The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame to become a reality in May 2013

Pat Alger, vice president of the SAG-AFTRA Nashville Local and chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation announced at the February board meeting that the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame will be a part of the new Music City Center project in downtown Nashville.

For 42 years, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has been an idea, an honor and a virtual entity on the Internet, and now at last it will become a physical reality in the largest building in Tennessee. The NaSHOF will consist of two elements. Inside the main lobby of the Music City Center the main exhibit area will feature graphic displays and artifacts, as well as state-of-the-art interactive digital touch screens. In addition to photos and biographical information, each of the songwriter members will be represented by a digital jukebox sampling of their songs and videos. Outside the Music City Center’s Hall of Fame lobby will be a Songwriters Square complex consisting of an exterior plaza and terraced walkway that will feature the names and well-known song titles of its members engraved in beautiful Italian stone.

The new Hall of Fame will be a source of pride for not only the songwriting community but for SAG-AFTRA as well. In addition to board members Pat Alger and Dickey Lee, a total of 75 of the 188 Hall of Fame members are now or have been SAG-AFTRA members. For more than 20 years, SAG-AFTRA Nashville has had a songwriter/vocalist contract and many of the top songwriters here have been active members. Over the years, many royalty artists such as Jimmy Buffett, who were also songwriters, have also been inducted into the Hall of Fame. The new facility is scheduled to open in May of this year.