Hall’s Rolls Rich in Legend

Tim Hursley/Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

The late, great Ray Charles

Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Garth Brooks. If it’s country, the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum has it covered. The $3.7-million, four-story facility takes up an entire city block and boasts more than 40,000 square feet of exhibit space devoted to the music’s heroes and history. Even the building tells a story. The dark, narrow windows on the façade are designed to resemble piano keys; from above, the building is shaped like a bass clef; and the front wall’s slanted end is a nod to late-1950s Cadillac tail fins. Inside, there’s music memorabilia (from Mother Maybelle Carter’s 1928 Gibson guitar to an exhibit covering Ray Charles’ contribution to the craft), clips of country recordings past and present, and copies of every gold and platinum country record ever made.

222 Fifth Ave. S., Nashville, 615-416-2001, 800-852-6437, www.countrymusichalloffame.com