The legendary venue has launched the careers of Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift and others
A new musical inspired by Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe is currently in development. Something Rotten! co-creator Wayne Kirkpatrick and songwriter-producer Don Chaffer are developing Bluebird for the stage.
“The Bluebird is our Ryman Auditorium, our Carnegie Hall,” Kirkpatrick tells Deadline. “If you know, you know. I can’t wait to share it with those who don’t.”
“I believe theater is the ideal vehicle to tell a vibrant and honest story about the creative community that the Bluebird inspires and nurtures,” shares Bluebird Cafe general manager Erika Wollam Nichols. “It’s incredibly exciting to watch this musical take shape.”
Additional details, such as plot, timeline and casting, are forthcoming.
The Bluebird Cafe has launched the careers of Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, Faith Hill, and many others. The 90-seat venue, located in a strip mall outside of downtown Nashville, has a reputation as a listening room where the “heroes behind the hits” perform their own songs that have been recorded by chart-topping artists in all genres. Its singer-songwriter acoustic-style performances feature two shows a night, all seven days of the week with writers’ rounds and open mic nights taking center stage.
On any given night, artists such as LeAnn Rimes, Maren Morris, and Phil Vassar mingle with writers. A typical nightly performance consists of three or four songwriters seated in the center of the room where the writers take turns sharing their songs and stories behind the songs.
Amy Kurland opened the Bluebird Cafe in an upscale Nashville area in 1982 after graduating from culinary school. She had no idea it would eventually become the most influential listening room in America. In 2008, Kurland sold the venue to the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) which is a non profit organization devoted to servicing songwriters and the craft of songwriting. The legendary venue was prominently featured on the drama series Nashville during its run from 2012-2018 on ABC and later on CMT.
In 2019, The Bluebird Cafe was the subject of a documentary entitled Bluebird. Featuring unforgettable performances by Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, Maren Morris, Vince Gill, Jason Isbell and many more, Bluebird explores the past and present of this accidental landmark, hear the origin stories of music royalty, and follow emerging singer-songwriters as they chase their dreams. Nashville’s Connie Britton and Charles Esten, Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves and radio and TV personality Bobby Bones also appear, among others.
