MusicRow Magazine: Nashville Songwriting Exhibit Opens in Music City Center

Craig Shelburne • January 4, 2016 •

Pictured (Standing, L-R): Bill Anderson, Tom Douglas, Richard Leigh, and Pat Alger. (Seated, L-R): Dickey Lee, Bobby Braddock and Allen Shamblin. Photo: Bev Moser

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (NaSHOF) has opened a new exhibit in its gallery located in Nashville’s Music City Center. Titled “The Evolution of a Great Song,” the exhibit features memorabilia and lyric drafts from Hall of Fame members Bill Anderson, Bobby Braddock, Paul Craft, Tom Douglas, Dallas Frazier, Dickey Lee, Richard Leigh, Layng Martine Jr., Hugh Prestwood, Curly Putman, Johnny Russell, Allen Shamblin and Hank Williams.
“Like anyone else who drops by to view our new exhibit, I was fascinated to see the creative process as it developed in manuscript form of some of my favorite songs,” said Pat Alger, Board Chair of the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, and himself a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. “Lyrics that seem so perfect when we heard the finished product often took a long and winding journey to get there. Every fan of songwriting will be interested in this display.”
“We wanted to give visitors insight into what a song looks like when the idea is first born and put to paper, long before it gets on the radio, when the writer has no idea whether the song will be successfully completed, let alone a hit,” said Layng Martine Jr., who is also a NaSHOF Board member.
The exhibit is located in the Hall of Fame Gallery on the first floor of the Music City Center. In addition to the new exhibit, the gallery features interactive touch screens that allow visitors to access audio, video and other digital information about the history of Nashville songwriting and members of the Hall of Fame.