Bobby’s Bar - Good enough for Jim Lauderdale

I first discovered Bobby’s whilst my wife and I were on a roadtrip around Tennessee, with a couple of British friends who’d only previously visited New York and Florida. It may have been a rude awakening for them as guests in our Kansas City home, as we were hell bent on showing them American life “with the lid off” in the form of dive bars, one-of-a-kind music venues, hobo dinners and more.

Arriving in Nashville, we naturally felt obliged to take them to Broadway. They also wanted to visit the Johnny Cash Museum and RCA Studio B, so with those boxes checked, we set out on foot, in the midday sun for the short walk to Bobby’s, which we found on Google, in a search for an intimate local dive bar/neighborhood bar with live music.

Bobby’s Idle Hour has been a staple of Music Row for nearly a century, with six different owners, that retained its essence and identity throughout three locations, all within close proximity. Back in 1978, Bobby Herald and his future wife Dianne took over the already renowned Music Row dive and prefixed the name with Bobby’s. They served as stewards to the bar as the neighborhood around it changed over the years, and actually married at the bar 12 years later.

2013 saw songwriter and longtime regular Thom “Lizard” Case, take over from Dianne, and in 2018, as Case was anyway contemplating retirement plans, he was informed that the bar’s lease would not be renewed. It was at this point that he decided to continue the tradition of stewardship and handed the baton to Josh Distad, a longtime employee and regular, Josh teamed up with Sebastian to oversee the bar’s relocation and transition to its current location. 

The neighborhood around Bobby’s continues to evolve, and the focus remains on retaining the integrity and energy of the bar, which has traditionally included a mix of neighborhood residents, students, and some tourists, and songwriters who work on Music Row. Bobby’s, a place where people mix and relax, and where off-duty songwriters pick guitars and bounce ideas off of each other. As a contrast or alternative to the named bars on Broadway it’s a great choice for those seeking a small quiet venue, with local in-the-round songwriters, with an intimate seamless experience between the players on stage and those waiting and watching.  Many upcoming songwriters have passed through its doors.  Established musicians too, including Jim Lauderdale, a Nashville legend. Sadly I wasn’t there that day.

The hop-on hop-off bus tours visiting Music Row have a stop right outside. On that first visit with our British friends, we weren’t lucky enough to arrive one hop from the door. Instead, I screwed up my Google maps directions and led them astray in the July heat. They eventually forgave me, halfway into our second beer. Luckily, I now know exactly where it is, and it’s always on my itinerary when in town. Bobby’s is a great example of keeping it simple and honest, and doing one thing well. It isn’t a place you go for a special occasion — it’s where you go every other time.

 www.bobbysidlehour.com     9 Music Square S, Nashville, TN 37203

roddy.fisher@gmail.com