Destination Information - Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Nashville is the self-styled Music City USA - with Dolly Parton, the Grand Ole Opry, Robert Altman's Oscar-winning movie Nashville (1975) and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

It is often a surprise to the first-time visitor to find a stylish American city, glittering skyscrapers, and a healthy financial community, embracing new commerce, publishing houses and other offshoots of the music industry.

On the other side of the picture, reflected in these skyscrapers are the legendary bars where Hank Williams drank and where country singers still perform, ever-hopeful of becoming the next Willie Nelson or Loretta Lynn.

Located in the centre of Middle Tennessee, Nashville is the booming city of the upper South, where gracious Southern hospitality mixes with a genuine friendliness. Its population is rapidly expanding as it attracts citizens escaping the brutal northern winters, or leaving New York and Los Angeles for a more easy-going lifestyle. Its climate and scenic hills are a refreshing combination for many, while others come to work in the music and entertainment business. National Geographic Adventure magazine chose Nashville one of the Top 50 adventure towns for 2007, while American Baby Magazine nominated the city in their Top 10 Family Friendly Cities.

Nashville's Downtown is currently undergoing significant change. By 2009 the city's new 70-story Signature Tower skyscraper will be completed, featuring Kimpton hotel, condominiums, office and retail space and slated to be one of America's tallest buildings. The Schermerhorn Symphony Centre opened in 2006 as a state-of-the-art versatile concert hall and convention centre, and anchors the future development of the Music Mile (south of Broadway).

To date most of the best hotels and the nightlife have been concentrated in an area of only about eight blocks square, but this is rapidly changing. The modern day empire of Music Row, the business heart of the music industry, is in midtown Nashville - a collection of recording studios, record labels, entertainment offices and music associated businesses.