"Todd Nemphos jams in his friend's basement, lovingly nicknamed ""Asbestos Hill Studios."" He explains, ""It's a rotating cast of characters and we always have a good time!"" The group refers to themselves as ""The Cellar Dwellers,"" and ""The Rusty Pipes."" He notes that they haven't worked the washboard in the third picture into their music -- yet!"
"James Regan of the Deadlies also shared a very different studio -- the TV studio where his band films ""Creepy KOFY Movietime,"" a show that airs in the San Francisco Bay Area. He describes his rig for the show, ""Dr. Z's Carmen Ghia and Z 28, Jason Keeley's custom neon green cases, a '64 Strat and a Burny Les Paul with Floyd and Sustainer, as well as Bob '70s P-Bass. On top of my amps is my Furman Power Conditioner which goes with me everywhere!"" Inset is a photo of James with Bryan Kehoe from Jim Dunlop and the Kehoe Nation."
"In this photo, James Dunham describes the rest of the gear as ""a mixture of equipment that's been pieced together over the years."" This includes Peavey speakers, Yamaha and QSC power amps, and a Yamaha mixer."
"Ron Johnson shared this photo of his drummer's basement where his band, TRaSh '80s, practices. Ron explains, ""His house, garage and basement is a museum of drum history. Randy Rainwater is the drummer and he has well over a 100 complete drum sets and vintage snares that date back to the civil war era. Randy is also a Zombie fan and his practice space consists of many Zombie parts, toys and even autographed pics of the zombies from ""Night of the Living Dead."" The Ludwig image on the wall is signed by ""The Chief"" himself, William Ludwig Jr. There are also Gene Krupa autographs, Kenny Aronoff, Carmine Appice, The Romantics and loads of Cheap Trick stuff along with vintage guitars. Oh yeah Ren & Stimpy are there too. Pretty cool and historic place to practice. Pictured: guitarist Mark Loy, drummer Randy Rainwater, and bassist Ron Johnson."
Lucas Benkenstein of the band Mata Moquito sent us this photo of his band's rehearsal space.
"Eugene Lee sent us photos of his space all the way from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Lee says he's been playing for the last 17 years, teaches guitar, and hopes of getting a record deal soon. ""Excuse the messiness,"" says Lee, who just moved into a new house. Lee's setup includes his main guitar and amp along wth a mixer, acoustic DI, tuner, drum machine, and homemade A/B box."
"Joe also shared a picture of his guitars: a 55 Fender Esquire Clone, 1984 '57 RI Candy Apple Red Strat, 1984 '57 RI Sunburst strat, Squire Classic Vibe '60's strat, Agile Goldtop Les Paul, and various Fender lap steels."
"14-year-old Daniel Kerwood got his dad to give up his garage so his band could practice for their gigs, and get his Marshall Plexi out of the house. Wait--Marshall Plexi? Yeah, this young guitarist (who also plays classical, piano, and cello) has quite the rig. ""I have a Mackie 1402-VLZ3 mixing board, and a ProTools interface and software on a Toshiba lap top for recording. My guitar gear includes a Gibson Les Paul, Epiphone Les Paul, Jackson Dinky, Fender Telecaster, Marshall Plexi 1987X head with a 4x12 vintage 1960 cabinet, Dr Z Air Brake, Mesa Lone Star Special, Fender Pro Junior tweed, Dunlop Wah, Keeley-modified Tube Screamer, Boss Metal Core ML-2, and a Way Huge Fat Sandwich on a BOSS BCB-60 pedal board."" says Kerwood. ""The rest of my practice space includes a Pearl five-piece drum set, a Yamaha 88-key piano with a Roland KC-150, a Takamine EG334RC acoustic/electric, a Takamine classical guitar, and a German-made cello from the 1950s."" Will your parents adopt us?"
"Frank Sicilliano shared a photo of his old studio space in Scottsdale. He recently moved, and has yet to re-set it up but is looking forward to it."
"Todd calls his home studio, ""basically a big overgrown Mac system."" He describes his rig as, ""some electric guitars + basses + guitar synth + mesa boogie+lexicon+tc electronic+roland+all kinds of stuff."" He also has a line down to the downstairs where acoustic drums and percussion and keyboard synths are mic'd and routed upstairs. "
"With a wife and two kids, explains Eugene Ames, ""I do most of my practice around 11 p.m. It needs to sound good and it needs to be quiet."" "
"Another one of our one of our readers lucky enough to have professional studio space is Nashville recording artist Gary Lear, who sent in this photo of him rehearsing at Soundcheck in Nashville."
Nial McGaughey of Solid Cables sent us this photo of his personal recording and writing area where he also tests prototypes for the company. 
"Jason says, ""My practice room in my basement is where I spend most of my time. Currently out is my 2001 Taylor 314ce, 2006 Eric Johnson Strat, and a 1968 Gibson EB-0 bass. The amps shown are a Budda Superdrive 30 II with a Budda 2x12 cab, Vox Night Train with an Avatar 1x12 cab, Vox AD-30VT, SWR Workingmans 2x10c, Silvertone 1472, and an Earth Sound Research Concertmaster with a Carvin 2x10 cab. Also shown is my current Pedaltrain board configuration with a Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde, Keeley Blues Driver, MXR Dynacomp, Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe, Vox V847, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress, Loop-Master A/B box, MXR Carbon Copy, Boss CH-1, and finally a Korg Pitchblack."""
"Cameron says his practice space is squeezed into a corner in his tiny Brooklyn apartment, but is quick to point out that it's ""complete with a cubby hole for my cat under the guitar stand."" "
"The other half of Dave's ""inner sanctum"" includes all of his guitars, and has since added a drum kit. Dave keeps his acoustic guitars in case when they're not in use because he lives in Phoenix where the humidity is near non-existent."
"Andre Gluharev sent photos all the way from Kiev, Ukraine where his band JINN is from."
"Perhaps the oddest practice setup comes from Dave Gonsalves, who explains that he wouldn't let a dead amp stop his jamming. ""I recalled seeing an input jack on my old Kimball organ,"" says Gonsalves. ""Sure enough, it worked!"" The rig consists of an MJ Guitar Engineering Roadster Jr., DigiTech RP255, and Kimball EP12."
"Joe's amp wall includes a Hiwatt Mini Stack, '77 Fender Champ, Super Champ XD, '74 Princeton Reverb, Mission Amps Tweed Deluxe, Hiwatt DC40, Sound City 50 plus, and two WEM 2X15 cabs. The effects are a '76 Dynacomp, SUF Civil War mig muff, Boss BD-2, Barge Concepts VBjr, Boss CE-2, MXR Carbon Copy, Boss DD-2."
"Lance Allyn says of his home studio, ""Most of my sessions are done in pro studios, but I do have a Mac and a Zoom 1608 recorder here for working out parts or recording smaller projects."" He adds, ""I have nice drums, cymbals and percussion, a PA system, as well as bass rigs and synths, in addition to my guitar arsenal of axes, amps, and effects."""
"Michael Cannon describes his man cave and rig, saying ""Far right I have a Fender 60th Anniversary Reissue Stratocaster used with a Fender '59 Bassman Reissue 4x10s and a Fender Deluxe 60th Anniversary Reissue 1x12. The key to this amp is to change the three 12AX7s to 12AX7ms--what a big difference it makes. The next guitar to the left is a Buddy Guy with Lace pickups. I had put on Dunlop 6100 frets that gives my playing a lighter touch, it's a great live guitar. I like to match guitars with amps, I think that's important. I use very little pedals, and when I do, they're always true bypass. I like the sound that just the guitar, the amp, and my hands give."""
"James Dunham and his Oklahoma band nighTTrain practice at Dunham's house in a converted garage. ""I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and love classic hard rock,"" Dunham says. His rig is shown in this first picture, a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Classic and a 1985 Marshall JCM 800 2210."
"RoadDog from the band Dredge from Dubuque, IA shared this shot of the band's practice in the basement."
"Daren Whitehorn shared this picture of her practice space, where she basks under the glow of a neon guitar, plus some other cool guitar wall art."
"Teel Merrick is one of our lucky readers to records and jams in a real-deal studio. He explains, ""This space was opened to provide a vibey space for local players to come and hang out and record."" Merrick uses the space for rehearsal with his band from church."
"Another lucky reader with a real-deal studio is Daniel Zelonky of National Recording in Milwaukee, WI. He says ""While we can't afford to have every kind of amp on hand, we're trying!"" The amps pictured are, ""a killer little Pine 6V6 amp made in Canada in the sixties, an Orange Tiny Terror, Magnatone 460, Hilgen, Cordovox Leslie and Marshall 4X12, Fender 1954 Deluxe, Magnatone cabinet, Fender Pro Jr, Marshall JCM 800 combo."" Inset is Joe Chatham tuning up Zelonky's Masterbuilt Tele Thinline in front of a Farfisa Deluxe Combo Compact and a Wurlitzer EP-200a. The building was built in 1870 and Zelonky says, ""the vibes are superb."""
"Andrew Johnson of Mike's Music in Fond du Lac, WI says that ""these two rooms have birthing rights on my last five records. Always a good time."""
"Dave Cooley keeps his recording space very organized, keeping a flow diagram that he keeps updated as he changes the configuration. He says, ""Voice recording is done through an MXL condenser mic, a tube preamp, a Behringer stereo compressor/expander, into a Boss BR-600 eight track recorder. The electric guitars go through a Digitech RP-500 effects processor, into a Peavey Encore 65 which is mic'd, then into a Behringer mixer, through the other half of the compander, through a bunch of pedals, to the BR-600. Acoustics go direct to the same mixer."" He adds, ""It's really not as complicated as it looks. The clock on the acoustic amp is because I lose track of time while in there."""
"Tom Schupbach's practice area was specially built in his basement, fully insulated with 4"" thick walls to keep the noise confined. ""It's normally not this neat!"" says Schupbach. Tom has a Twin Reverb with Boss SE-50 on top, Parker P42 on the stand ready to go, An Epi Les Paul, Epi SG and Strat in the three slot folding holder, music stand and Boss DB-90 metronome (""cursed instrument of torture!"" he says) beside the stand and my pedal board with a Boss TU-2, Vox wah and Boss DS-1 on it. There is an Ibanez AS-73 and an Austin Bass that is just outside the picture. ""My main ax is the Parker,"" he says, ""it's just a P-42, but it plays better than anything else in my collection!"""
"James Regan of the California band the Deadlies rehearses in a surf shack behind his house. He says, ""I use my trusty Dr. Z Carmen Ghia and my new Swart ATOM that is just amazing. Bob uses his Ampeg Port-flex which out-classes all other bass amps. This is where we worked all the tunes on our new CD, 'Meet the Deadlies.'"""
B.B. King live, 1971.
Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
But there’s more to the tale. From 1935 to 1965, Nashville was arguably the epicenter of Black American music. Along the 30 blocks straddling Jefferson Street—Nashville’s own “Black Wall Street”—were a host of clubs, including Club Baron, Club Stealaway, the Del Morocco, and the Black Diamond, that showcased live music from 7 p.m. until 3 a.m. every weekend. And the roster of talent included a who’s who of national acts—Count Basie, Ray Charles, Ike & Tina Turner, B.B. King, Otis Redding, Etta James, Little Richard, Hank Crawford, James Brown—and formidable locals like Johnny “Blues Boy” Terrell, Gene Allison, Jimmy Church, Marion James, Charles “Wigg” Walker, Frank Howard, and two highly notable guitarists: Johnny Jones, the big dog of Nashville rhythm & blues guitar, and young upstart Jimi Hendrix.
Lorenzo Washington is the founder, guide, and curator of the Jefferson Street Sound Museum, where he provides a living introduction to the Black-music culture that first defined Music City.
But there’s stillmore to the story. In 1946, Nashville’s WLAC became the first major radio station to play R&B records, defying the city fathers and Jim Crow. Its signal reached 28 states and three Canadian provinces, making WLAC the platform by which Black music was introduced to the mainstream. WLAC’s impact on the sales of the indie labels recording Black artists at the time was tremendous.
Not only that. In 1964, Night Train, filmed at WLAC-TV, became the first syndicated R&B television show. Hosted and programmed by Noble Blackwell (who would eventually have an influential career in radio), and with an all-Black cast, Night Train featured local and national acts, and was the template for Soul Train.
“A host of clubs, including Club Baron, Club Stealaway, the Del Morocco, and the Black Diamond, showcased live music from 7 p.m. until 3 a.m. every weekend.”
After two years, pressure from the owners of the Grand Ole Opry caused WLAC’s owners to cancel Night Train, which the Opry perceived as a threat to ticket sales, according to Blackwell’s widow, Katie, and performers Church and Howard. And the radio station’s new management also pulled the plug on its R&B programming. At the same time, Nashville’s establishment—which had long waged a cultural war against the Black community along Jefferson Street—managed the coup de grâce they’d sought for decades by redlining and constructing Interstate 40 through the heart of Jefferson, where bridge abutments now mark the location of some of these historic clubs.
Today, most of the entertainers, DJs, and entrepreneurs responsible for Nashville’s—and therefore, in part, the nation’s—R&B revolution are dead, although on a lucky night you can still hear Walker, Church, or Howard turn back time onstage. But all of those memories and as much history as you can fit into the ground floor of a small house can be found at the Jefferson Street Sound Museum. For the past 23 years, the Museum at 2004 Jefferson has been the passion project of Lorenzo Washington. He secured the building in 2011 for a studio, but a year later felt a calling to create a temple dedicated to preserving Jefferson Street’s musical legacy—an urgency amplified as the local players who were there expired.
When you go to the Jefferson Street Sound Museum, you’ll find plenty of artifacts, from period-correct guitars to the old WLAC broadcast board, and handbills, posters, autographed photos, and ephemera. But the most important exhibit is Lorenzo. Beginning in the late 1950s, he was on the scene, as a fan and friend to the musicians, and even as a driver for songwriter and producer Ted Jarrett.
At 81, Lorenzo’s memory and storytelling skills are exquisite. Warm-hearted and welcoming, he can talk about Hendrix’s days as a maverick in the world of straight R&B, of the menus served while the musicians entertained, of B.B. King driving dancers to a frenzy, and even about the Nashville Stars, the city’s beloved Negro League baseball team that was bankrolled by Sou Bridgeforth, a numbers operator and the owner of the New Era Club, where Etta James recorded her blazing Rocks the House album in 1963. For his work preserving Music City’s foundational music culture, Lorenzo has been honored by the city with Lorenzo Washington Day and is the subject of a living legends exhibit at the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) in downtown Nashville.
So, if you’re coming to Nashville, you’ll want to visit Broadway, and the big attractions like the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and NMAMM. But if you really want to learn about the roots of Music City, go to 2004 Jefferson Street, and have a conversation with history.