“Keeping Nashville’s Honky Tonk Alive” Looks Into the Effort to Preserve Traditional Country
Amid the rubble of what Nashville once was, lurking in the shadows of the condominium high rises and prefabricated mixed use block developments spanning across the city like a contagion, there is a thriving and vibrant honky tonk movement doing what it can to keep the old style of country music alive. And when we say “old,” we’re not talking about the 80’s or 90’s.
From Robert’s Western World on Lower Broadway, to Santa’s Pub south of downtown, to the American Legion Post 82 in the northern portion of east Nashville, performing artists and their fans are keeping the memory of what Nashville once was living and breathing in the modern context. A new 45-minute documentary from Great Big Story goes in-depth into this scene, primarily following fiddler and singer Kevin Martin, and bass player/promoter Brendan Malone, the latter who is the brain behind the American Legion Post 82’s Honky Tonk Tuesday Nights, which pound for pound is one of the coolest events and most interesting success stories in traditional country music coast to coast.
“I grew up being around country and western music a lot from my parents,” Brendan Malone explains in the film. “At our house we had a jukebox, a 1954 Wurlitzer that played 45s. What always got me close to country music was that no matter the way I felt, being happy, sad, or discontent, there was some type of song out there that I could relate to. And it seems like everything that’s out now, you got to sing about ‘this,’ you’ve got to sing about the parties down at the beach. There’s just no soul to the country music anymore.”
The documentary not only captures the music, the style, and the people involved in Nashville’s vibrant honky tonk scene, it illustrates how it is very much a grassroots and participatory movement. Many of the performers work other jobs. Nobody’s doing what they’re doing to keep the music going for the money. But there’s an appreciation and importance to it due to the weight of the endeavor.
Along with Brendan Malone and Kevin Martin, keen-eyed country music fans might also notice other performers in the film passing through or mentioned such as Kristina Murray, Michaela Anne, Tommy Ash, Cheryl Deseree, Ronnie Dale, The Three Country Tenors (incl. Kevin Martin), and Cory Younts of Old Crow Medicine Show. Santa’s Pub, The Basement East, Robert’s Western World and its owner Jesse Lee Jones are also featured, but the primary setting is the American Legion Post 82.
“Everybody thinks, ‘It is what it is, man. I got to be part of what it is,'” says Jesse Lee Jones in the film. “I am saying it is what it was, schmuck. It is what it was.”
If you ever wanted a primer into the true honky tonk scene in Nashville and haven’t found the opportunity to experience it yourself, this is the closest thing. It also is a great explanation for people who see the performers and fans in throwback duds and either think they’re being fuddy duddy, or too hipster for their taste. With the previous generation passing on more day by day, it is up to the new generation to preserve the music, as they’re doing at places like Robert’s Western World, and the American Legion Post 82.
People like Jesse Lee Jones, Kevin Martin, and Brendan Malone are doing the real work to save country music on the ground floor, and at the local level. Director Josh Goleman and his crew at Great Big Story did a great job capturing this at its essence in this compelling video piece.
The entire documentary can be seen below.
June 10, 2018 @ 9:21 am
Thanks for posting. I know what we’re watching tonight.
June 10, 2018 @ 9:35 am
Wish more people would talk about Bobby’s Idle Hour. Some development company is tearing it down to build eight story condos. It’s the only live music venue on music row. It’s a songwriter tavern with cheap beer and a lot of the music is independent and not mainstream. Met one of my best friends (a 60 year old Texas writer from old school Austin) It’s Mostly old school songwriters and new independent writers. (With the occasional pop writer) I had some of the most fun Guitar pulls out back and met tons of great people there. Really bummed that it’s going away as it’s the only bar I like to hang out at when I’ve got free time. I know it’s not a Honky Tonk, but I love that place and I’m sad so see it on it’s way out.
June 10, 2018 @ 2:38 pm
Apologies, I know that my rant was kind of unrelated. Just woke up in a bad mood.
June 10, 2018 @ 2:48 pm
Hey I get it. I was hanging out at Bobby’s last time I was in Nashville for a Hurricane Harvey benefit. It’s a real shame what’s happening to so many important relics in Nashville and Austin. I wish I knew a way to stop the bleeding.
June 10, 2018 @ 2:52 pm
Spread awareness and good music as often as we can I reckon.
June 10, 2018 @ 3:27 pm
Ben,
If I had a heart, that is news that would break it. I’ve lived in Nashville twice, and I never made it into Bobby’s. Every time I drove by, I’d think, I’ll check it out one of these days.”
What’s the timeline on that? When’s the dozer coming out?
June 10, 2018 @ 5:15 pm
Word around town is it may have another year at best. I’m a nobody in the music scene and that place really lifted me up when I first got to town.
To direct attention back to the article, Brendan and all those trad cats are some of kindest and hardcore country folks I’ve ever met. They’re doing a good thing over there on the Eastside and if I wasn’t so busy I’d be hanging there more often.
June 11, 2018 @ 9:32 am
They tore down the original Bobby’s Idle Hour, down the street, about five years ago. They moved to the location that you are talking about. It’s a fairly new place to them. They can move again. Some Vanderbilt kid filmed a documentary about the original Idle Hour. I don’t know if it came out though.
June 11, 2018 @ 12:36 pm
Yes I was aware of that, I guess I was just worried that they wouldn’t be able to find another spot on the row after they lose this one.
June 10, 2018 @ 11:42 am
Good stuff, thanks for posting. Watched on my Honkey Tonk iPad.
June 10, 2018 @ 12:48 pm
Going to Honkytonk Tuesday in July to see Whitney Rose. I’m counting down the days.
June 10, 2018 @ 1:58 pm
Where’s the cheatin’ and fightin’ part?!
Seriously, nice work. There should be more of these all over the country. The Vet Circuit!
June 10, 2018 @ 4:22 pm
Real music, played by real musicians, for real people in real places. Ain’t no Zippity-Doo-Dah here.
June 10, 2018 @ 4:57 pm
I just think the main thing keeping musicians like this from breaking back into the mainstream is marketing. I think we all know that mainstream country fans (the ones who actually claim to enjoy what’s played on the radio) will listen to pretty much anything, as long as it has the “country” label attached to it. All these guys need is a label willing to put up the cash, invest in marketing, film a few pro-style music videos (which even small independent YouTube/social media personalities are able to do now), and they’re set. The fanbase for this type of country music is definitely still out there; the generation that remembers 50’s/60’s traditional honky-tonk when it was new hasn’t died off yet, and the retro music market is more vibrant than ever thanks to streaming platforms.
June 10, 2018 @ 5:14 pm
I can’t speak for the artists featured here, but I think what they’re trying to do as a whole is a lot more locally-based and grassroots. They’re trying to support traditional country music at the local level, which never gets enough attention. Creating vibrant music communities like the one that has emerged at Post 82 in Nashville is vital to giving artists those opportunities to play in front of big crowds, hone their chops, and move on to bigger opportunities in the future, or not. If there were places like this all around the country, artists could tour more, connect with more fans, etc.
June 10, 2018 @ 5:00 pm
Well, i definitely enjoyed watching this, but i couldn’t help feeling like it was missing something. Almost like I watched 45 minutes of a documentary that shoulda been an hour and a half, or something? Can’t quite place what i felt was missing, but it didn’t feel complete to me. Either way, it was a fun watch.
June 10, 2018 @ 6:53 pm
It’s not exactly sure what its story is.
June 10, 2018 @ 11:15 pm
I don’t think this was meant to be a documentary in the traditional style where it goes in-depth into an important topic and explains it from stem to stern. If you were hoping for this, then sure it fails. But this is supposed to be more of a snapshot into a part of culture and the people and places that comprise it. If you check out the other videos from Great Big Story, most all of them work this way. They’re 45 minute snippets of life released for free on YouTube. I like the fact there’s no narration. It reminds me of PBS’s Independent Lens, which also does a great job telling stories through pictures instead of talking heads.
June 11, 2018 @ 1:34 pm
And for that, it’s great. I really enjoyed it and look forward to visiting #82 next time I’m in Nashville.
June 10, 2018 @ 8:25 pm
The dressing up is really corny. It is hipsterism. You can be a performer of Country Music, without dressing like it’s another decade. Country Music is a specific style of music. 50’s clothing isn’t tied to this kind of music. It’s not about the outward.
A Country singer worth his salt, could walk onstage wearing Levi’s, boots, and a black Polo shirt, or T shirt, and sing songs from the 40’s all the way till now, and as long as it was all Country, it wouldn’t make a hill of beans that he wasn’t dressed in old clothes. He’d still be a Country singer.
June 10, 2018 @ 9:43 pm
After watching most of the documentary, I have to agree with honky for the most part. This film was so poorly done. So much dead space with the nuances of these pretty boys arguing behind stage. Absolutely no narration in the movie providing back story. Complete disservice to the Nashville traditional honky tonk scene.
June 10, 2018 @ 11:18 pm
To some, preserving the dress and style is no different than preserving the music. It is just as important, and for some, even more important than the music. I can understand how it can come across as excessive to some, but I will never fault folks for trying to preserve country music history in all of its facets.
June 11, 2018 @ 8:04 am
Clothing styles represent the era in which they are popular. They are not intrinsically tied to the music.
That’s the mistake these young, urban folks make. They don’t understand that the culture produced the music, not the other way around. With these kids, the music is producing the culture.
June 11, 2018 @ 11:51 am
Nice little program.
I think these kids are dressing the part because they honestly love the music.
The one line that caught me, though, was the drunken “never roped a steer” quote. Just couldn’t help but think none of these kids has ever come anywhere near a live steer. Maybe that’s why the western wear comes off as “hipster” to many. Maybe the jeans just don’t fit ’til you’ve been bucked off a few times.
It also seems like focusing on the duds is a gross misrepresentation of what this program is about.
Love what they’re doing, and hope there are enough people to keep places like this going forever.
It does seem like there is a large audience out there for this sort of thing, but folks are going to have to do their own heavy lifting to get the word out, since the “mainstream” ain’t coming back.
June 11, 2018 @ 9:08 am
Trigger, I agree with that to a certain degree, but sometimes it can cause an act to come off as a novelty act and not be taken as seriously as the would have been otherwise.
June 11, 2018 @ 9:40 am
This is no different than the 90’s scene on Lower Broadway in Nashville when BR-549 became popular and gave Robert’s a re-birth, before Jessie came to town. Also, similar to the Palomino scene in North Hollywood during the 80’s when folks like Dwight Yoakam and Rosie Flores became popular. All kinds of kids dressing up in the ’50s clothes. Yes, its a little corny but kind of cool to watch. They make me smile because I once “lived it” too. I have a friend who says “God stamps out these kids with every generation. You’re always gonna have your rockabilly kids and country music kids dressing the part just like you’re always gonna see hippy kids wearing Birkenstocks and listening to the Dead.” It’s just natural. What I don’t like about some kids in this type of scene is when they are snooty or act “too cool” for people that choose to dress like regular folks.
June 11, 2018 @ 9:45 am
Some people just don’t feel comfortable in their current time. Those people often tend to gravitate towards country music, because it’s music which pays homage to the past. When Gene Autry was dressing like a cowboy in the 30’s and 50’s, he wasn’t dressing of the period, he was dressing of the period 50 years before his own. It’s part of the tradition of country music. You won’t catch me running around in Rhinestones and ribbon ties. But I’m not going to fault anyone else for doing so if that’s what they feel expresses their true selves. They’re old souls.
June 11, 2018 @ 10:05 am
Autry was actually waring something kind of new as the singing cowboy style developed. The jewish tailors like Rodeo Ben, Turk, and Nudie, used traditional Eastern European embroidery to mimic the colorful flashy styles of what the world came to think of cowboys through exposure from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. The rhinestones were added flash as well that was new. These kids are doing a straight retro thing. It’s the difference between “influenced by a music and style and taking them somewhere” and “trying to copy a music and style exactly, doing nothing new.” in my view, Zephaniah O’Hora is influenced by many traditional style and has melded them together to make his own and take the music somewhere new where as Joshua Hedley is more of a straight throw back act similar to BR-549 or the guys in this video.
June 11, 2018 @ 11:18 am
jessie,
I mostly concur, except Ohora comes off the same as Hedley to me.
June 11, 2018 @ 11:16 am
Trigger,
They’re not old souls. They’re just city kids who found something “alternative” to cling to.
June 11, 2018 @ 12:24 pm
You keep calling these people “city kids” like most of them are not originally from the country. Was Hank Williams a “city kid” because he moved to Nashville?
June 11, 2018 @ 1:38 pm
I think that wearing period attire can be a homage to a respectful bygone era.
I regret failing to pick up a very nice looking black tux jacket with an embroidered red rose on the left shoulder when I saw it at Robert’s ~ 10 years ago.
Man it was hot looking.
We have been beef cattle farmers for more than 75 years, so I would not have been all hat and no cattle so to speak.
June 11, 2018 @ 5:04 pm
“You keep calling these people “city kids” like most of them are not originally from the country. Was Hank Williams a “city kid” because he moved to Nashville?”
You made me think of something I hadn’t before, Trigger. Actually, Hank and Hag both grew up mostly in town, so I’m oversimplifying when I say city kids.
What I mean to say is: modern, white-bred, suburban, mainstream, square kids.
June 13, 2018 @ 2:06 pm
LOL.
Cracker, are you trying to “outcountry” other people, in this instance, hipsters and suburban kids?
You’re no worse that the dreck on mainstream radio a few years back where every act was trying to “outcountry” each other.
Yawn.
June 12, 2018 @ 10:59 am
I mean, It’s a step in the right direction.
Yes, it does look a little silly with that getup but at least they have a genuine interest in traditional country music. On the opposite end we have clowns in pop country/nashville pop in tight teared up designer jeans, v-necks, some bling-bling, and that never don a western hat. Maybe we do need to go back in time with the style so we can eventually meet somewhere in the middle. Probably end up looking like Dwight Yoakam.
June 11, 2018 @ 3:51 am
This “scene” is mostly 20something yuppies, with not an ounce of soul between them. New Nashville is just the old Branson.
June 11, 2018 @ 8:07 am
I agree with you on the yuppie/hipster thing.
But can you please explain your Branson comment to me?
June 11, 2018 @ 11:43 am
Don’t agree. Everytime I go to Roberts or the Palace, I find the opposite to be true. I see loads of middle aged folks like myself who grew up on the real stuff and nostalgicly are drawn to anybody playing it. I find family groups of country people from Iowa, ohio, Kentucky , heartland folks who travel to Nashville specifically to find this scene and experience it. As for the musicians, you will find gray hairs playing drums and pedal steel alongside twenty somethings. Some of the key musicians in this scene are folks like chris casello, Jimmy lester, Don Kelly, etc. Then you see folks like Gary Carter , Joe Spivey, legendary players siting in with younger bands. I cover this scene for a couple of publications and I speak having been there. If anything, this scene is bringing folks of all ages and backgrounds together to enjoy real country music.Isn’t that a good thing?
June 11, 2018 @ 12:19 pm
Oh, forgot to mention Chris Scruggs, son of Gail Davies, grandson of Earl Scruggs and current member of Martys Fab Superlatives. He routinely does gigs on Lower Broadway and sits in with people like Sarah Gayle Meech and other notables. He’s a part of this scene. Would you honestly say he has no cred? Would you call him hipster? Before he became a recluse, Hank 3 was an occasional part of the scene also. Is he a hipster? The ignorance being spouted about this movement in Nashville is staggering.
June 11, 2018 @ 4:27 pm
Good points, but all that said, there are some people playing dress-up, which is the country retro version of copping the urban hip hop. Compared to the latter though, they’re harmless because they’re a tiny part of the financial pic.
June 11, 2018 @ 5:07 pm
Chris Scruggs does have some hipster qualities, but he gets a pass for obvious reasons.
June 12, 2018 @ 12:40 pm
The coveted Honky Hall Pass. Lucky him 🙂
June 13, 2018 @ 2:02 pm
LOL keep stretching those tight boundaries, Cracker. You’ll eventually include more in your tiny bubble.
June 11, 2018 @ 4:04 am
This film style reminds me of ‘Heartworn Highways’ in a way. Meant to document a moment in time during a particular period in music history. Its not overly polished or scripted in any way, nor is it trying to push any agenda. Just the reality of what is happening at this time and the people involved. There are parts of Heartworn Highways that are practically unwatchable, David Allan Coe and his incoherent ramblings being one of them, though I do like his music a lot. But that might be part of the charm. That film probably wouldn’t be the classic it is if so many of the virtually unknowns it portrays hadn’t gone on to become some of the greatest singers and songwriters we have had the pleasure of listening to. Maybe one day we will look back and remember how we watched a documentary way back in 2018 that showcased a generation of musicians that went on to greater things.
June 11, 2018 @ 4:09 am
By the way the newest Chris Shiflett ‘Walking the Floor’ podcast features his interview with Joshua Hedley. I love that podcast and wouldn’t have even known it existed if not for ‘Saving Country Music’. Another reason to appreciate Trigger and his website.
June 11, 2018 @ 5:04 am
Haven’t watched it yet. I frequent Nashville a few times a year, always catching performances by some of these folks at Roberts, Nashville Palace and of course The Nashville Boogie festival. These guys live and breathe traditional country music.
On another note, I met Jerry Lee , who did the Josh Hedley suit that Honkster and a few others here hate. I asked him specifically what he thought about the “hipster” accusation. He laughed. He couldn’t care less what an outsider thinks. This is a guy who does work for Dolly Parton, Eagles of Death Metal and others. Some of the other folks hanging around joined in our discussion and agreed that the hipster word is thrown out way to much and is meant to be an insult. I can tell you that folks like Jim lauderdale, Marty Stuart, Dwight and so many others continue to wear the vintage western clothes. Nobody in that western wear scene considers themselves hipster.
The motive behind it is to celebrate country music’s great past and attempt to keep the style alive. I like it personally. Today’s so called country performers have no sense of style. At the end of the day, however, it’s about the music folks, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
June 11, 2018 @ 4:21 pm
Hard to disagree that even it boi Kane Brown looks like a kid trailing after his mom in Costco looking at his all-important iPhone. And all his threads are made by poignant looking poor women in Indonesia.
FFS
June 11, 2018 @ 4:18 pm
Lord Honker,
you really think the clothes are the driver here? For the musicians? Really?
M’lord, methinks they’re bored shitless by pentatonic wank.
June 11, 2018 @ 5:13 pm
Trigger,
Maybe we need to delineate between traditional Country musicians, and preservationist, tribute musicians.
June 11, 2018 @ 5:34 pm
cmon honk, to what end? if a hipster sings a ray price shuffle from Night Life and the hipster steeler nails the buddy emmons, are you going to complain about suburbia?
I used to, but knowledge is knowledge. to pass on a culture, you need to know it, so obsessive hipsters serve a purpose. they’re not the acquifer, they’re the bottlng plant.
what I hate is half-aasedness. Complain all you want about squares, but OHora and Outlaw for instance aren’t half-assed. and besides, where’s your young non-hipster army? how many divisions you got?
June 11, 2018 @ 6:26 pm
“where’s your young non-hipster army? how many divisions you got?”
Corn-Dawg,
I think you’re starting to point out my point. There is no non-hipster army. Country kids listen to Luke Bryan and Rap; which is why Country Music is a corpse.
It’s fan and dandy with me if a hipster sings some Ray Price, but that hipster will never be singing it because of who he is by nature. He’ll be singing it because he finds it interesting, and different from anything he’s ever heard before.
I’m not saying we should hate Hipster Country, I’m simply saying that it’s a novelty that I can’t take seriously.
June 13, 2018 @ 2:10 pm
Which Ray Price is a hipster allowed to sing, the honky tonk version or the Frank Sinatra one?
July 30, 2018 @ 2:52 pm
I agree with the hipster doofus remarks about the costumers . A pair of Levis and boots is all thats required. The honky tonk girl dress up is stupid. Especially the angry one with the bangs and gobs of makeup (y’all know who i mean.) the feel is off. Just music with no bs is all we need. Bringing it back doesnt mean screwing it up.
July 30, 2018 @ 2:59 pm
I want to come in, hear good music, drink some beer and maybe two step with my darlin for a bit. I dont care what i wear or how i look, i just lookin for a good time. Keep that alive and country music lives.
November 17, 2018 @ 2:16 pm
You are so off base. I could not give a crap about what Josh Hedly wears, or Lester Scruggs’ grandson, or Dolly Parton wear. I want my heart and soul to vibe with a song that I love a much today as I loved 30 years ago. I want to remember a song that grandpa danced with grandma to, and I want that song to bring me back to the ragorance of him shuffling on the with her, telling us she was the prettiest girl in town. I don’t care if you are a hipster or a doofus. Dress however you want to dress, you damn fools. Just leave the music be. Don’t fuck that part up for an old man. For some of us that’s all we have left-a few shots, memories, and the music. You want to dress up, go on ahead. It fucks things up for a guy like me, but go on ahead. Dress up like a fool.