• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Watch in-store performances at Grimey's New and Preloved Music, a record store above the Basement.   (Photo: John Brassil)

Browse the handpicked stock of White Stripes bandleader and Nashville resident Jack White at Third Man Records, a vinyl trove opened in March 2009 that also stages occasional concerts. Across town, his musician wife, Karen Elson, and partner Amy Patterson curate Venus and Mars, a funky vintage shop offering everything from $38 forties suits to $65 neon sixties frocks.

Admire the elaborate gowns of Christian Dior at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts’ new “Golden Age of Couture” exhibit, open June 18 to September 12. Walk six blocks to Fifth Avenue and tour Nashville's gallery row. Herb Williams's Crayola sculptures are on view at the Rymer Gallery, and First Art Saturdays at the Arts Company mean free wine while you stroll through the showrooms of paintings, sculptures, and photography.

Get acquainted with the city’s growing alt-music scene, stoked by native band Kings of Leon’s 2010 Grammy win for record of the year. Hear local favorites like singer-songwriter Jeremy Lister at the cavernous Exit/In. Then head to Mercy Lounge, a former flour mill, for catchy pop sets by Morrissey and nineties music cover bands. Nashville garage bands like the Ettes rock out in the smaller, grungier the Basement, booked by the co-owner of well-stocked record shop and jam-session venue Grimey’s New and Preloved Music upstairs.

Published on Jun 10, 2010 as a web exclusive.