Music City Roots Halts Production After Nashville Deal Falls Through

Music City Roots, a popular Americana-centric musical variety show, has halted production after previously-announced plans for a downtown Nashville venue partnership have fallen through. The show had planned to move its production into a dedicated facility at the 6th & Peabody development in Nashville’s SoBro area, with plans to open in late 2018. The space would have also included a broadcast suite for WMOT Roots radio.

“We deeply appreciate the team behind the new 6th & Peabody project working hard to finalize a win-win situation with us, but unforeseen complexities have made it impossible to present MCR there as we’d hoped,” a statement from the Music City Roots team read.

Organizers expect the halt in Music City Roots’ production, as well as its distribution to radio affiliates, will be short-term, as they make new arrangements. The pause at Music City Roots does not affect WMOT Roots Radio, which is operated by Middle Tennessee State University.

“Our dream, and our plan, is to develop a free-standing home in Nashville where we can continue to be the signature radio and public television presenter of authentic roots and Americana music from Music City,” the statement continued. “The company is healthy and our team is as passionate as ever about our mission. To the tens of thousands of fans who’ve visited our show or watched our worldwide webcast or YouTube channel—and to the hundreds of artists who’ve made countless magic moments—we say thank you. We love you. And we’ll be back.”

Music City Roots left its home at the Loveless Barn in 2014, relocating to Liberty Hall inside The Factory at Franklin. The final Music City Roots show at The Factory in Franklin came in late 2017. Music City Roots began broadcasting on WSM 650-AM in 2009, before growing in syndication on other stations. It would later be streamed online and add shows on PBS Stations.