Where there’s music, there’s food. And where there’s food, there’s music—at least in Nashville. It seems there’s hardly anyone that moves to Nashville for anything other than music, except for maybe me. (I moved here for publishing.) My ENT even sells his CDs at the desk of his office where you register. This became even more evident than usual as we worked on this issue.
A week before the issue went to print, we found some lanterns for our farm dinner on Craigslist. My daughter and I went to Gallatin to pick them up. The owner turned out to live on a historic property with a beautiful event space called The Grand Inheritance. After a tour and lots of conversation, he sheepishly mentioned that he was a musician. He turned out to be Mike Scott, a prominent banjo player (in photo).
We met the owners of No.9 Farms last year, and after we tapped into them for our farm dinner, found out that music brought them from Seattle to Nashville. Chef Skylar Bush of Park Café, who was featured in our last Edible Kitchen (and on page 39), moved to Nashville for music as well. “It was the wrong place for me to move” he joked, insinuating he wasn’t good enough. Instead, he became a chef.
Music is one of the things that makes Nashville so creative. Musicians become farmers, chefs, artists, and entrepreneurs; one way or another, they are the lifeblood of the town. For every famous performer, there’s a hundred songwriters behind them and a hundred creative souls feeding into the community.
This issue taps into those souls and shows how the creative fabric of our community feeds our spirits, and many times, our appetites as well. Enjoy.