Why you should experience Lower Broadway (Honky Tonk Highway) in Nashville.
There’s no single street in America that captures the sound of a city quite like Lower Broadway in Nashville, a neon-drenched strip of rhythm, rebellion, and raw talent known affectionately as Honky Tonk Highway.
Here, the pulse of Music City thunders from every open doorway, where guitars wail, voices soar, and the scent of whiskey mingles with Southern barbecue and possibility. From morning until well past midnight, live music pours from the bars that line this legendary stretch, places like Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, Robert’s Western World, and The Stage, each with its own story, its own sound, and its own dreamer chasing the next verse of their song. The street hums with life: tourists two-stepping in cowboy boots, bachelorette parties belting out country anthems, locals nodding to guitar riffs that cut through the humid Tennessee air. But beyond the flash and fame, Lower Broadway is sacred ground for music lovers, the same sidewalks once walked by legends like Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, and Kris Kristofferson when they were still chasing their break. Standing beneath the glow of the neon lights, you feel it, that mix of grit, heart, and magic that only Nashville can deliver. It’s loud, it’s alive, and it’s unforgettable.
What you didn’t know about Lower Broadway.
Lower Broadway’s story is one of transformation, from forgotten urban corridor to the heartbeat of Nashville’s global identity.
In the early 20th century, this downtown stretch was lined with shops and small businesses that served the nearby riverfront. But after the Great Depression, it fell quiet, its storefronts dim and neglected. The revival began in the 1930s when the Grand Ole Opry started broadcasting from the nearby Ryman Auditorium, drawing musicians and fans from across the country. Bars and taverns began opening their doors to performers looking to play for tips between Opry sets, giving rise to the first “honky tonks”, lively, rough-edged saloons where country music found its true voice. By the 1960s, stars like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash were slipping into Tootsie’s after their shows at the Ryman, swapping stories and singing impromptu duets deep into the night. Yet by the 1980s, as the Opry moved to its new home at Opryland, Broadway once again slipped into decline, until local musicians, entrepreneurs, and preservationists breathed new life into it during the 1990s. Today, it’s a living museum of country music culture, with every bar serving as both stage and storytelling shrine. Few realize that the name “Honky Tonk Highway” isn’t just a nickname, it’s a nod to the fact that you can walk from one end of the street to the other and hear continuous live music from morning to closing time, seven days a week. The strip may glitter with tourist energy now, but its soul remains pure Nashville, a place built by dreamers who still believe that the right song, sung on the right night, can change a life.
How to fold Lower Broadway into your trip.
Experiencing Lower Broadway is less about checking it off a list and more about surrendering to its rhythm, it’s not a place you simply visit, but one you feel.
Start at the corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, where the Ryman Auditorium stands as the mother church of country music. Step inside if time allows; its history amplifies every note you’ll hear later that night. Then make your way down the strip, stopping wherever the music pulls you in. At Robert’s Western World, grab a fried bologna sandwich and a cold beer while the house band plays honky tonk classics that could have been ripped from a 1950s jukebox. Across the street, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge bursts with purple neon and Nashville lore, its walls covered in photos of legends who once sang here. For something modern, head to Luke’s 32 Bridge or Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk for rooftop views, booming crowds, and new artists blending country with rock and blues. If you want a breather, step into Acme Feed & Seed, a multi-level venue that pairs Southern eats with skyline views and local craft beer. As night deepens, the energy only builds, fiddle solos echoing between the buildings, strangers singing together like old friends, and the skyline shimmering just beyond the Cumberland River. To truly capture the essence, linger until late: when the neon lights blur, the guitars fade, and the city hums in the aftermath of a thousand songs. Lower Broadway isn’t just the center of Nashville, it’s its heartbeat, where country’s past, present, and future collide in one endless chorus.
Hear it from the Foresyte community.
Day drinking, live music, and neon everywhere. You stumble out of one bar and straight into another. No cover, just chaos and guitars.
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