Ben Folds' Open Letter to Nashville

[Jim Cohen]

Ben Folds recently posted this on Facebook. I thought it would be of interest to many here...

Ben Folds


putting this out today..hoping someone cares:

Dear Nashville,

Last week, on the day that would have been Chet Atkins' 90th birthday (June 20, 1924), my office received news that the historic RCA Building on Music Row is set to be sold. This building, with the historic Studio A as its centerpiece, was Atkins’ and Owen Bradley’s vision and baby, and had become home to the largest classic recording space in Nashville. Word is that the prospective buyer is a Brentwood TN-based commercial development company called Bravo Development owned and operated by Tim Reynolds. We don’t know what this will mean to the future of the building.

First off, kudos to the estates and descendants of Atkins and Bradley for doing their best to keep the building alive. They’ve owned the property all these years and could have at any point closed it up or mowed it down. Sadly, it's what happens in the name of progress. Studio A, which turns 50 years old next year, has a rich history.

Here are just some of the artists who have made hits here:
Peter Bradley Adams, Gary Allan, Brent Anderson, Anika, Arlis Albritton, Asleep at the Wheel, Sara Bareilles, The Beach Boys, Ben Folds Five, Tony Bennett, Amy Black, Jason Blaine, Blind Boys of Alabama, Joe Bonamassa, Wade Bowen, Eden Brent, Jim Brickman, The Brothers Osborne, Rachel Bradshaw, Brentwood Benson, David Bullock, Laura Bell Bundy, Ken Burns, The Canadian Tenors, The City Harmonic, Steven Curtis Chapman, Chocolate Horse, Brandy Clark, Brent Cobb, Jesse Colter, Elizabeth Cook, Wayne Coyne, Margaret Cho, Billy Currington, Matt Dame, Danae, Ilse DeLange, Rebecca de la Torre, Steve Earle, ESPN, Jace Everett, The Fabulous Headliners, Dani Flowers, Danny Flowers, Ben Folds, Colt Ford, The Frog Sessions, Eleanor Fye, Cami Gallardo, Billy Gibbons, Sarah Gibson, Vince Gill, Alyssa Graham, Peter Groenwald, Harlan Pepper, Harper Blynn, Connie Harrington, Hunter Hayes, John Hiatt, Faith Hill, JT Hodges, Adam Hood, James House, Sierra Hull, Alan Jackson, Joe Jackson, Casey James, Jenny Jarnigan, Jewel, Jamey Johnson, Josh Jones, Kristin Kelly, KESHA, Anna Krantz, Ben Kweller, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Sonny Landreth, Samatha Landrum, Mark Lanigan, Stoney LaRue, Jim Lauderdale, Frank Liddell, LIfeway, Meagan Lindsey, Longmont All Stars Jazz Band, Lyle Lovette, Luella and the Sun, Tayla Lynn, Amanda Palmer, John Pardi, Rich Parkinson, Alan Parson, Charlie Pate, Kellie Pickler, Pistol Annies, Pretty Lights, Mike Posner, Sean McConnell, Scotty McCreery, Kate Miller Heidke, Ronnie Milsap, Miss Willie Brown, Danny Mitchell, Allison Moorer, Kacey Musgraves, Musiq Soulchild, David Nail, the Nashville Symphony, Jerrod Neimann, Willie Nelson, Joe Nichols, Sierra Noble, Natalie Noone, The Oakridge Boys, Jake Owen, Rainfall, Johnny Reid, Thomas Rhett, Lionel Richie, The Robertson Family, Henry Rollins, Shannon Sanders, Jader Santos, Alejando Sanz, Mondo Saez, Kate Schrock, Bob Seger, Sera B., Brian Setzer, Nikki Shannon, William Shatner, SHEDaisy, Jordyn Shellart, Joel Shewmake, Sleeping With Sirens, Jake Shimabukuro, Mike Shipp, Kevin Shirley, Anthony Smith, Joanna Smith, Dr. Ralph Stanley, Chelsea Staling, Steel Magnolia, Tate Stevens, Jay Stocker, Rayburn, RED, RockIt City, Jeff Taylor, Justin Towns Earle, Josh Thompson, Those Darlins, Josh Turner, Bonnie Tyler, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Ben Utecht, Phil Vassar, Venus and the Moon, Andy Victor, Amanda Watkins, Chuck Wicks, Hank Williams Jr., Williamson Country Youth Orchesta, Alicia Witt, Lee Ann Womack, Word Entertainment and Charlie Worsham.

I had no idea of the extent of legacy of this great studio until I become the tenant of the space 12 years ago. Most of us know about Studio B. Studio A was its grander younger sibling, erected by Atkins when he became an RCA executive. The result was an orchestral room built to record strings for Elvis Presley and to entice international stars to record in one of these four Putnam-designed RCA spaces in the world. The other three RCA studios of the same dimensions – built in LA, Chicago and New York – have long since been shut down. I can't tell you how many engineers, producers and musicians have walked into this space to share their stories of the great classic recorded music made here that put Nashville on the map. I’ve heard tales of audio engineers who would roller skate around the room waiting for Elvis to show up at some point in the weeks he booked, stories about how Eddy Arnold recording one of the first sessions in the room and one of the songs was “Make The World Go Away,” Dolly Parton (Jolene) and The Monkees recorded here, and so on. Legendary songwriter John D. Loudermilk and his bride were serenaded by a session orchestra hired by Atkins who were recording here for an artist. He recalled that they danced all the way to the loading doors and into their limo, reminiscing about the beautiful floor tiles which still line the entire space. He co-wrote countless numbers of songs with Atkins and many others in this studio.

To this day, Studio A remains a viable, relevant and vibrant space. In recent years these artists and filmmakers have recorded or worked here, to name a few:

Sara Bareilles, William Shatner, Kacey Musgraves, Ken Burns, Kesha, The Beach Boys, Wayne Cohen, Tony Bennett, Willie Nelson, Kellie Pickler, Hunter Hayes, Charlie Worsham, David Nail, Jamey Johnson, Joe Bonamassa, Word Music, Gary Allan, me and Ben Folds Five.

While we Nashvillians can feel proud about the overall economic progress and prosperity we're enjoying, we know it's not always so kind to historical spaces, or to the legacy and foundation upon which that prosperity was built.

My motivation for spending over a million dollars in rent and renovations over these past 12 years was simple. I could have built my own space of the same dimensions with that kind of investment. But I'm a musician with no interest in development or business in general. I only want to make music in this historic space, and allow others to do the same. I’ve recorded all over the world and I can say emphatically that here's no recording space like it anywhere on the planet. These studio walls were born to ring with music. I just wanted to keep it alive.

Before the news of the sale I had been in recent talks with other entities on how we could collaborate on allowing visitors to Music City to see the space firsthand and hear its rich history, while also making sure that it stays busy making music history of tomorrow. No one can say now what will become of that idea.

Selfishly I’d love to remain the tenant and caretaker of this amazing studio space. I love it dearly. But if I must let it go in the interest of change, my only hope is that it remain intact and alive. A couple of years ago my co-manager, Sharon Corbitt House, promised the late, great producer Phil Ramone, while he was in town recording Tony Bennett and an orchestra LIVE in this space, that she would do what she could to keep the studio doors open. Ramone had watched the former New York RCA studio transform into office space for the IRS and couldn't bear to see the last of this incredible acoustic design fade away.

So here’s where we’re coming from. Historic RCA Studio A is too much a part of why such incredible business opportunities exist in 2014 in Nashville to simply disappear. Music City was built on the foundation of ideas, and of music. What will the Nashville of tomorrow look like if we continue to tear out the heart of the Music Row that made us who we are as a city? Ultimately, who will want to build new condos in an area that has no central community of ideas or creatives?

We are Music City-the only city in the world truly built on music.
My simple request is for Tim Reynolds or whoever the next owners might be of this property, before deciding what to do with this space, to take a moment to stand in silence between the grand walls of RCA Studio A and feel the history and the echoes of the Nashville that changed the world. I'd like to ask him and other developers to listen first hand to the stories from those among us who made the countless hit records in this studio – the artists, musicians, engineers, producers, writers who built this rich music legacy note by note, brick by brick.

I don’t know what impact my words here will have on anything. But I felt the need to share, and to encourage others who also care about preserving our music heritage to speak up as well.

I believe that progress and heritage can co-exist in mutual respect. Maybe this time we can at least try to make the effort.

Yours,
Ben Folds

[Jack Hanson]

Very informative and interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[David Mason]

Owners of multi-million dollar properties have the option to not sell them, I suppose. If major studios can't make money doing major sessions, there won't be major studios. I wish it were still the good old days.

http://www.hansenwheel.com/
http://www.wulflund.com/armour/

[Barry Blackwood]

Great letter, Ben. Any other Nashville trivia you'd like to share?

[Jerome Hawkes]

i had heard that back in the early 70's, right after they built the new Opryland theme park with the new home of the Grand Ol Opry - Nashville was going to tear down the aging Ryman Auditorium and replace it with a parking deck. one of the few people in Nashville at the time with any vision of the historical nature of this insult was the great John Hartford, fortunately having fat royalty checks from his "Gentle on My Mind" mega-hit. he organized one of the first true grass roots efforts to save the Ryman and they were able to raise enough funds and persuade enough politicians that it was the right thing to do - getting it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Their vision was rewarded - think of the shame of tearing down that place for a parking deck...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1FFyyJz8wc

[Bob Hoffnar]

Often all it takes to save a place is to make it take time to complete the deal. The sharks only want fast money. They buy a place and flip it for a quick profit. Put up some cheaply built condos and sell them to an investment group who flips them to a real estate management company who then sells the condos. It is not really progress or a healthy economic move. A couple guys make a big pile of money fast and stick the crappy condos with a management group. Nashville loses a historic landmark and actually does not get anything in return. If you subtract the profit extracted by the developer/capital investment group Nashville may see a net loss. In any case If the deal starts running into opposition the sharks often move on. It is quite possible to win this battle.

[David Mason]

Yeah - one of the few local political things I get involved in is just to keep the speculators out. They'll put an "option" to buy land right next to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge - then set up a public hearing, where they threaten to fill up the swamp (ahem, "Wetlands") and build $400,000 condos and an 18-hole golf course. They have no actual intent to do so, they just either want to get land rezoned then flip it to the next guy or: get paid off to just go away for a while. I went to one of these hearings, someone "was going to" build close to a half-billion dollar project - and they had it on a flip chart, with magic-marker drawings!

This seems to be a different kind of thing but if SOMEONE can get a studio designated as a landmark, it will at least screw the other guy's pooch. We live in pretty bizarre times, there's really no need to build more buildings and houses when so many sit empty, but the guys BUILDING things only make money when they're building stuff. Tear stuff down, build new stuff, repeat every thirty years....

[Shari Boyd]

I hope the new owners find a way to do what they want and save the studio... one reason I moved here was because Nashville preserved it's past while modifying and updating to make room for progress.. that is becoming less and less of a priority and it breaks my heart.

[robert kramer]

[Daniel McKee]

I read a new article today saying that if the land developer could not incorporate studio A into the new plans they would back out on the deal and would not tear down studio A. I hope it was true

[robert kramer]

Here's an article saying the developer won't demolish Studio "A."

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville ... a-studio-a

[Jim Cohen]

Here's Ben Folds' newest letter, posted on Sunday.

The rally to save the historic RCA Studio building that’s planned for this coming Monday, June 30, just got more important. Enough so that I’m re-routing my scheduled tour route from NYC to Europe through Nashville just so I could come back for a few hours to attend the 9 AM event at the studio.

I’m told that many others – from artists to music producers to famous songwriters – are also planning to be there.

‪#‎SaveStudioA‬ may have just shifted to ‪#‎SaveMusicRow‬. This is a wake up call, this time without the luxury of another snooze button option. It’s become clearer over the past few days that we have reached a tipping point for the survival of Music Row. We need to gather so that we ensure the dialogue can turn into real action, action that helps to preserve what makes Nashville so attractive to creatives and investors alike.

The incredible international outpouring of concern and positive support for Studio A that was triggered by my open letter has apparently convinced developer Tim Reynolds to reconsider his plans for the grand Studio. This place not only has a rich heritage, but it also continues to make history as I write this. Mr. Reynolds, a Brentwood, TN-based developer, says he wasn’t aware of the historical significance of the building that he had agreed to buy. Thanks to those who reached out to him he’s now fully aware and has said he has a team of architects and engineers who will help him figure out if he can incorporate the Studio intact into a re-development plan. If he can afford to do so he says he will. If he can’t, then he says he won’t close on the property, which we were told had been scheduled to occur on Monday. This says a lot about his willingness to listen to reason and to the volume of your collective voices.

All that aside, if Mr. Reynolds decides not to buy the property, what’s to ensure that the next developer shows the same integrity? Whoever buys this property will have the power to do what they want to it unless there’s a plan in place that requires development to factor in the preservation of our music heritage and existing music enterprises.

Music City – from our elected leaders, business and community leaders, and those from all facets of our industry – should work more closely together to protect Music Row from destruction. If we do not succeed in preserving the very foundation that has allowed Nashville to be the ONLY city in the U.S. built on music, how long before people stop coming here to live in Music City’s high rise condos? Condos in Music City make sense, but music won’t survive in Condo City.

That’s why Monday’s rally at 9 AM is so important.

To better understand why I feel the way I do about all this, it may be useful for you to know my story. One that’s not all that different from the stories of other musicians, producers and music business people who have come here to pursue a dream.

In 1993, while still waiting tables in North Carolina, I was offered a small publishing deal that brought me to Nashville for the first time. I was given a great floor to sleep on in a house studio on 19th Ave South, where I met up with like-minded struggling writers and musicians like Keith Urban, Tommy Simms, Paul Worley and a host of others.

The home studio was a bona fide hub of activity and creative energy. I’d never experienced such a community vibe, and, in time I discovered that my first exposure was just the tip of the iceberg. The first night I was there, a motorcycle pulled up out front, and a few of us gathered on the sidewalk to listen to a mix by a young Trisha Yearwood, who I think at the time was still a Belmont student. I remember witnessing songs being written on pianos in living room offices, waiting to speak to music attorneys in upstairs bedrooms of Antebellum homes, and watching equipment being borrowed between studios. Keith and I got together once to write a song, and he jokes to this day that he just ended up just being my tape operator. I found myself playing on demos, writing and being embraced by this incredible community, despite the fact that didn’t know a note of country music. To us then, and still today, it’s all just music.

This was my introduction to Music City, and it convinced me to call it my home.

Anchoring this hub were a few major studios and business in large, yet still unassuming structures. I knew when I first stepped into one of these large anchors – the grand RCA Studio A – that it was a true creative epicenter, in addition to being one of the best recording rooms in the world.

On occasion these days, I’ll take a breather on the loading dock behind Studio A, to watch busloads of music lovers making their pilgrimage to RCA Studio B, our sister studio space that’s owned by the Country Music Hall of Fame. I think about artists like Tony Bennett recording LIVE in Studio A, steps from where these visitors are gathering, all the while knowing they have no idea what is happening just a few yards away from them.

What’s cool about Studio A is that it’s not only a music landmark. It’s also a living, breathing space, still churning out hits and epic songs like those recorded recently here by Kacy Musgraves, Hunter Hayes, Jewel and Brian Setzer, just to name a few.

That perfect combo of incredible, informal spontaneous creativity exploding in the homes and buildings that dot Music Row, bolstered by the anchoring state-of-the-art historic power houses, along with its close proximity to the heart of the city, is what makes Music Row, and what has collectively put Nashville on the map. It’s our own delicate recipe for a magical music potion, which is why no other city has succeeded in the same way. Until now, our real estate in that part of the city has not been so incredibly valuable compared to properties in the rest of the country. We all of a sudden find that our current notoriety, fueled by the millions the city has spent promoting the Music City brand, is luring in developers worldwide who want a piece of the action.

What’s needed now is a grand plan for Music City that’s rooted in common sense and that offers a balance between development and preservation.

All that starts with a conversation that becomes a dialogue that invokes a plan that calls for action.

We sparked a conversation that is becoming a dialogue. We’re now looking to our city government and business leaders, city planners, historic preservationists and Music Row advocates to join with us in committing to find a way to strike the right balance between prosperity by development and creative synergy that can only come from a vibrant Music Row community.

I’ve had lots of folks reach out to me offering to step forward with ideas about what to do short-term and long-term about the future of Music Row. It seems to me the best thing now is for everyone to share those ideas with one another, with our Mayor, your local Metro Councilperson or Metro Councilpersons At Large, the folks at Metro Planning, the Metro Historical Commission, the heads of the Chamber of Commerce and our Convention and Visitors Bureau, and anyone else you can think of who may have the power to shape and/or impact the landscape of Music Row and our city. When all is said and done, we all have a stake in this.

I hope to see all of you on Monday, June 30, at 9 AM at my studio at 30 Music Square West.

Thank You,
Ben Folds
12-year tenant of the RCA Studio A Room (aka Grand Victor Sound Studio)

[Barry Blackwood]

My hat's off to Mr. Folds. One person can make a difference..

[Mike Neer]

My hat's off to Mr. Folds. One person can make a difference..

Agreed. Now, if he can just save the music industry!

[Barry Blackwood]

[LJ Eiffert]

Am with you on this one Barry Blackwood & & . The Music Business is a crazy world of dreams that on come true if you are a 24/7 life style. Somebody wash the red carpet it looks orange with pigeon poop all over it.

[Jim Cohen]

Next installment in the saga is a response by Harold Bradley on behalf of the estates of Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley, which own the property:

Between open letters and public rallies, we’ve heard a lot from Ben Folds on the sale of RCA Studio A, the storied Music Row studio the singer, songwriter and bandleader has rented and operated for the past 12 years. And we’ve heard from Brentwood-based condo developer Tim Reynolds, whose Bravo Development LLC is buying the building housing the studio — and who told the Cream that despite the controversy stirred up over the sale, it’s always been his absolute intention to preserve Studio A. One group we haven’t heard from is the estate of Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley, the owners who are selling the property to Reynolds.

That just changed.

Late this afternoon, the Scene received a copy of an open letter titled “Fact v. Fiction.” It was written by Owen Bradley’s surviving brother, legendary session guitarist and Country Music Hall of Famer Harold Bradley, who helped build the RCA building at 30 Music Square West and is one of the current owners. The Cream has learned he intends to send it to Metro City Council members and Metro's head of planning, zoning and development in advance of tonight’s council meeting, on behalf of the owners.

A number of Bradley’s claims contradict statements made by Folds and others in recent days. Among them: that 30 Music Square West is not hallowed ground worthy of the recent sanctimony around it; that he and his fellow property owners have been trying to sell the building for 24 years (meaning Folds could have offered to buy at any time); and that perhaps most shockingly to some, Elvis Presley never recorded there. For those reasons and others, Bradley takes issue with Folds and the recently announced Music Industry Coalition (MIC) campaign to get Music Row designated — and thus restricted — as an historic overlay.

Read the letter in full after the jump.


Re: 30 Music Square West
Fact v. Fiction

Dear Nashville,

We write to you today with an eye toward history—in fact, several generations of music history—beginning with our forebears (and architects of the “Nashville sound”) Chet Atkins and Owen and Harold Bradley.

These families have a longstanding commitment to Music City. Owen and Harold Bradley built their first studio in 1952, one at the corner of 2nd and Lindsley and the other in Hillsboro Village. But the Quonset Hut is where it all started. With no money in their pockets, Owen borrowed $15,000 against his insurance, and Harold agreed to work for free for ten years...and with that bold move, the Bradley brothers helped establish Nashville as Music City, U.S.A., and kept the music from moving to Jim Beck’s studio in Dallas.

The brothers erected the foundation for that storied Nashville sound in a squat little house on 16th Avenue. They stuck on a surplus Army quonset hut, assembled an “A-Team” of session players (the Nashville Cats), and reimagined country music as something bigger...and more marketable. By the time Brenda Lee recorded “I’m Sorry” and Patsy Cline channeled “Crazy” at the Quonset Hut, a new industry had emerged.

In the 1950s and 60s, anybody who wanted to be a part of that big new sound came to Nashville, because the Quonset Hut and RCA Studio B were producing it. These studios are where the Nashville sound was created and where the classic hits were recorded— which is why they are worthy of being called historic. Thanks to generous donations and investments by the Maddox family, Mike Curb, and the Bradleys (who bought and preserved Studio B equipment and sold it at cost to the Country Music Hall of Fame), those early, important studios still exist for students and visitors to enjoy.

What makes a place historic? The architecture of the Nashville sound was never of brick and mortar. Certainly, there are old studio spaces that, in our imaginations, ring with sonic magic; but in truth, it’s not the room; it’s the music. Billy Swan recorded his hit song “I Can Help” in Chip Young’s house. Should we force the owner of that house to register it as a historic landmark? Joan Baez, Dan Fogelberg, and Neil Young recorded hits in Quadrafonic Studios. Jimmy Buffett recorded Margaritaville there, yet Quadrafonic was sold without protest.

Of the three men who built 30 Music Square West, one of them is still living. Harold Bradley worked in that room as much or more than anyone. He knows the history of the building. He knows who recorded there. Elvis was not on this list. Elvis In Nashville, Don Cusic’s definitive book on Elvis’ time in Music City, confirms Mr. Bradley’s memory. Elvis Presley never recorded in that building.

Mr. Atkins and the Bradleys built 30 Music Square West in 1965 for RCA Studio A as an inducement to keep the music group in Nashville. The Bradley-Atkins play worked: RCA rented the 30 Music Square West offices and studio for 25 years. Nostalgia wasn’t a factor. This was business. When Chet Atkins and Owen and Harold Bradley built 30 Music Square West, Owen said, “One day we might not have anything, but if we buy this property and build this office building, we can at least have something to sell.” It was an investment in their futures.

Mr. Atkins and the Bradley family listed 30 Music Square West for sale 24 years ago, just after RCA moved out. They’ve been trying to sell it ever since. Mr. Folds leased space in the building about 12 years ago on a ninety-day lease. That ninety-day lease has been extended nearly 50 times, with the anticipation that someone might want to buy the building.

The building is now, finally, under contract for sale to Bravo Development. Mr. Folds, who has no ownership interest in the building, has made an impassioned plea to “Save Studio A” as a historic landmark. (He’s now asking, hyperbolically, to “Save Music Row.”)

Historically, Metro Council has been hesitant to grant restrictive overlays without the consent of the land owner. When a tenant, with no ownership in the property, requests restrictions to a property without the owners’ consent, he effectively hijacks the owners’ original risk and the possibility of a good return on their investment. The Atkins and Bradley families have skin in the game as property owners, and Mr. Folds would ask them to just walk away.

An overlay for the entire area would be a downzoning of the worst order, diminishing value almost immediately, and potentially stymieing future creative endeavors. Such restrictions would likely prevent two brothers from slapping a Quonset hut on an old house and trying something new.

Music City isn’t about making a perfect room, or hanging just the right baffling. Turns out, the architecture of Nashville’s evolving sound is a synergy of creative energy. That’s still here, and it has nothing to do with this building.

Sincerely,

Harold Bradley,
The Owen Bradley Family
The Chet Atkins Family Trust

[Mark van Allen]

Wow. How come I hear Paul Harvey in my head?

[Shari Boyd]

I'm not sure whats next for 30 Music Square or Music Row itself...the fact is, it hasn't felt like Music Row for a while. More and more houses that used to have signs outside welcoming visitors and fans to various artists offices... production companies... management venues - are being torn down replaced by multi-story banks and office buildings... I recall when I first moved here I could literally park at one end of 16th and walk down one side and back up the other and know people at least every few buildings.. Now it's just another street in Nashville scattered with a few industry offices ~ sad really. The latest victim was the old victorian at the corner of 17th and Wedgewood slated for the wrecking ball sometime this month..

I find the sudden turn and alteration of the previously heralded "history" of Studio 'A' by the estate questionable. This has been "passed" around Nashville for years why would they only now decide to correct it?

sigh... I was so proud of Nashville and how it strived to remain "real" while allowing for progress.. more and more they too are tearing down the old for more shiny things.

[LJ Eiffert]

The Internet Music Service of down loading & Radio Stations is the new home for Traditional Country Music. " My Friend Kieth Whitley " on CD Baby.Com.