Nudie’s Honky Tonk Opens Embellishing Broadway With Costumes, Artifacts, Food and Music
The world-famous Nudie’s Honky Tonk is now open on Broadway in Nashville featuring a three story entertainment complex housing memorabilia, costumes, multiple bars, stages and Southern-style comfort food for patrons.
“The rhinestone cowboy couture was founded in the hands of Nudie Cohn,” says owner Bill Miller. “Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Sr, Bob Dylan and Elton John all donned his creations throughout their career where he supplied the fashions for some of their most iconic images. This attraction serves not only as a historical record of the epicenter where fashion perfectly fused country and Hollywood cultures, but also provides a museum-like environment for patrons to enjoy great food, drinks and live music.”
In a private ceremony held on November 18th hosted by owner’s Bill and Shannon Miller, Nudie Cohn’s granddaughter, Jamie Nudie, who now runs Nudie’s Rodeo Tailor, welcomed visitors and fans of his fascinating fashions.
“Excited would be an understatement for how I expect my grandparents would feel seeing their artistry on display in Nashville,” says Jamie Nudie. “Beyond the fashions and celebrities, I wanted younger generations to experience the full story of my grandparents. Nudie was an immigrant from Ukraine who came from nothing, but with hard work and creativity he and my grandmother Bobbie fulfilled the American Dream. Keeping this legacy alive is my mission and with Bill and Shannon Miller’s team we have this tailor-made home honoring my grandparents for generations to come.”
Below are some quick facts about Nudie’s Honky Tonk:
Address: 409 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 (formerly Lawrence Records Building)
Hours: Monday-Thursday: 11AM to 3AM, Friday-Sunday: 10AM to 3AM
Space: Three stories totaling 12,000 square feet
Bar: First floor will house the longest bar in Nashville at more than 100 feet in length.
Stages: Three live performance spaces
Exhibitions: Vintage suits (including those previously worn by Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, Sr.), rare instruments and various country music artifacts from celebrities that donned the iconic fashions.
Automobile: Nudie Cohn’s $400,000 1975 Cadillac El Dorado
Menu: Southern-style cuisine
Website: nudieshonkytonk.com
Facebook: facebook.com/NudiesHonkyTonk
Twitter: @NudiesHonkyTonk
About Nudie Cohn
Born in Ukraine as Nuta Kotlyarenko, he took the name Nudie in the United States after meeting a young lady named Bobbie, who would become his wife. The two moved to New York City as parents of their child Barbara. There they began by designing G-strings for the burlesque showgirls. In the 40s, they transitioned to California and started their world-renowned fashion brand from their garage. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailor fashions were donned by the hottest in film and music including Gene Autry, Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Robert Redford, Porter Wagner and John Wayne, among many others. One of the most recognized, ostentatious contributions to the fashion community is Elvis Presley’s $10,000 gold lamé suit that he wore on the cover of the “50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong” album. Nudie didn’t stop at clothing. He also customized automobiles, often installing silver-dollar dashboards, pistol door handles and gear shifts, extending rear bumpers and trimming vehicles with longhorn steer horns as hood ornaments. To date, there are nine surviving “Nudie Mobiles” with his $400,000 1975 Cadillac El Dorado finding a permanent home on the wall at Nudie’s Honky Tonk.
About Bill Miller
Bill Miller is the founder of the celebrated Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville, TN in addition to JohnnyCash.com and Johnny Cash Radio. This California business and political arena veteran moved to Tennessee where he and his team are prepping the launch of the Patsy Cline Museum and Nudie’s Honky Tonk in Music City.
On the musical front, Bill became a Johnny Cash fan when he was nine years old. He began attending Cash concerts as a kid and met the singer several times. As fate would have it, the two began a friendship which would last for three decades. On the political front, after being elected to the Corona, CA city council, Bill became the youngest Mayor in California’s history at the time. He would diligently serve his constituents until he retired from politics in 1993 after 12 years in an elective office.
Bill founded an autograph and memorabilia company, Odyssey Group; and publishing company, Odyssey Publications, which he would sell in 2004. A noted authority on historical documents and celebrity memorabilia, his business endeavors have traversed through a variety of clientele including Dolly Parton, The White House, Graceland, The Country Music Hall of Fame, Marty Stuart, President Gerald Ford, the Estates of Minnie Pearl and Hank Snow to name just a few. His preservation and musical history passions lead him to author the critically acclaimed Simon & Schuster book Cash: An American Man which Larry King called “the best celebrity biography coffee table book ever done.”
Continuing his preservation legacy, he opened the Johnny Cash Museum in 2013 earning the coveted AAA Gem rating and acquiring features around the globe with outlets like CNN, USA Today, Parade, The NY Times, The NY Post, Billboard, Vogue, Southern Living, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, Yahoo, Huffington Post, London’s NME, etc. It would go on to become Conde Nast’s Traveler #1 “Must Visit Museums for Music Lovers”, National Geographic’s “#1 Pitch Perfect Museum”, Forbes‘ “5 Nashville Must Sees”, Time’s “7 Great American Vacation Spots (That Won’t Bust Your Budget)”, Rolling Stones’ “Top 10 Tennessee Spots for Music Lovers” and two accolades in Southern Living.