Why the Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Nashville Mattered: An Appreciation of the Country Music Mecca
variety.comMatt Powell News that country music fans had long dreaded arrived this week: The Ernest Tubb Record Shop, a fixture of Nashville since 1947 and a mainstay in its current Lower Broad location since 1951, will be closing some time this spring, according to owners who purchased the iconic business and building two years ago.
The store was famous not only as a very old-school physical media mecca, but for hosting performances on its rear stage for the “Midnite Jamboree” program by the likes of Loretta Lynn or even a nascent Elvis Presley.Writer Matt Powell, who began working at the store in 1999 and was its manager from 2001-2005, penned an eloquent appreciation of the shop that Variety is sharing here: I arrived at the turn of the century, time enough to catch the falling tail of the old Nashville, with its honky-tonk music and easy charm.
I saw a want ad in the paper; it read: “Do you love country music?” I was hired on the spot and the Ernest Tubb Record Shop became my life, my home, and my family.
One of my first days, over Broadway sidewalk smoke breaks, I heard three different versions of “Crazy Arms” pouring out of three different honky-tonks, blending into a humid mid-day summer stew.
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