How Much Does It Cost To Live In Nashville? 

Moved to Nashville in 1983 from New Orleans. Lived in a 2 bedroom apartment on Edmundson pike for about $350 month. In 1984 we bought a house near Vandy/Belmont on Sunset Place for $62,500. There were a lot of very affordable apartments in houses in the Belmont/West End area at the time and a lot of musicians/songwriters lived in the area. Played a ton of songwriter nights and had a few nibbles from publishing companies. My stuff was either too country rock or old school Country for their tastes. Sold my house to Jim Lauderdale in 1997 and moved away but I had a great time!

I was living in North Hollywood in the early 70s. I would by my string from Valley Arts or a store in Hollywood. I liked to talk to the salesman who had been taking guitar lessons from Christopher Parkening. He said "L.A. had eaten him up and spit him out and he was going home". The next time I saw him was in the late 70s at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis (I was sales manager at a vintage guitar store). He was touring the U.S.A in a band called the Police. You just never know what the twists of fate have in store for you and where and when. I like your show. It is great for young musicians who don't know this stuff.

Amazing grace! Let your light shine Tim. Beautiful playing.

Here's a tip 4U: When you go out, try to plan ahead and carry cash, a wad of small bills. Then, when you're making purchases, there's no awkward moment when the business is trying to guilt you into paying a tip (for the basic job someone should be doing anyway). If I see a tip is warranted, I always peel off a few bucks and put it directly in their hand, and they're usually happier w/it that way because they can hold it, and the exchange between you and the customer rep is a pleasant one. If they're trying to cop a tip just because they did their basic job and took your order, no way am I tipping for that. I'm a musician and enjoy getting tips, but let's say my band shows up to the venue, sets up our equipment, and then I walk around among the customers w/a tip jar asking for tips? I mean, after all, we set up our equipment, shouldn't you tip us? OF COURSE NOT - THAT'S STUPID. As stupid as a business trying to get you to tip their employees because they did the very basics of the job - took your order! Businesses do that because they're too cheap to pay their own people, and try to pass it on to the customers to take up their slack.

Hi tim im a guitarist and i live in italy but i listen and watch your videos every day i love Nashville finally this august im coming in Nashville with my dad ❤❤im so happy really i hope to see you to be your friend and play guitar with you its my dream you are an amazing artist really my name is mahdi and 23 years old 😊😊

These videos are fantastic. Tim! I’m catching myself watching two or three of them a day. You are definitely going to make it. Keep up the good work.

This is a great “off the cuff” video subject. I just stumbled on your channel. Good job! Keep doing this: “doing what you love”. Your genuine, transparency is sought after. Keep doing what you are doing. It will be lucrative for you in many ways, not just financially but in your life maturation process. Great job!

Hey hot stuff, you got the expensive part right no kidding. When I moved down from Indianapolis 1-1/2 yrs ago I checked the rent prices before the move and I'm like no way. So instead I bought a 5th wheel RV and moved to a campground full time 68-miles southwest of Nashville between Columbia and Summertown with lot rent of $400+/- plus electric and internet. I got a dump trucking job out of Franklin and work in the Nashville Metro area 80% of the time. So every morning I have an hour commute to work to get my truck, and another 45-minutes to reach Nashville area and I do that everyday M-F. Where I was able to cut costs on living expenses, I'm paying with longer commutes, much higher vehicle insurance here in TN, and more than double for groceries which shocked me. Where I was paying $130 for groceries in Indiana, I'm paying over $300 here in TN and this is every other week. Eating out, forget it. I quit drinking alcohol so I don't have that expense anymore. Unlike the big cities and towns up north where every square inch of space has been built or under construction, down here in Hampshire it's rolling hills and wooded areas for many miles in all directions, no traffic and no lines to fight when shopping. When I'm off duty I stay south of Nashville but unfortunately M-F and some Saturday's I cover an area from Dickson to Lebanon, Hendersonville to Columbia, and Leipers Fork to McMinnville. and sometimes down to Lawrenceburg and Pulaski. Since moving here, my guitar has never left this trailer, and now play my piano for my own enjoyment to pass the time. I love living in TN but the commutes around Nashville are bizarre and the daily traffic gridlocks are crazy.

Hey Tim! I'm from France, with no intention to ever move to Nashville (so says my wife) but I love your content. Down to earth, talking about all the nitty gritty stuff behind the curtain, seeing you coming up the music scene and RU-vid food chain. Great stuff! Keep it up.

Love your insights Tim!

Great to hear you talk and tell it like it is!

great intro, thanks for all the videos.

You're sharing the type of content I like to watch & you're overall a really nice guy. That helps. Just tried to watch a couple other channels but I kept coming back to yours. I know the rent & cost of living in Nashville has skyrocketed due to supply & demand. During the live stream that I often watch, I saw this person buy a screwdriver (Tequila & OJ). I know I heard the bartender say $20. What???? Maybe, he bought a water too. I know I can't afford that. Goodness how much is a beer, $10? Ouch... I'd much rather tip the musicians than pay that much to drink. IMHO, your current living arrangement is perfect. I'd love it & the price is great especially since you don't have room mates. And, you're able to have your cat. Okay, you just broke down the cost of drinks/food downtown. Oh my goodness, no wonder many musicians want to open bars/restaurants on Broadway. My son always says "why don't they pay the bands"? Great question... is it because most will work for tips so that's just the way it is? Don't think I recall seeing anyone pay a cover charge at a door. Ouch, I hope not. Okay, you just said that some bars pay their bands/musicians. I'm wondering where/who that is. I watch AJ's live stream & I really like Chandler Brown. He just keeps plugging & grinding away. Think he moved to Nashville to attend the music school. From what he's shared, he was doing pretty good but then his girlfriend got pregnant & that changed everything. I think his guitar player/friend Trey has played some national shows. Can't remember the guys name "Cobb" something with a "C". Chandler seems like one of those really nice guys too but it seems the wind has came out of his sails a little bit. He wrote a song about it. That explained a lot. Raising a child is expensive but at least he's got the steady gigs at AJ's. My comments are so long! Well, I like your content. Hope what I share helps in someway. Take care..

I’m really enjoying the TA show🎸🎸 keeping it real. Have a good one, cheers 🍻 from west TN.

Diggin the laid back chatting and playing + tips. Helps to stay inspired 👍

Awesome job (and playing) as usual Tim!! Keep it going!

Really eye opening! I was there in the 80's ! It sounds like it has really grown!!!

Your blowin up man. I subbed like 2-3 weeks ago and you had under 1k. Awesome rendition of amazing grace. Very awesome

ever since your CAGED vid, I've been watching and trying to pick out the shapes as you play them to test my memory when I am not near my guitar as a means of practicing lol. Keep up the great content boss!

Great video man thanks

So interesting hearing this, I'm retired but still thinking of moving there hopefully be a staff writer. Funny you're into the programming thing, I got my bachelor's in computer science and done some programming but opted to start my own networking/consulting/security/white hat and repair business which I did all this after I retired lol. I thought about teaching there as I was a teacher at Iowa State University, just not sure I want to commit at this point in time that's a lot beings I'm already retired. But hearing from you kind of helps seeing what's going on there both in the cost of living and the musical side.... thanks again for doing this it is awesome!!

Nice chops. I love all the chord fragments or whatever the heck that is.

Great vid Tim really good info for those brave souls that will take their shot.. I lived there in the early 2000s played everywhere with a few different artists of the time. Usually for free :) wouldn't trade my time there just wasn't for me..

Hey man thanks for the insights

New sub! Love the content. Going to watch again with a PBR and make a drinking game to the word “expensive “😂

Thanks Tim! Really appreciate the content. Good luck with all you do.

Another great video. Interesting insights; love your playing.

I moved to Nashville in 1975 from Montgomery AL to work in the audio business selling Hi-Fi gear and loved being there for 25 years. Nashville was a BIG CITY back then compared to Montgomery and the drinking age in TN was 18 at the time! I lived there until 2000 when it was already beginning to get too crazy. One of my best friends Billy Ray Reynolds, played rhythm and sang back up for Waylon for years, so I was around the music scene a lot. I love Nashville, but can't imaging living in that madness again!

definitely a good follow up video

Luv the journey

I have watched a few videos around on the net and Nashville is indeed getting very expensive and crowded, rents can only go up a certain percentage a month. As for Broadway, I saw the video of it things are much different there than when I last visited in the 90s.I like your videos so much.

Tim what is up im one of the guitar players thinking of a move to Nashville from Maryland. You are a very cool dude you seem really down to earth and i love your playing bro. Love your content its spot on and ive learned about. I am an ex nurse crital care and a music photography buff. All my life ive wanted to do something in music so its perfect down there. Again you are a great player and your channel is great my friend and fellow guitar player😎😎👍🏻👍🏻💥💥🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸💯🔥🔥🎉🎉

Keep doing what you are doing. I see a lot of youtubers do Amazon affiliate things with their recording gear. God bless!

Went to Eastside Music Supply last time I was in Nashville to check it out, bought a Strymon Cloudburst which was a brand new pedal at the time. Cool shop and really cool city.

I have a DGT. Love the sound. Hate the knobs. And Moons are the correct answer. Good looking axe, sir!

watching & anticipating a great vid! looking at getting my first electric guitar after playing acoustic off/on for past 10 years. Goin with a PRS SE custom 24! Probably 10 hours deep now on major scale vids etc etc.. born/raised in Jefferson county, MO just south of STL myself

Awesome vids man just enjoy the chat and stealing the noodles 🎸🌟

Excellent

I like your playing. Subbed while you're at 6.5K.

I like your rendition of Amazing Grace.

That’s a nice sounding guitar !! 👍👏👏👏😊🎸if I could get over this sickness I have I could hit some vocals to it !?🎤

I'm from St. Louis, MO. as well. My family moved to Bowling Green, KY. during my senior year. Bowling Green is only 45 minutes from Nashville. I wish I took more of an advantage of living so close to Nashville, but I didn't think I could because I was a "rock musician" LOL. I ended up getting into a road band and traveling for a few years. I have friends that I played with in Bowling Green that ended up making a living being a session player in Nashville as well as a hired gun. My friend, Byron House is one of my musician friends that has made a living in Nashville playing music. In fact, he played bass for Rober Plant for one of his last tours.

Nice video and luv your dgt sound and color. What year is it? It really sounds good in all your vids and such nice playing. I really enjoy your vids and the real life..

Hello from perryville MO 🤘

In 2010 costs were fairly reasonable everywhere. Now Madison has prices you would have found in Brentwood at the time.

You do a great job Tim. I like your content. I find it relevant and interesting. Cost of living is crazy in Nashville. It is near the same where I am. Another thing I was wondering about is why is it Marshall amps can be up to 2-3 times more costly in the US, compared to Europe? What amps do you use for gigging bars/small venues? Keep rock'n mate. Best regards from Denmark

from just down 55 from St. Louis Myself! and actually in Nashville for vacation and ive been saying for a year or so that ive wanted to move here. guess imma just have to pack it up and fork the money over and make it happen

Solid number of Engineer gigs out there too

That’s a beautiful PRS 🤩

Great videos Tim. Jokingly Makes me wonder if there is another guy out there making a video on how to break in to the property Management biz in Nashville. How to collect rents and deposits from musicians. Tips like what time of the day and what day of the month musicians are most likely to have money if rent is past due, Are guitar players better renters than drummers? Do lead vocalists respect the renter rules better than bass players. Why it might be better to rent to a guitar player and keyboard player as roomates rather than a vocalist rooming with a drummer.

The knob orientation thing is likely a Dave Grissom thing.

Nice intro music Tim.

Also you can live a little further out from Nashville and you could honestly find a nice home to rent for under a grand. I came from Washington so I was shocked to see rent prices that cheap in some of these places. Nashville is not cheap though

I have been in Nashville for 25 years and the prices have sky rocketed, I bought my condo 9 years ago and the price has already doubled.

❤

Your guitar and amp sound killer

Man, I would love to hear about how you personally were able to afford living there in more detail. I'm planning on moving up there next year after I graduate, hoping to jump right in to music instead of looking for a job 😬

It's a fast paced, ever evolving, rapid growth, chaotic city - It is now an expensive place to dwell and will not be going backwards - Affordable housing is a mere afterthought, the highest profit margins are with more expensive builds - Take a look at Huntsville Alabama, same thing, crazy nonstop growth and expensive reigns supreme... \m/

Great intro w/Amazing Grace!

I saw a studio downtown in one of those new builds and they wanted 3 grand!

Been watching your videos and have become a new subscriber.We've been listeningto Lanco music since we found your channel and really are enjoying it. Would really like to see a video of you.Just noodling across the frets, whatever comes through your mind. You have an awesome sound. Or maybe even just a compilation video of all your musical intros. Congrats on all your success. We hope to see this channel grow beyond anything you could imagine.

Harsh realities of ruthless landlords, affordable housing, and healthcare have such a direct impact on the world of music and artists' lives. More truly affordable housing would make pursuing a passion of music possibly for so many more people. It's nuts how cities everywhere are becoming havens for the rich and super rich.

In 2015 my gf and I looked at a house in east Nashville over by the pharmacy at 300k which we thought was crazy at the time . We went back in 2022 same neighborhood same street was anywhere from 700k to 900k

If you are willing to commute living out toward Murfreesboro or down toward Columbia is much more sensible then in Nashville.

Sweet lead in Tim Live today was rad Ya got that tone & style that when yer jammin time & worries slip away Appreciate the low down on the scene and vicariously living your adventure at the channel Keep on keeping on young Sir

Great Content! Honestly i think it would be fine to turn on add cents. We all know you are working. If you do a video where you play music all the way thru, like a concert, leave it off. Thats my strategy.

Nashville has gotten so expensive in the last decade. I lived in East Nashville when I was gigging. With a wife and kids, we moved about an hour south of Nashville. My rent was $900/month in 2015. Our mortgage payment is $600/month. I’m never leaving this house.

We stayed at Holiday Inn Downtown and it was $50 for parking at the hotel. But, it was worth it being able to just walk down to Broadway.

Healthcare and IT workers are coming there. IT in Nashville is booming.

America needs another Nashville This Nashville is too expensive Health care is the biggest business in every city

We were there a couple years ago and the woman at the hotel said "Welcome to NashVegas" couldn't believe how expensive it has gotten there.

I've always lived about two hours from Nashville. Mainly muscle shoals. You know the place with muscle shoals sound, Fame ECT Take a minute . and look at the music history .

Can’t remember when we visited nashville but popcorn Sutton bar just opened on the end of the strip, and I always price condos everywhere we go , but people were telling us then that we just missed the cheap years that they exploded in price and it’s too late, lol wish I would of looked harder because Nashville is super crazy now, damn never listen to anyone 😊

🎩😎

Rents are so expensive everywhere now. It’s bad.

Most home values jumped up 40% when covid struck. Prices never really went back down after the covid spike.

You can save some bucks cutting down on drinks and desserts...

Rent situation happening everywhere …

Cries in New Yorker

Just like NYC was for actors - in the early 90's you could still find an apartment a starving artist(s) might afford, then the crack years ended, Disney took over Times Square and the cheap artist neighborhoods became dear dear real estate for people with $$ . . . now if you aren't wealthy, you come to NYC to be an actor and look to live out in Queens or Brooklyn . . .and still pay dearly for it.

You a coder eh? My little band has four coders in it. Old stuff like Fortran, COBOL, net basic, C++, etc…made us a living since we aren’t pro musicians..

Where did you go to music school at. Example:GIT?

You mentioned doing "programming", does that mean computer programming? Do you have a computer science background?

Johnny Hiland . Is the best guitarist in nashville . When i lived in nashville he was still there. Antioch is horrible. I was lucky enough to live in " lepers fork". Great times. Peace.

still taking students?

Now I remember when Nashville wasn't full of greed and outsiders. I first started going to Nashville late 60's with My dad to the auto action. The same is happening here in Madison Al. with cost as people leave their states and come here driving up prices.

You’re telling the truth . Nashville is an expensive place to live and do music business. Especially for Musician’s incomes. I never experienced it as a Guitarist, but as a Songwriter. Nashville makes way more $$$ of of writers than Writers make from songs. Nashville is a huge tourist trap, and that includes out of town writers. Everyone has their hand out for $$. Seasoned Writers who have lost their Staff Writing jobs want $$ for you to attend workshops to teach you how to write and more $$ to critique your songs so they will be the best version possible . Then Demo houses get $600 -$1000 to record a pro demo of your song. Then the work starts paying someone to plug your songs, plus trying to network yourself to get them heard. The only way I was able to play the game was to have had a great income from my day job to finance all these $$$$ expenses. I was also very fortunate to find a honest publisher back in 1993 that steered me clear of all the money wasting traps. I finally got some contracts and cuts with that publisher after 10 years and dozens of songs. I would never discourage anyone from following their dreams there. Those 20 years are some of my best memories of my life. Just know that earning money in music is brutally hard there. Years ago people played for free trying to get discovered. At least now some are making money in bars ect… hang in there the hardest days are behind you !

What dose it cost to live in Nashville. 😎 that would be a good song

East Nashville is the most Gentrified area I’ve seen. They tear down a bungalow and build a “tall skinny” on the same footprint as the bungalow they tore down. Ugly!

Wait till you get married and have kids lol…..

Only thing you’re missing is a Rich Girlfriend!

Damn prices sound like Baltimore lol but Nashville way more appealing. Also damn i like micro bears and Starbucks Coffee so im already in debt and im not even there yet. Lmao. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😎😎📷☕️☕️☕️🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸💯💯🔥🔥😎