Nashville is the capital of Tennessee, located in the north-central part of the state. Nashville is sometimes called the "Country Music Capital of the World" or more often "Music City" due to its booming record industry (spanning many genres) and importance in the history of country music. However, in recent years, Nashville has somewhat escaped its country image and become a regional center of culture and commerce.
Nonetheless, many popular tourist sites involve country music, such as the Country Music Hall of Fame, Ryman Auditorium (which was for many years the site of the Grand Ole Opry) and Belcourt Theater. Each year, the CMA Music Festival (formerly known as Fan Fair) brings thousands of country fans to the city.
Lower Broadway is home to many honky-tonk bars and clubs. Probably the most famous of these is Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, which has hosted many big names from the country music scene while remaining a small, intimate and relatively unchanged venue since its founding in the 1960s.
Civil War history is also important to the city's tourism industry. Sites pertaining to the Battle of Nashville and the nearby Battle of Franklin and Battle of Stones River can be seen, along with several well-preserved antebellum plantation houses such as Belle Meade Plantation and Belmont Mansion.
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