Candy and Comedy
If you grew up in the South, you’ve probably encountered the Goo Cluster. This round candy bar was created in Nashville and is made with marshmallow, nougat, peanuts and chocolate. The company recently opened the Goo Shop and Dessert Bar downtown, where groups can learn about the candy’s history and have a variety of sweet culinary experiences.
“They have started chocolate classes for groups,” Henton said. “They can do in-depth experiences with chocolate and wine, or learn about the history of Goo Goo in Nashville and then make their own Goo Clusters to take with them.”
Another new attraction gets groups outside of the busy downtown district and into a Las Vegas-style showroom for some music and laughs from country comedy legend Ray Stevens.
“Ray Stevens has opened a new venue, the Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom,” Henton said. “He performs Thursday through Saturday; then they have guest entertainment for a Sunday brunch. They have a piano bar that groups really enjoy before the show.”
After cocktails and entertainment in the piano bar, visitors proceed into the main auditorium, which features 700 seats and numerous wraparound VIP booths, for dinner. The entertainers go the extra mile to make an evening there feel like a special occasion.
“After the show is over, they send everyone back to the piano bar,” Henton said. “Sometimes Ray comes out and mingles with everyone there at the end of the show.”
Inside Music Row
For decades, Nashville’s music industry was driven by the people who worked in the recording studios and record label offices in a part of town called Music Row. And though many visitors saw it from the windows of a bus during a city tour, there were few opportunities for them to see the inner works of the industry. But several new programs now offer groups unprecedented access to Music Row.
“Some of our receptive tour operators are offering Music Row studio tours,” Henton said. “There’s a list of about 20 different studios participating in this. Groups can visit three to five studios in one day.”
Tour organizers can’t guarantee which studios will be featured on each tour because they are still all active recording locations. But the particulars don’t matter much because all the studios have been used by music superstars to record hit songs that visitors will immediately recognize.
For an even more immersive experience, groups can schedule a session with Imagine Recordings, which does live recording sessions for visitors at Sound Stage Studios, where artists such as George Strait, Miranda Lambert and Kenny Chesney have recorded.
“They bring in a singer-songwriter, and the group sits in on an active recording session,” Henton said. “They have five or six seats inside the studio where the vocalists are, so guests can put on headphones and listen while the recording is going on. Then a few of the group members go into the control room to watch the producers, and the rest of the group watches from a theater-style setup outside. Then they take a break and everyone switches places.”
A similar experience is available from a company called Nashville Studio Tour, which is run by Meghan Linsey, a former runner-up on “The Voice.” Linsey and a local music producer help groups write and record a song and perform some of their favorite songs.
