10 Music Row Studios to Open for Public Tours

Country music fans -- especially those interested in the genre's history and the inner workings of the recording process -- it’s time to start planning a trip to Nashville. The general public will soon be able to experience some of the city’s most iconic recording studios for the first time ever.

According to the Tennessean, 10 recording studios on Music Row have teamed up with six local tour companies to provide an insider’s look at where country music is made. The partnership will allow tourists and locals alike to step behind the scenes at Ocean Way Studios, Omnisound Studios, House of David, Spirit Music, Black River Sound Stage and Ronnie’s Place, Catch This Music Studio, Jay’s Place Recording Studio, Columbia Studio and the Quonset Hut, the Tracking Room and Sound Emporium Studios.

"People will love it," Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. President and CEO Butch Spyridon tells the Tennessean. "The whole world is attracted to and driven by experiential opportunities. We have the best of experiential in terms of live music.”

In addition to group walking tours, tour operators -- Sweet Magnolia Tours, All In One Destinations, Art Henry Tours, Flair Tours, Grand Avenue Worldwide and Let's Go Travelin' -- will also offer add-ons, such as classes on recording equipment and even the opportunity for visitors to lay down their own tracks. The benefits of the partnership are two-fold: Tours will provide a unique look inside the music business, and they will also add a new stream of revenue for the studios, which have struggled because of the advent of home recording technology.

Back in 2014, the legendary RCA Studio A was in danger of being demolished until it was purchased by a local philanthropist with intentions of preserving it. Although the studio is not one of those that will be open for tours, its operations are now in the more-than-capable hands of producer-in-residence and caretaker Dave Cobb.