Tootsie's Orchid Lounge — Nashville, Tennessee

Tootsie's Orchid Lounge at 422 Broadway in Nashville has been one of the most important informal gathering places in country music since Hattie 'Tootsie' Bess opened it in 1960. The bar backs directly onto the alley behind the Ryman Auditorium, and for decades Grand Ole Opry performers and writers would duck out the Ryman's back door between sets and find themselves at Tootsie's. Kris Kristofferson famously nursed drinks there while trying to pitch songs; Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, and Tom T. Hall all spent significant time at the bar. It was less a music venue than a waiting room for the music industry — a place where songs were written, deals were made, and careers changed over cheap beer.

The Orchid Lounge's lavender-painted facade is one of the most recognisable sights on Broadway, and its walls are covered in photographs and memorabilia from five decades of country music history. The back alley connection to the Ryman made it the unofficial green room for the Opry, and the informality and accessibility of the bar — Tootsie herself was famous for extending credit and sympathy to struggling musicians — gave it a warmth that more polished establishments couldn't manufacture.

Tootsie's Orchid Lounge still operates on Broadway, presenting live music through the day and evening. The Lower Broadway strip of which it is the spiritual anchor has become heavily commercialised, but Tootsie's has maintained more of its original character than most of its neighbours. The Ryman Auditorium entrance is visible from the bar's back windows — the connection that made it significant endures.