Nashville-Downtown

Nashville is the capital of the State of Tennessee,in Davidson County,Tennessee. it is the 2nd most populated city in the state after Memphis. It is located on the Cumberland River in the North Central part of the State. nashville is a major hub for the healthcare,music,publishing,banking and transportation industries. The population of Nashville-Davidson County,as of 2007,according to United States Census Bureau stood at 619,626. The 2007 population of the entire 13 county Nashville Metropolitan Statistical area was 1,521,437 making it the largest metropolitan area in the State.   Much of the city's cultural life has revolved around it's large University Community,and its rich country music industry. Many popular tourist sites involve country music including, The Country Music Hall of fame and Museum,Belcourt Theatre and Ryman auditorium. Ryman was home to the GrandOle Opry until 1974 when the show moved to the GrandOle Opry House nine miles east of downtown. Each year,the CMA Music Festival (formerly known as Fanfair) brings thousands of country fans to the city. Nashville is also home to other genre's of Music such as Christian Pop music based along Nashville's Music Row that features popular acts such as Michael Tait,Jars of Clay,dctalk,tobymac,Michael W.Smith,Matthew West,Amy Grant,Steven Curtis Chapman and many more. Although Nashville was never known as a Jazz town, it did have many great jazz bands including,The Nashville jazz Machine led by Dave Converse and its current version,The Nashville Jazz Orchestra.