They Came to Nashville

Country Music Foundation Press

by Marshall Chapman, Peter Guralnick (Foreword)

Marshall Chapman knows Nashville. A musician, songwriter, and author with nearly a dozen albums and a bestselling memoir under her belt, Chapman has lived and breathed Music City for over forty years. Her friendships with those who helped make Nashville one of the major forces in American music culture are genuine and heartfelt, her insights unsurpassed. In her new book, They Came to Nashville , the reader is invited to see Marshall Chapman as never as music journalist extraordinaire.

Here Chapman captures the personal stories of musicians who have shaped the modern history of music in Nashville, from the mouths of the artists themselves. Their tribulations and triumphs are revealed against the backdrop of a forever-evolving Music City, as Chapman sits down with icons like Kris Kristofferson and Emmylou Harris, new stars like Miranda Lambert, and a dozen other top names to ask what brought each of them to Nashville and what inspired them to persevere.

The book culminates with Chapman's heroic and hilarious attempt to schedule a proper interview with original Outlaw Willie Nelson. Instead, she's brought along on Willie's raucous 2008 tour and winds up on stage with him in Beaumont, Texas, singing "Good Hearted Woman."

They Came to Nashville reveals the daily struggles facing newcomers to the music business—and the promise awaiting those willing to fight for their dream.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Pop Culture

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Tim Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seemingly, Marshall Chapman knows everyone. And if you ever see her in action you understand why...she seems like an awful lot of fun to be around. Chapman, a songwriter and music journalist, has parlayed those relationships into an enjoyable book of short interviews with songwriters and performers, THEY CAME TO NASHVILLE (Vanderbilt University Press).

With interviews of Kris Kristofferson, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Miranda Lambert, John Hiatt, Willie Nelson and others, this book is a fast read. You will find yourself devouring inside stories you won't hear anywhere else.

Chapman asks primarily the same questions to each subject, but thankfully allows the answers to veer into other areas of discussion. She and her subjects know one another and this allows an intimacy that you won't get from celebrities when they're being interviewed by the common press.

Along the way, we find out a little more detail about how Kris Kristofferson went from Army officer, to studio custodian, to a prolific songwriter. We hear about Crowell's and Harris' jobs as wait staff before they hit it big. The general feeling is that we have been invited to sit at the table and observe as a couple of friends chat.

If you love Nashville, country music or any of the artists featured, this book will be a fine addition to your reading stack. It would make a terrific Christmas gift for the music lover on your list.

It wouldn't be a proper book review if I didn't share the first line of the book:

"The night I met Billy Joe Shaver, my hair caught on fire."

That opening line isn't hyperbole, it is a true statement. Just another day in the crazy, antic world of Marshall Chapman. And, that my friends, is why you should read this book.

http://www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com

http://www.countrymusichalloffame.org

[Echo Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a kid who grew up around Music Row and the music scene in Nashville, I found Chapman's rollicking account of what went on with the artists who descended upon our town with their dreams in tow a fascinating read. She's funny, has a great memory and her interviews with songwriters and singers I've long admired held my attention. Thanks, Marshall.

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far it's brilliant! I had the honor of meeting Marshall not too long ago and she's every much a character in real life as one would think. You can't be in the same room as Marshall Chapman and frown. Not possible.

[Betsy Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book. Of course, I'm biased.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife found this book and bought it for me mainly because I love Emmylou Harris and she is one of the figures profiled in this volume. The fact that I am going to Nashville for a training in a few weeks pushed it to the top of my "read next" list. Marshall Chapman is well-known in country music circles as an energetic and fiery performer and songwriter, and this book is as much about her as it is the 15 people she interviews and discusses in this book, from the well-known (Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Emmylou) to the lesser-known (Eddie Angel, Beth Nielsen Chapman) and several in-between. The real focus of the book though is Nashville itself and its status as Music City U.S.A., a place where fame and fortune still may sit down in a honky-tonk next to near-desperation and have a chat. It's a raunchy book in places, in others less engaging than one might wish, but for those who want a first-hand account of what draws musical artists to Nashville and keeps them there, one could certainly do worse. For what it's worth, I especially enjoyed the Rodney Crowell and John Hiatt sections.

[Jerry Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sure not everyone would give this book five stars, but if you're a musician/songwriter/fan who has lived here for ten years and been living the struggle and is in it for the long hall win or lose, you will probably fall down in fits of tears and laughter loving every moment of this book.

[James R. Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed with this book. I was really looking forward to some inside stories about my Nashville favs. Instead I got a book that was mostly about Marshall Chapman. She seems to have been the "Zelig" of Nashville. She was at all the events and places, and like Zelig, to no particular ends. She certainly seems smitten with herself, but I'm not. I don't care about her life story.

Her literary devices were less than helpful- a series of the same lame questions to everyone. " When did you first hear about Nashville?" "What kind of car did you drive to come to Nashville? What Color? What was the interior like? " Who cares? The questions were not only lame but worse yet they did not reveal anything illuminating about the person interviewed. The only good one was " Tell me about something that you experienced that could only have happened in Nashville." Maybe if she wasn't hung up on her question format she might have given us some real insight into the interviewee's and their lives. And maybe if she wasn't busy interjecting her own experiences into the conversation we might heard more from them.

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read if you know Nashville well. It was very interesting to hear the references to places in town from people in the music industry and their time moving to Nashville.

[Kathrine Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s time for a re-read but this is a must read for everyone living/working on Music Row.

[Star Forbis · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Because Nashville is a music center—like London, New York, Austin, and Los Angeles—it has always been a magnet for dreamers, iconoclasts, poets, pickers, and prophets from all over. I’ve lived here forty years and can count on one hand the number of natives I’ve met. It’s true. The great majority of us are from somewhere else."

“You’re only as good as your last gig”?

"Don’t you realize we are what we read?”

"Sometimes life goes by so fast I get windburns."

[David Ward · Rating 1 out of 5]

They Came To Nashville by Marshall Chapman (Vanderbilt University Press 2010)(781.642)is a series of interviews by the the author (a little-known singer in Nashville, Tennessee) with a number of minor and a couple of very major musicians about their early days in Nashville. Each chapter, which was told in the first person, was introduced by a series of the author's reminiscences and experiences with the musician to be interviewed. I became annoyed by this technique by the second chapter when I realized that the author, and not the interviewee, was the focal point and central character of each chapter. I was excited to find this book because two of my favorite musicians, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, had chapters written about them. After reading the work I was disappointed to realize that, while I had learned nothing new about these two interviewees, i had been told plenty about the author. In short, the premise of this book was fine, but it was mis-titled. It should have been called "Some People Came to Nashville and Here Is What I, Marshall Chapman, Thought and Said." My rating: 2/10; finished 8/26/11.

[John]

enjoyed reading the Eddie Angel interview. excerpts:

"After our brief conversation, [Emmylou Harris] wrote down the names of three CDs I should buy for the trip – Acadie by Daniel Lanois, Yellow Moon by the Neville Brothers, and Oh Mercy by Bob Dylan – all produced by Lanois."

"When I first heard the message, I thought one of my friends was playing a joke. But then the truth dawned. Shit! This really is Duane Eddy! Kiss my ass, I'll never smile again! These kinds of things often happen in Nashville. It's why I live here. For an artist, one experience like that can keep you plowing another five years."

"Nashville will be good to you, if you commit to it."

[Sarah Key · Rating 4 out of 5]

When people tell me they want to become a writer, I will say it's probably a bad idea and advise them to become a musician instead. Musicians are cooler. They have more friends. They make better playlists and party guests. If anything, Marshall's They Came to Nashville is evidence of my argument. I would recommend her book to anyone who loves Nashville or has ever loved Nashville. Check out an excerpt from the chapter on Emmylou Harris at Chapter 16.

[Chip Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Marshall Chapman after her performance at the Auburn Writers Conference last year (2012). She's a presence. Cool. And awesome. And this book is the same. It probably helps that Nashville is only a couple hours from where I live, but anyone with an interest in musicians, artists or country music should find this an easy time. I had loaned this copy to my dad first and as a long time casual country music and people stories fan, he enjoyed it. The author autographed this copy to me.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book if you are interested in the history of music and songwriting.

[Bud]

Fun read.

[Artie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borderline between 3 and 4' It gets a bit repetitive and some of the name dropping is tiresome but it's entertaining and informative.