The street runs downhill to the Cumberland between brick fronts from the late nineteenth century, with a sign on nearly every one.
What Lower Broadway looks like
Broadway runs downhill from Fifth Avenue to the Cumberland River, four lanes wide with no street trees and wide sidewalks in brick and concrete under ornate dual lobed lampposts. The buildings on both sides are one to four storeys of red brick, most of them dating from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, with arched window heads and pressed cornices above the signs.
Nearly every front has a projecting sign, and several run neon the full height of the building. ' neon sign, a cowgirl playing guitar worked into a giant boot outline, juts out over the sidewalk at 321.
at 422 is painted purple over its whole brick front, one of the few buildings on the block colored rather than covered in signage. Its back door opens onto the alley behind the , half a block up Rep. John Lewis Way North.
The 's front window lifts fully open at 316, putting the band on a platform a few feet from the passing sidewalk. Two doors up, The Stage on Broadway runs its stage under an oval neon sign hung over the entrance.
At Fourth Avenue, the rises three storeys in red brick with round arched windows and a corner turret, its ground floor closed behind dark glass. The street ends a few blocks on at a plaza of concrete terraces above the Cumberland, the Shelby Street pedestrian bridge crossing the river beyond it.
Shot in Lower Broadway
The series Nashville used the honky tonks along this block as bar interiors and exteriors across its six seasons. Layla's and the Cadillac Ranch turn up on screen the same way, alongside Tootsie's own scene below. Coal Miner's Daughter in 1980, John Carpenter's Elvis in 1979 and Clint Eastwood's Honkytonk Man in 1982 all used the Ryman's own stage, half a block off Broadway.
Nashville, ABC, 2012
Tootsie's Orchid Lounge
The ABC series shot a season one scene inside Tootsie's, where Gunnar plays his late brother's lyrics at an open mic night with Will. The bar's whole brick front is painted purple, one of the few buildings on the block colored rather than covered in signage.
Three storey brick commercial buildings from the 1870s through the 1920s have the same kind of neon signage and ground floor bars as Lower Broadway, arched windows and terra cotta cornices above the storefronts. Both run as one unbroken commercial block rather than a scattered entertainment district. Beale's cast iron balconies and narrower lots read differently in a wide shot, so tighter frames on individual storefronts hold the match best. Try searching neon brick storefronts now.
Sixth Street in Austin, Texas
Two and three storey Late Victorian buildings in cream colored brick and limestone line Sixth Street, put up in a building boom right after the Civil War. Cast iron cornices and arched windows over the storefronts give it the same commercial block scale as Lower Broadway. Sixth Street's limestone and light brick read brighter than Broadway's red brick. Its buildings run only two or three storeys against Broadway's mix up to four, so a wide shot needs a tighter frame to hide the difference. Try searching limestone brick storefronts now.
Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana
Bourbon Street has the same wall to wall bars, music loud enough to hear from the sidewalk and neon signage stacked up the fronts as Lower Broadway. The buildings themselves are stucco over brick with wrought iron balconies rather than Broadway's exposed red brick. The pastel stucco gives it away in a wide shot. So do the ironwork balconies, both wrong for Lower Broadway. That leaves this comparison working only in tight, signage heavy frames at night. Try searching wall to wall bars now.
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