'For The Love of Music' Documentary Moves Me... Kinda

          During the 2013 Nashville Film Festival, Nashville CVB head Butch Spyridon exclaimed: "This is the coolest damn city in the world." 

          Just about all of us would agree. But when it comes to telling Nashville's story, the CVB's documentary "For The Love of Music"  has "authentic" hits and misses. It moves me... kinda.

          The hits: "For the Love Of Music" features an impeccable cast of artists, including The Black Keys, Fisk Jubilee Singers, Kings of Leon, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, and a barefooted Vince Gill. All do an excellent job raving about Nashville's emergence as an "authentic, multi-genre city".

Kris Kristofferson

          

          The movie is likely to make musical and tourist waves in certain places when it airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday (May 21) on CMT. But it doesn't tell the whole story. Missing are a number of key ingredients: The Symphony's impact on the collaborative wonder of Nashville's musical landscape... the appreciation of CCM/gospel greats like Amy Grant (although Michael W. Smith was quoted briefly in the film)... the multitude of struggling songwriters who take nightclub stages every night (not just at the Bluebird) with the dream of landing a label or publishing deal. 

          The movie's focus is on the musicians and songwriters who've already made it. While this is probably the best direction to promote the city overall, it leaves a few "emotional" gaps in Nashville's story for me and some of the writers/musicians I work with. That opens the door for a sequel.

New Hotel Means Loss of Victorian-era Hamilton-Pilcher House... and the Trees

(Update: First the house... now the beautiful trees are gone. There's no mercy on the part of Richard Branson and his team, including David Chase. Rather than keep the large trees that had shaded and graced Music Row for decades, they chose to bulldoze everything. That's surprising for Branson, who claims to care about the environment. Maybe I was wrong to think that. The view from the ASCAP building now looks terrible.)

This is what I posted earlier:

From the "political" desk of Chuck Whiting...

Okay... I'm probably not the most politically minded person on the planet (not even close)! But like everyone out there, my feathers do occasionally get ruffled. So why not post an occasional "vent" or "praise" to let out my frustrations (or my delight)? 

Here's the first "vent" from "Politically Chuck".

On the surface, the new luxury hotel to be built by Virgin billionaire Richard Branson sounds incredible. I'm always happy to hear about Nashville moving forward. And I love the Music City Center, expanded Country Music Hall of Fame, new high-rise hotels, etc. all. What a wonderful time to be living and working in Music City.

Then I read the following in a Tennessean news story:

The site where the hotel is planned is considered an entrance to the Music Row area, which has drawn interest from multifamily and other developers because of its proximity to downtown and Midtown Nashville. A Victorian-era home built in the 1870s at 1 Music Square W. was demolished this week to make way for the project.

The Victorian-era Hamilton-Pilcher House
on Music Row was torn down by
Richard Branson and David Chase to
make way for a new luxury hotel.

 
Demolition of the 19th-century Hamilton-Pilcher House on the site drew an outcry from preservationists. David Chase said historically and architecturally significant items, including the bricks, were identified, cataloged and saved before demolition. 

“Our intent is to reuse as much of those materials in the hotel as we can, and what we do not use, I’m donating to the local historical preservationists’ society,” he said. 

Immediately, my heart sank. I love historic preservation. Whenever I see a developer take away an architectural marvel (especially one that dates back into the 1800s), I have to ask, "Why was it necessary?" Was it a good call for Branson, David Chase, Mark Broom, and Butch Spyridon to push for its destruction for the sake of economic progress? Nashville has lost so many historic landmarks over the years. Just think how wonderful it would have been to have had the home incorporated into the design of the hotel (instead of just its disassembled bricks).

I'm sure I'll love the new hotel on Music Row. But I'll never forget what was there before it was built. Now that it's gone, we can never get it back. Paradoxically, Branson, David, Mark and Butch made history!