Robert's Western World is a

honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, honky tonk, or tonk) is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ...

located on

lower Broadway Broadway is a major thoroughfare in the downtown area in Nashville, Tennessee. It includes Lower Broadway, a tourist and entertainment district renowned for honky tonks and live country music. The Broadway Historic District or Honky Tonk Highway ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Robert's Western World continues to host local and up-and-coming country music talent. The band

BR549 BR549 (originally spelled BR5-49) was an American country rock band founded in 1993. It originally consisted of Gary Bennett (lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar), Don Herron (steel guitar, resonator guitar, fiddle, mandolin, acoustic ...

which gained local and national press from its four-hour nightly gig at Robert's Western World went on to open for country singers

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

and

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

. Despite this, the band never greatly appealed to a mainstream country audience. However, BR549 released an album in 1996 titled ''Live From Robert's'' which was a compilation of original work as well as cover songs recorded in Robert's Western World. On October 15, 2010, Robert's Western World hosted the "Bluegrass on Broadway" presented by C. F. Martin & Company, which started off the annual

International Bluegrass Music Association The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...

in Nashville. This event showcases

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

and its artists to the public.

History

The building that houses Robert's Western World was used as a warehouse, office space for river merchants, and a variety of other purposes until the late 1950s. Steel guitar players

Shot Jackson Harold Bradley "Shot" Jackson (September 4, 1920-January 24, 1991) was an American country guitarist best known for playing Dobro and pedal steel guitar. He also designed and manufactured guitars under the name Sho-Bud. Biography Jackson moved t ...

and

Buddy Emmons Buddy Gene Emmons (January 27, 1937 – July 21, 2015) was an American musician who is widely regarded as the world's foremost pedal steel guitarist of his day. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1981. Affectionately known ...

bought the venue and named it Sho-Bud Steel Guitar Company. The steel guitar shop manufactured and sold steel guitars and other musical instruments until the early 1980s. When lower Broadway hit on hard times in the early 1980s, the building was converted to a liquor store until the early 1990s when Robert Moore bought and converted it into a western apparel store named Robert's Rhinestone Western Wear. After the lower Broadway area rebounded, Mr. Moore added live entertainment, food, and beer. The menu is famous for its "recession special," featuring a fried

bologna sandwich A bologna sandwich or a baloney sandwich is a sandwich made from bologna sausage between slices of bread, along with various condiments, such as mayonnaise, Mustard (condiment), mustard, and ketchup. The bologna sandwich is a regional specialty ...

, a bag of

Lay's Lay's (, ) is a brand of potato chips with different flavors, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay, as both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the ...

potato chips, a moon pie, and a

Pabst Blue Ribbon Pabst Blue Ribbon, commonly abbreviated PBR, is an American lager beer sold by Pabst Brewing Company, established in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1844 and currently based in San Antonio, Texas. Originally called Best Select, and then Pabst Select, ...

for $6. In 1999, Jesse Lee Jones bought Robert's from Robert Moore as dedication to preserve the title "the home of traditional country music" on lower Broadway. Emily Ann Jones, spouse of JesseLee Jones runs Robert’s Western World as the GM. JesseLee and Emily Ann Jones are both singers and musicians, with JesseLee having the longest running house band on lower Broadway, Nashville, “Brazilbilly”, which has been playing for over 30 years at Robert’s Western World.

References

External links

* http://robertswesternworld.com/ Buildings and structures in Nashville, Tennessee American country music Music of Nashville, Tennessee Tourist attractions in Nashville, Tennessee Music venues in Tennessee Honky-tonks {{Tennessee-struct-stub