The National Museum of African American Music at 510 Broadway opened in January 2021, and it addresses a gap in Nashville’s cultural narrative that had existed for decades: the city that calls itself Music City built much of its identity on music rooted in African American creative traditions, while consistently telling a story that centered white country artists.
What the Museum Does
NMAAM covers the full breadth of African American contributions to American music from sacred music and spirituals through hip-hop and R&B. The 56,000-square-foot space is organized into five “rivers”, gospel, blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and country and roots, that flow together to show how American popular music developed from Black creative foundations.
The museum makes an argument the rest of Nashville’s music industry has been slow to make: that country music, rock and roll, pop, jazz, R&B, and hip-hop all draw from the same African American musical traditions, and that separating them into genre categories obscures more than it reveals.
Nashville’s own history bears this out. Jimi Hendrix learned guitar on Jefferson Street in the 1960s, playing clubs in Nashville’s Black entertainment district. James Brown recorded “Sex Machine” in Nashville. Bobby Hebb wrote “Sunny” here. The 1-40 interstate highway construction of the late 1960s physically demolished Jefferson Street’s club district, a destruction of a thriving Black cultural neighborhood in service of suburban convenience, and that history is told here.
The Fisk Jubilee Singers, formed in 1871 and responsible for Nashville’s “Music City” nickname following their 1873 European tour, are part of this story. The museum gives them and Nashville’s HBCU musical tradition the context usually absent from mainstream Nashville music history.
The Exhibits
Interactive elements are central to the design. The centerpiece is the “One Nation Under A Groove” gallery, a 360-degree experience exploring how African American music connected a nation. The museum includes a replica of the Apollo Theater stage where visitors can perform; a wall of fame documenting artists across genres; and listening stations with significant recordings.
Specific artists covered include Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Muddy Waters, and hundreds of others across genres. The country music section makes explicit the African American roots of banjo music and the genre’s early performers.
Practical Details
Admission is $29.95 for adults. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Plan at least 2 hours. Location at 510 Broadway puts it within the walkable downtown core, accessible from any downtown hotel on foot.
The museum also operates a gift shop with a selection of music-focused books, recordings, and merchandise oriented around African American music history. It’s one of the few Nashville gift shops where you can find serious music history books alongside the usual tourist items.
Why It Matters in Nashville Specifically
Nashville has multiple museums about country music. It has had decades of infrastructure, Music Row, the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame, built around one musical tradition while the city’s broader musical heritage sat largely uncommemorated.
NMAAM corrects this. It’s not a corrective to country music as a genre; it’s a corrective to an incomplete story. Understanding Nashville as a music city requires understanding all of the music that made it one.
Sources
- National Museum of African American Music, nmaam.org
- Nashville Historical Context, Nashville Banner reporting
- Visit Nashville, visitmusiccity.com
- Nashville History research