Ernest Tubb Record Shop has once again closed its doors. Just months after the iconic Nashville spot reopened following a three-year closure, its management company, Tusk Brothers, announced on Instagram that the shop has closed once more.
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“It has been a labor of love to rekindle the legacy of Ernest Tubb Record Shop over the past few years,” the company wrote. “We’re proud to have been a partner in its restoration and reopening.”
“In the interest of doing what is best for the business, we are stepping down from its day-to-day management,” the statement continued. “This means a temporary closure to make way for new management.”
The statement concluded, “We’re very grateful for the employees who have worked with us and for the guests we’ve gotten to know along the way. We look forward to the long-term success of the business.”
No other information was provided about the new management company or a reopening date.
What to Know About Ernest Tubb Record Shop
Ernest Tubb Record Shop opened on Lower Broadway in 1951. It was both a record shop and live performance venue. Artists including Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley took the stage there.
The shop closed in 2022. However, with the support of Tubb’s grandson, a group purchased the venue for north of $18 million shortly thereafter.
Three years later, Ernest Tubb Record Shop reopened, though it looked a little different. The reimagined venue included a members only club in the basement, two bars on the ground floor level, a reinterpretation of the record shop on the second floor, a private event space one level up, and a rooftop bar.
Now that the shop has once again closed, Scott Hinds, a musician who often played at the venue, took to Facebook to candidly speak out about the situation.
He claimed that “everyone saw the writing on the wall with that place from the first day.”
“Ernest Tubb’s is a textbook example of how NOT to open a bar on Broadway and I can only hope that future bar owners can learn from the hard lessons the owners of this bar got these last few months,” he wrote in part. “The owners and planners essentially half assed every decision made in the bar, and boots on the ground management was just trying to survive. It’s like the owners wanted the clout of ‘Saving Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop,’ but didn’t properly invest in what it means to preserve that legacy.”
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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