Back in 2016, a series of portraits of iconic musicians began to appear on several fences surrounding Columbine Park. They were sponsored by the Nashville branch of the House of Blues, and are the product of Nashville artist Scott Guion. The House of Blues calls them the “Wall of Fame,” but for obvious reasons, I went with “fences.” While often featured in lists of Nashville’s best murals, or used in various media about music in Nashville, they don’t show up on social media quite as much as some of the other well-known murals in Nashville. I say Nashville – to be exact, this is Berry Hill, which is separate from Nashville, with its own municipal government, though it is part of Metro. And this has something to do with why these murals have not been gotten quite the attention you might think. There are no sidewalks in Berry Hill, and until recently, there was absolutely no parking in Berry Hill, unless you were visiting one the businesses there. Four spaces at Columbine Park had a sign that made it clear they were for users of the park only. It wasn’t an inviting place.
But things have changed. The loop around the park has been made one-way only, and the inner lane on both sides has been turned into parking places. As a park, Columbine Park has been dismantled, and the Berry Hill police don’t seem to mind if you park on the grass, or in the park parking spaces – that sign is gone. So I feel a lot better about telling people to go and visit.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting the fences and some of the surrounding art, starting from the entrance off Bransford Avenue on East Iris Drive, looping around the park clockwise. That means I have to start with the hardest fence to photograph, because of the heavy vegetation around it. But it is chock full of icons, mostly from mid-century rock and country. One feature of Guion’s portraits is that he has chosen to show many of these musicians when they were young. I have to say, I didn’t recognize George Jones.
Right to left, this fence features, Bill Monroe, Jones, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, and Hank Williams. Quite a lineup – did I really need to link those?
I think it’s somehow right that Dylan has a vine growing out of his face. Why not?
Located on the 500 block of East Iris Drive, right off Bransford Avenue. The mural is on the south side of the road. Parking is available a bit to the east, surrounding the nearby park.
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