Nashville…A Spirited City

At Halloween, ghosts and and their stories are plentiful and Music City is no exception. Nashville has a long history of hauntings, from the Tennessee State Capitol Building to the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditoirum.

Employees at the Opry House contend that the late Roy Acuff has never really left the building and frequently refuses to allow the curtains to be drawn on his beloved Grand Ole Opry. After a performance, when the artists and fans have already headed home, employees report that they will sometimes turn off the lights and prepare to lock the doors, only to hear the sounds of the stage curtains opening. A quick check will reveal the curtains are indeed open and the lights are on, as if the King of Country Music himself were about to take the stage for another show.

Across town at the Opry’s former home, the Ryman Auditorium, are additional reports of unusual activity. The most famous ghost of the Ryman may also be country music’s busiest. Several Ryman employees report seeing white apparitions, but a few claim that they’ve come face to face with the actual ghost of Hank Williams Sr. Some say they have encountered Williams backstage, while one employee seems to think the white mist she saw onstage was Williams singing. A recent visitor is convinced that he ran into Williams in the alley between the Ryman and Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, another of Williams’ haunts.

Music Row has its fair share of hauntings. Although the building that housed the old Gilley’s nightclub has been demolished, some Music Row veterans recall it as the site of a bizarre wrestling match between the club manager’s son and a spirit dressed as a Civil War soldier. The soldier disappeared, but the young man’s black eye was very real. At the offices of a prominent recored company, lights often turned on and off in empty offices, doors opened and closed unexpectedly, and locks changed themselves. All of the occurences so unnerved the employees that the label executives finally enlisted pyschics to cleanse the building of negative spirits.

Nashville offers a 90 minute walking ghost tour of our downtown streets. To find out more about the tour, visit www.NashvilleGhostTours.com. Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Until next time….