Travel

Ten-a-see: 10 reasons why Nashville rocks

Believe the hype: Nashville is as cool as everyone says it is.

Whether you’re looking for world-class art or down-home cooking, Music City is an oasis of creativity and culture in the Deep South.

Check out these choice spots to shop, dine, and of course, catch some music, in Tennessee’s capital.

Country Music Hall of Fame

Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

An appreciation for country music is not a prerequisite for enjoying the Hall of Fame. For instance, its current large-scale exhibit explores the magic that happened when famed rock troubadour Bob Dylan came to town in 1966.

“Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats” runs through 2016 in the downtown landmark museum, which recently added 10,000 square feel of exhibit space, an education center and an expanded home for the legendary Hatch Show Print letterpress company.)

Sherrick Paul Gallery

Semi Song

Curator Susan Sherrick moved to Nashville three years ago following a career as an art dealer at top NYC galleries including David Zwirner, Marian Goodman and Howard Greenberg.

The mission of Sherrick’s new gallery, located in the gritty but evolving neighborhood of Wedgewood Houston, is to introduce Nashville to the work of visual artists who haven’t been exhibited in the South — let alone Middle Tennessee.

Imogene + Willie

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Imogene + Willie
Imogene + Willie
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Imogene + Willie
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Imogene + Willie
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Imogene + Willie
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In 2009, Matt and Carrie Eddmenson moved to Nashville from their hometown of Henderson, Ky., to open what they imagined would be a humble denim shop, selling two classic styles of jeans: the Imogene for ladies, the Willie for guys.

Flash forward six years, and their little shop on 12th Avenue South now houses an expanded collection of denim offerings (also available in a second store in Portland, Ore.) and serves as a local cultural juggernaut, hosting community dinners, motorcycle rallies and performances by Grammy-winning musicians.

Wilder

This boutique, opened late last year in the Germantown neighborhood, is easily the most progressive home store in Nashville, offering everything from George Nelson bubble lamps to Hasami Porcelain to locally impossible-to-find magazines like Apartmento and Everything.

Wilder has the local exclusive on goods from the Nashville textile company Electra Eggleston.

Founded by Andra Eggleston, the daughter of famed photographer William, the limited edition fabrics are inspired by Eggleston pere’s sketches and doodles.

Rolf & Daughters

Andrea Behrends

How can you not love a restaurant that proudly uses the auspicious acronym R.A.D.?

Chef Philip Krajeck’s four-year-old restaurant, with its communal hand-hewn dining tables and bar packed with cool kids, has received plaudits from no less than Bon Appétit, which named it one of 2013’s Best New Restaurants in America.

R.A.D.’s pasta is outstanding, with offerings including garganelli verde with heritage pork ragout and sweet potato agnolotti with mustard greens.

Pinewood Social

A dream-come-true for diners with short attention spans, Pinewood dishes up award-winning chef Josh Habiger’s haute diner menu from early AM to late into the evening.

Beyond the dining room awaits an adult playground, including a six-lane bowling alley, karaoke room and an outdoor pool serviced by a bar situated in a vintage Airstream trailer.

The 404 Hotel & Kitchen

Ron Manville

Years before the Ace Hotel group announced plans to descend on Printer’s Alley in downtown Nashville, the city’s first boutique hotel opened in the nearby Gulch neighborhood (from $275).

Featuring five rooms appointed with the work of local artists, some with generous loft space, the 404 Hotel is a little pocket of chic in the commercial rut of 12th Avenue South.

Also on site: a shipping container holding Chef Matt Bolus’ 404 Kitchen, where the menu offers a contemporary take on classic European dishes.

Barista Parlor

Brett Warren

Four years after debuting his original hand-poured-by-the-cup coffee joint in a refurbished mechanic’s garage on East Nashville’s main drag, Andy Mumma opened a second location downtown in what was once the home of Golden Sound, a former recording studio, currently owned by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.

Both locations boast furniture and fixtures by area artisans and work by local artists, including Bryce McCloud, who created the impressive “sinking ship” collage at the original. The second location will soon house BP’s new roasting room.

Third Man Records

Jack WhiteGetty Images

Grammy-winning musician/producer/record label owner/cultural provocateur Jack White’s headquarters in the SoBro area of downtown houses a recording studio, a performance space and a store, not to mention TMR’s label offices, its distribution center, and a photo studio.

The shop offers the full TMR catalogue on vinyl, while the venue welcomes acts both on and off the roster, as diverse as the The Kills and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Mas Tacos

Conceived in the late aughts as a food truck operating out of a charmingly dilapidated RV, Mas Tacos expanded to its current cinderblock brick-and-mortar location in East Nashville’s Greenwood neighborhood in 2010.

On weekdays, lines begin to form almost the minute the doors open for lunch, with locals and in-the-know tourists anxious to wrap their paws around taco combinations that include quinoa and sweet potato, not to mention Teresa Mason’s famous chicken tortilla soup. 732 McFerrin Avenue, 615-543-6271.