
February 26, 2019 @ 11:54 pm
Is it possible they will move the museum to Bakersfield?
I thought it would make much more sense if they have it in Bakersfield instead of Nashville
June 5, 2019 @ 9:27 pm
Merle Haggard is an icon!!! And he needs to be part of Nashville!!! Young ones to Veterans! Please give him a star on broadway to celebrate his amazing voice and personality!!!
May 27, 2020 @ 10:28 am
I was part of the media that attended the announcement ceremony for the Merle Haggard museum. It was a very upbeat event. I spoke at length with both the Millers and the Haggard family and there didn’t seem to be any sense of trepidation from either party. They both appeared to be equally excited about the museum and as far as anyone could tell, the museum was a go. Unfortunately, that isn’t what happened. The plans looked great. As someone who has been to the Johnny Cash museum more than once, I really think it’s well-done. It’s always busy. Maybe the Patsy Cline museum isn’t quite as busy, but it still does a decent business and it’s equally well-appointed. In fact, everything the Miller family is involved with is first-rate. No, I am not related to them and I am not a personal friend, I’ve just been to all of their establishments. For those that are bashing the artists, try and remember that there are fans worldwide that actually do like the artists you may feel are “overrated”. The world doesn’t revolve around us. If we aren’t fans of one artist that doesn’t mean that artist shouldn’t have a museum. If we aren’t fans of a city, that doesn’t mean other people don’t like it and shouldn’t places to go to be entertained in it. The self-centered nature of some of these posts astounds me. I was very sorry to see the Merle Haggard Museum fall through. It really looked good from all I heard that day. I hope something similar opens up somewhere in the future. He certainly deserves it.