NMAAM: The Music History Museum on Lower Broadway

NMAAM (the National Museum of African American Music) sits at the corner of 5th and Broadway — the only museum on the planet dedicated specifically to tracing how African American music shaped 50+ genres from gospel to hip-hop. It opened in 2021 and the curation is genuinely world-class, not “tourist trap with a gift shop.”

It’s also the closest museum to the honky tonks. You can literally walk out of Rippy’s and into the lobby in under a minute. That makes it the perfect mid-day reset on a Broadway bar crawl.

What you’ll find inside

• The Roots Theater — opening orientation film that traces the 1600s African origins of American music.
• Wade in the Water — religious music gallery with Mahalia Jackson and gospel quartet artifacts.
• Crossroads — blues gallery with Robert Johnson, BB King, Bessie Smith material.
• A Love Supreme — jazz from New Orleans through Coltrane, with Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington pieces.
• One Nation Under a Groove — R&B, funk, soul. James Brown’s stage cape is here.
• The Message — hip-hop history with the actual SP-1200 used on early recordings.
• Interactive RFID wristbands — tag exhibits as you go, get a custom playlist emailed when you leave.

Walking distance from the Broadway honky tonks

You’re ON Broadway. Walk west five steps and you’re at Rippy’s, Legends Corner, and Layla’s. Walk east six minutes and you’re at Acme Feed & Seed. The honky tonk cluster on 400 Broadway is two minutes south.

Tickets, hours & how to visit

Open Tuesday through Sunday, closed Monday. Adult tickets around $25, students/seniors around $18, kids 5 and under free. Plan for 90 minutes to 2 hours minimum — the listening stations are a rabbit hole. The afternoon shoulder hours (3–5pm) are noticeably quieter than morning.

Where to grab a drink before or after

Pick any honky tonk on the 400 block of Broadway and you’re 2 minutes from the door — Tootsie’s, Legends Corner, The Stage, Robert’s Western World. If you’d rather decompress with a cocktail rather than a Bud Light, walk one block north into Printers Alley.

Pair this with the rest of your Nashville day

NMAAM pairs naturally with Ryman Auditorium — same musical heritage thread, two blocks apart. Add a Broadway honky tonk crawl tonight using the interactive walking map and you’ve seen the full sweep of American music history in a single day.