JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Mentor Questions Forum Nashville Dress Code

Here's an offbeat question. What's the expected dress when meeting with people in Nashville (publishers, etc.)

I would imagine that showing up in a suit and tie would be expected in other cities, but probably the sign of inexperience in Music City.

Are jeans acceptable (clean ones) for business attire? Shoes but not sneakers?

I'm going to be down in Nashville in a week and a half and would love packing tips.

I think you shouldn't even THINK of meeting a Nashville publisher without Tony Lama'a, a Stetson (or Resistol is acceptable too) and a shirt with all sorts of winding stitching and fringe hanging off the stitching...


(Hey maybe I can improve my chances by getting some of you to disqualify yourselves )

Dress casual and nice. Jeans are ok, even with holes, but they shouldn't be dirty. Dress in a way that is comfortable to you. Don't wear a cowboy hat unless you always wear a cowboy hat. Don't wear boots unless you are comfortable walking in them. Here'a a tip. If you are wearing clothes that are obviously very expensive ($500 hats, $1,000 boots, gold inlaid buckles, diamond rings) the sharks will smell blood in the water.

I, myself, usually wear a tuxedo with a brass diver's helmet. Of course, I wouldn't recommend that others do that, I'm simply comfortable wearing them.

I just met with many publishers/artists, players and big folks in the biz and they were dressed quite casual. Nice shirt, and jeans..no suits at all. Some had on casual jackets and this was people like the producer of Kenny Chesney, Buddy Cannon. They are regular folks and be comfortable and it will all work out fine! They pay more attention to the music than anything.

Kim

Hey Mike...it's been about 3 years since I last visited NashCity.

ANYBODY still wearin' those Snakeskin Boots...or have they, too, faded into the Horizon of Yesteryears there?

Thanks Kindly for The Update, Amigo,
Best Wishes,
Stan

Nashville is the ANTI dress code. Part of what makes us, us.

MAB

So...what if one just shows up naked? Just curious!

That's what I thought, but I didn't want to either underdress or overdress. Or dress like someone I'm not, for that matter (!)

Any good places to hit, to meet people, on Wednesday night (10/14) -- that's when I'm flying in. I'm getting there a night too late to catch Jen Foster's gig on Tuesday...

Polly, I'll show up naked for a meeting if you will!

Yeah, Mulls...I'll do it...meet ya there! I PROMISE! No, REALLY! Hey, Barnette said it was the "anti dress code"...to me, that means no clothes at all! It worked fer the "Naked Cowboy", right?

Yep. Sure did. That is what he is known for. Being Naked.

Z. Mulls (I hate these not knowing of names things) it would depend on what you want to do. If you are wanting a good cross section of the town as far as writers, go to the Commodore Lounge on West End at the Holiday Inn. Meet Debi Champion. She is the host and the best friend songwriters have here.

For a little more focused stuff, Joy Collin's writers/artists show at the Blue Bar is a good one. It is about two blocks away on Lyle and Broadway. Across the street is Loser's, which is owned by Irv Woolsey, George Straight's manager. That is usually a later hit writer's hang out.

The Commodore is six nights a week so you can always find something going on there. Those are the people you can meet and hang out with. The Listening Room and the Bluebird are the two more upscale songwriter's places. Douglas Corner, Third and Lindsley, 12th and Porter, are bigger showcase rooms. If you are around on Halloween, I am playing the Listening room.

Hope this helps.

MAB

And Polly, pretty much anything you wear or don't wear looks good on you so it really doesn't matter. Although I was speaking to the fact that the dress code in Nashville is that there is no dress code.

MAB

Oh man! A sweet schmooze by Marc Barnette (and I didn't even write nuttin'!) For the record though, Marc never saw me naked (thought we should make that one clear) and iffin he ever would, his gf would prolly cover his eyes and said, "Honey, it's for your protection!"

Funny thing about Nashville...I saw this guy from Dublin, Ireland (sounded just like Merle Haggard) with spiked hair, piercings, lots of tats, doing traditional country. So there ya go. I didn't catch the guy's name, but apparently he's a big draw. Goes to show you Nashville is pretty tolerant of appearances.

They'll think the Musica statue came to life.

Thanks, folks. I will keep all this in mind. When I go to Nashville next, I will not wear a dress.

Joe

Demographics and Commercial Marketability of What You Are pitching
To Publishers Are Whats Important

not what you wear-as long as its clean....

dont try to pitch stuff that just wont sell-no matter how much you love the song.......its all about money (surprise surprise)
so dont pitch stuff that there isnt a HOT market for........

in the songs you pitch try to reference Current Top Artists

i.e. this is a Gretchen thing Or a Carrie thing or a Keith thing....etc.......show em you are mindful of market and commercibility-anything else is a waste of time for them...get right down to it....cause the egg timer is running believe me...if they give you more time cause they like you or they wanna ask how Philly is these days thats great-but dont expect it....its not that they are rude-its business hours and the A&R folks are thinking what can they report to their bosses at the end of the day or week........you yourself are pretty much nameless and faceless in the course of things-thats just how it is.....they will only remember the songs you pitch...if the songs grab em within 30-45 seconds then you will be successful wearing a blue leisure suit with brown and white Hush Puppies......if the songs dont grab em quick nothing else matters.....best of luck....


Tom

Can I bring my parrot?

yes you can Ben

surrogate pitching is allowed under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

I myself sometimes use a ventriloquist dummy to do my pitching....that way if they say the song presented to them has no chance in hell-they think he is crazy instead of me...smart approach huh?

Tom

I spent a year in SoCal and Nashville reminds me a lot of a Southern version of SoCal. It's no where near as diverse, but people are nicer and it has an exciting vibe that pulses throughout the city. Whether people moved here for work, the music biz, or school they are excited to be here.
some wearing tips-:

•Always try to wear free flowing fabrics in one tone to achieve a long and slim look. Try fabrics like chiffon or Georgette for dresses.

•Please wear only your size. Over sized clothes never have or will make look anyone any good. Stay away from anything that’s baggy or exaggerated as far as size goes no matter how comfortable.

•Be careful while adding on accessories. Never add on anything just for heck of it. Your accessories speak more about you than your clothes do. So watch out there.

There you go fellas, anyone for a prom dress from a forum bot ?



cheers, niteshift

Nite, since Nashville is pretty determined to ignore me, I am not about to wear a dress to try and impress 'em. But thanks for the offer.

Joe

I do have some limits left

even after 5 years in Nashville

I only wear a dress when I cant afford to buy my own drinks


Tom

Marc shows up dressed as his "Auntie".

Make sure what you are presenting is clean too. People hate to see dusty and scratched CDs, or smashed up jewel cases, or lyric sheets that look like an elephant stepped on them. Do NOT let BBQ sauce drip all *#over the &/?lyrics or they will become unreadable%^&*()+_)O_+

eewwwwwww

Jeff is very tired and funky....time for beddy bye....

thanks Jeff

you solved a 5 year mystery about why I am getting shot down on Music Row.....its the BBQ sauce on the lyrics and the happy face that says "lick me"-and here I thought that was good marketing

Tom

*Now* you tell me. Whatever am I going to do with the rest of those stick-on "Lick Me" smileys? (I suppose I could always send them to Paramount, huh?)

Joe

Boy this thread is educational! I guess I should drop wearing my fake stetson with cartoon figures printed on, and stop including danish bakery in my publisher 'burritos'!

Are you saying that the standard urban rig: rented Humvee, hookers, tux & champagne won't fly in Nashville, either????

should I also stop putting Tweety Bird Acid stamps on the return envelopes?......please be sure I am writing down all these good to know tips........thanks to whoever started this thread.......its been so helpful.....

Tom

Magne, I don't know about the other stuff, but go ahead and bring the hookers. I'm sure somebody'll have a use for them><g>

Joe

I'll see if I can find an all-in-one-package with the travel agency. These things are quite liberal over here

Pants on tha' ground, pants on tha' ground..

Hygiene is probably important too. So, brush your teeth, trim your nose and ear hairs, or any hair that tufts out at odd angles. And, for gods sake don't use too much fufu juice. I was at a seminar this past weekend and some poor dude started gacking all over the place when he got a whiff of excessive ode de toilet (sounds like a song, don't it?).

Y'know, I think there's probably a song in all this...

Joe

"I'll gack up a chunk o' lung for you?"

This thread was started last October.

I think I'm going to have to get back down to Nashville just to try out these fashion tips.

Z., let us know how it goes. When I go to Nashville next, I want to make sure I have dressed right. Or have the right dress. Or whichever.

Joe

I showed up to help DEMO some SOGGY BOTTOM drywall and things smelled really FLAT. I was dressed pretty SHARP in my cleanest old worn out jeans and shirt.
Had on sneakers just like Willie, I didn't feel comfortable in my boots.
Oh! and I wore my old camo baseball cap.

Has this changed over the past few years?

Absolutely not. Jeans, t-shirts, but most people now will have a light jacket. business casual. The cowboy hat has given way to the baseball cap either worn forward or backwards. And boots, have given way to tennis shoes. The big belt buckles, Stetsons, are long gone.

MAB

do people get abused when they wear cowboy hats?

I wouldn't say "abused" as much as laughed at and ignored. It shows that you really don't know what the town is. It's the same as people who come in and talk about "country western" music. "Country and Western" was never a Nashville thing. It was a Hollywood thing with the Saturday morning serials like Roy Rodgers and Gene Autrey.
It's kind of the giveaway that you are out of touch and out of date.

What it IS, is a RED FLAG you are waving for sharks, Charletons, etc. trying to throw schemes and scams to take your money. Why don't you just put a big bullseye on your back, and hang some hundred dollar bills out of your pockets? Be about the same thing. The "Hat acts" of the 80's and 90' have given away to "cap acts" (frontward and backwards), sunglasses, (Eric Church) and LOTS, LOTS, LOTS, LOTS of FLANNEL. I think they all hit the bargain bin sales from the Seattle guys getting RID of their's.

Now you see the "BEARDED WONDERS" who all are wearing the same flannel shirts, beards down to their stomach (do these guys get beard extensions?) and all are trying to sound like pale imitations of CHRIS STAPLETON and JAMEY JOHNSON. All they do is remind us how much they are NOT CHRIS STAPLETON AND JAMEY JOHNSON.

Most of all it is just people being who they are NOT. You should be yourself, everybody else is taken.

There is not, and has never been, a dress code. There are just people being people. Now it's June, and HOT AND MUGGY! A huge thunderstorm is blowing through and I'm playing in a couple of hours. So a lot of shorts are around, even onstage. But if you are having actual MEETINGS, you should dress like you are going to a meeting. But be casual. And the thing is this. Most people are not going to even meet with you until they know you a bit. So the dress code will pretty much be a moot point by the time a meeting comes up.

Be yourself.
MAB