Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville

You don’t have to be a fanatic of country music to enjoy the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. My daughter and I enjoyed our visit and even learned of a few new artists that belong on my “Oldies but Goodies” Spotify playlist.

The museum honors classic and currents artists. There are more than 2.5 million artifacts – from Elvis Presley’s gold-plated Cadillac to some of the craziest leather or sequin suits I’ve ever seen.

Here’s a rundown of what you can expect to experience at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Now if you want to get some selfies with music legends and icons, check out Madame Tussauds Nashville, too.

Folk Music to the 1960s

After picking up your tickets, make your way through the atrium to the elevators. Ride up to the 3rd floor and start your tour. If you head left, you can explore some of the special exhibits that rotate through the museum. Currently, there’s Loretta Lynn.

Make your way down the long hallway. Another special exhibit area honors The Judds. Learn about the life of the sisters and see the outfits, awards and records they produced.

Along the hall, there are a variety of permanent exhibits that walk you from the folk roots of country music to the 1960s. We laughed at many of the colorful suede suits with cactus, fringe and other “back in the day” fashions.

If you’re an Elvis Presley fan, you’ll like seeing his gold-plated Cadillac. There was a small TV in it, and definitely looks like a car from back in the day. Right in front of Elvis’ car is one that caught our attention. There were guns as the door handles, and handgun hood ornament, and a horse saddle between the front seats. Classy.

Continue around to the Gold Record Wall and see if you recognize the songs that made history. There are also interactive touchscreens you can use to explore the history of the music, artists and America.

Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s Exhibit

A semi-permanent exhibit (now through Feb 2021), Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s, was kinda fun. There were artifacts and history around Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and several others.

One of the fun parts was a projection of a section of highway with armadillos running across it. The purpose of the exhibit is to stomp on the armadillos. They splat when you do. It was fun to see people jumping on the road to squash armadillos – and we even had a go at it.

Grab a Activity Guide for Kids, which is specific to this exhibit. It will help young kids interact more with the museum. They can do a word search, look for specific artifacts or outfits. They can even design their own guitar – just like Waylon and Willie had their own specific guitars as part of their music.

1960s to the Present + American Currents

More colorful outfits are on display in this next exhibit. For example, the leather outfit above was worn by music star Gram Parsons. Next to it is information about Bob Dylan.

Did you watch the TV show Smokey and the Bandit? Well, the car is on display in the museum, too.

I enjoyed the exhibit on song lyrics written on random pieces of paper by the songwriter. For example, I read the words to Alan Jackson’s song, Where were you when the world stopped turning. It is an emotional song, capturing the emotions of September 11, 2001.

Near the end of the exhibit, there are outfits from Taylor Swift, Faith Hill, Keith Urban and other more modern day music stars.

One of the last exhibits we visited was one of the most fun by far. The American Currents: The Music of 2017 area had a recording studio booth. We put on the headphones selected the song and sang some Taylor Swift. However, my daughter stopped singing and just listened to me and laughed. After we sang, we were able to listen to our creation. Which made us laugh more. We put in our email address to have the song sent to us – but we never received it. 🙁

Country Music’s Hall of Fame Rotunda

Before you leave the museum, stop into the Hall of Fame Rotunda. There are plaques along the around walls, commemorating those who have been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The plaques aren’t in any particular order – sort of like the knights of the round table. No one person is greater than the others.

Some of the inductees include George Straight, Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley – to name a few.

Do you have a favorite country music star or song? As I kid, I remember my parents listening to songs like King of the Road by Roger Miller, The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, and of course, Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash. My daughter enjoyed learning about the music of Patsy Cline during our trip to Nashville, too.

The architecture of the hall has a lot of symbolism. From the windows that look like piano keys, to the sweeping arch wall portraying a 1950s Cadillac fin. Grab a brochure at the front desk to learn about the other architectural elements.

The Details

Address: 222 5th Ave. South, Nashville, TN 37203

Cost: General admission tickets are $25.95 for adults, $15.95 for youth (6-12), $23.95 for students and seniors (60+). Military are $22.95. There are additional tours available for added costs. Find all the options on their website.  

Hours: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is open daily from 9-5 p.m. It’s closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Website: https://countrymusichalloffame.org

Phone: (615) 416-2001

Disclosure: I received two complimentary admissions to The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own.

PIN THIS