Carl Broemel has only lived in East Nashville since 2005, but that’s long enough for him to be able to remark on how much it’s changed over the last few years.
Take Riverside Village, a short strip of buildings at the corner of Riverside Drive and McGavock Pike that’s near the home Carl shares with his wife and two-year-old son, a modernized ranch located in the quite, tree-filled area of East Nashville called Inglewood.
“When we moved over here, there was just a car repair place and a pawn shop up here,” he said over lunch in the sunny garden area behind Mitchell Deli, the local sandwich joint that whipped up the tuna sandwich he enjoyed as he talked. “It wasn’t a place where people hung out. I knew that there were a lot of people my age living around here, but I didn’t ever see them. I think they just congregated in their homes for a long time.
“Now there are places to go,” he continued. “There’s even a sushi restaurant here now, which is really saying something.” Riverside Village is also home to Sip, the coffee shop that brewed the iced Americano Carl used to wash down his sandwich; and the Village Pub & Beer Garden, where he’s been known to tip a glass.
As much as the Indiana native enjoys swinging by Sip for a coffee or Mitchell’s snack, good eats aren’t what Carl appreciates most about living in Inglewood. Considering that he’s a musician – Carl’s second solo album, All Birds Say, came out on ATO Records late last year; he also plays guitar in the Louisville-based band My Morning Jacket – it’s the neighborhood’s storied past and its place in Nashville’s long, rich musical history that give him the biggest kick.
Of course, this being Nashville, performing has never been relegated to recording studios, clubs and concert halls: it seems like music history is being or has been made everywhere you look – including your own backyard, as Carl recently learned:
Last year, I met a great guy named Buzz Cason. My friend Teddy Morgan, who recorded my record for me, was renting studio space from Buzz, who has a place called The Creative Workshop that’s right next Blackbird Studios in Berry Hill.
Turns out that Buzz is a legendary songwriter – he’s the guy who wrote “Everlasting Love,” which everybody knows. He wrote “Soldier of Love,” a song that the Beatles recorded. They call his studio “The Friendly Forest,” and it hasn’t changed since 1975 when they did the latest renovation. There’s a mural of trees, green curtains and carpet everywhere, and a piano that was on the Johnny Cash Show and an old set of vibes that are just amazing, a great old mixing board … It’s just a really cool place to record.
We were there working a lot, so I got to know Buzz pretty well; he gave me his book (The Adventures of Buzz Cason: Living the Rock & Roll Dream). I read it and found out that he started the first rock & roll band in Nashville; for a long time they were the backing band for Brenda Lee.
I also found out that Buzz lived on Ardee Avenue – that’s just a few blocks away from where we live. It turns out that the big four-acre field behind my house used to be the Riverwood Riding Academy. I asked Buzz about it and he told me that he used to go to sock hops there back in the ‘50s. He said his band would play there sometimes.
I thought that was so cool: I meet this guy in a recording studio across town and he gives me a new perspective on my house and my neighborhood. After that, I walked back in the woods and found the building. It’s abandoned; the doors and windows are gone and the roof has fallen in. But it’s cool knowing that back in the ‘50s this is where teenagers went to listen to Elvis and drink soda pop and dance. That’s the part of Nashville that’s not obvious to everyone; this city has a really deep and layered history.
Those kinds of people in Nashville are amazing to me – the guys who are behind the scenes. Buzz was a solo artist who became famous for his songwriting. Look at “Everlasting Love”: hundreds of people have sung that – I mean, Gloria Estefan has recorded it. The fact that the guy who wrote it basically used to play right outside my house fifty years ago is pretty interesting to me.
Carl Broemel will kick-off Imogene + Willie’s 2010 Supper & Song series on Thursday, April 7. The show is free and starts at 7 pm.
-I + W
About our photographer: Joshua Anderson is a Nashville-based photographer specializing in editorial and portraiture work. Formerly based in Cincinnati and Chicago, he is currently working on several personal projects in addition to the work he does for clients including Converse, the New York Times, the Guardian UK Sunday Magazine, The Fader and Interview. See his work at www.joshandersonphotography.com and www.iwouldhelpyouburythebody.tumblr.com.
