From Paradise Park Trailer Resort to Downtown Sporting Club, 411 Broadway is taking on a new life as Garth Brooks’ Friends In Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk, with the three-story, 40,000 square foot property purchased by the Country Music Hall of Famer in December of 2021.
In an interview with Music Mayhem and other media, Brooks opened up the soft opening of Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk, as well as the overall creation of the hot new spot, from its name to its logo to its decor and beyond.
Garth Brooks Gives Back to Nashville With Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk
Given Garth Brooks’ success over the years, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk was created with the intention of giving back to Music City, the place in which his career in the country music industry blossomed.
“When this popped up, the thought was ‘does Garth Brooks owe Nashville?’ You bet Garth Brooks owes Nashville, so I’m looking at lower Broadway going, ‘It’s not the fact that Garth Brooks is missing, but ‘Friends In Low Places’ is missing down here, quite arguably one of the most successful songs in country music,” the GRAMMY Award-winning artist explained, before diving into how he settled on the name of the bar itself, as well as its overall theme.
Named after Garth Brooks’ smash hit, “Friends in Low Places”
As country music lovers can assume, the name Friends In Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk references the smash hit “Friends In Low Places,” which Brooks released in 1990, ultimately winning both the ACM Award and CMA Award for Single of the Year at the time. Since then, “Friends In Low Places” has truly become a classic for individuals of all ages, prompting Brooks to share a story about Bob Doyle from his management company, Bob Doyle & Associates, and his experience speaking at a college in Kansas City, Missouri.
“He goes, ‘How many people know Garth Brooks?’ Three or four hands go up out of whatever it is… He goes, ‘How many people know the song ‘Friends in Low Places?” All 40 go up,” the country crooner dished. “I think what you do, hopefully as an artist, is you realize that the song outlives the artist, so it’s why it’s not The Garth Bar. It’s Friends in Low Places, because (I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again) you can like Garth Brooks, you can not like Garth Brooks. Either way, chances are you probably sang ‘Friends in Low Places’ at a wedding or something with everybody else.”
Because of the laid-back nature of “Friends In Low Places,” Brooks ensured that Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk would have that same feel, utilizing a logo that depicts “what’s left on a deserted island,” as well as an overall tropical theme.
Features References to Garth Brooks’ illustrious career
Despite having a beachy theme, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk also features references to the Tulsa, Oklahoma native’s illustrious career, spilling these secrets to Music Mayhem and other media prior to its soft opening, which took place on Friday, November 24.
“I like the palm trees… I don’t know how much you guys have gotten to see the two palm trees here. One of them is called Earl Bud. One of them is called Dewayne. The two writers on ‘Friends In Low Places,’ so we love our palm trees here,” he gushed, explaining how the palm trees that emerge from the center of the property pay tribute to the songwriters behind the smash hit, Earl Bud Lee and Dewayne Blackwell.
In addition to this, Brooks spilled, “There’s one word in ‘Friends In Low Places’ that everyone sings louder than everything else. It’s ‘Oasis.’ That’s the rooftop of this bar, so you will take the ‘Stairway to Seven’ all the way up to the rooftop, and that’s where the ‘Oasis’ will be.” The CMA Award-winner then explained the meaning behind “Stairway to Seven,” which references the fact that he has won the coveted Entertainer of the Year title seven times.
Aside from decor that pays homage to his success within the country music industry, Brooks wants the fans to be involved equally as much, revealing his big plans for the overall decor for Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk.
Decor honors his fans, the military, and “blue collar, hardworking people”
The chart-topping superstar revealed that he wants his fans to send in things, such as license plates, to fill up the walls at Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk, due to the fact that his career “has always been as a result of the people.” In addition to this, Brooks plans to fly in four things that honor those who have served our country.
“We’re going to fly in the four emblems of the four different military groups. We’ll have the Marine Corps here, the Air Force, the Navy, the Army. I’m huge on that. I love those families,” the ACM Award-winner gushed, before adding that “a lot of rodeo stuff” will be featured within the property as well.
“I think they scream America, which is what I love… As far as the cowboy motif, I think that will be the people that are in here and the music that you hear, but the rest of it is going to be kind of like just blue collar, hardworking people,” he concluded with a beaming smile.
The main goal is inclusion
Given that Brooks plans to honor his fans, the military, and “blue collar, hardworking people” at Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk, his main goal is for the bar to be inclusive. “You want everybody to walk in here and feel welcome,” he revealed, before diving into a very intriguing analogy.
“I want this to be the Chick-fil-A of honky-tonks,” the “Friends In Low Places” singer dished, garnering a few giggles from the crowd. “You walk in, you feel like you’re in a good place with good manners, you feel safe, and you feel like the product’s gonna be great… We talk about loving one another. That’s what we do. Everyone’s welcome here, and I want everyone to feel comfortable here.”
Brooks concluded passionately, “Layla’s is right across the street, one of my dearest friends. I love Layla. Tootsies, you don’t get more traditional than that. We got Nudies next door. Ernest Tubbs under construction. We’re part of this neighborhood down here, so we just want to help it out… I want this to be a good thing for Lower Broadway.”
opens up police substation next door to Honky-Tonk
Speaking of helping out his community, Brooks has teamed up with the Metro Nashville Police Department and the Nashville Department of Transportation Multimodal Infrastructure to develop a new substation and traffic control room attached to Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk, built with the intention of “reducing traffic congestion and keeping the city’s busiest few blocks secure.”
“My favorite part of this bar is what’s right next door. The police substation goes in there, and the government works a little slower than the private sector does, so we’re a little bit behind over there, but we’re pushing… The sooner that thing opens, I think the sooner everything down here is going to get even better,” Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum inductee revealed, before diving into how he landed on this idea in the first place.
Admitting that nothing good happens in an alleyway, the police substation was created with the intention of not only closing up the alley, but increasing the safety of Lower Broadway as a whole. According to Brooks himself, “When you realize the closest police precinct to Lower Broadway is 6th and maybe Koreans up here, that’s a long way. They need their vehicles down here, and so there’s a place for them and a back alley for them to pull all their vehicles in and park fully protected, and then they built a balcony for them so they could see all the way up Broadway and all the way down Broadway, but of course there’s cameras everywhere, and that’s kind of what I love.”
He concluded passionately, “This is a beautiful place. This is where we want people to come, and we just want them to know they have a presence there, and it doesn’t mean anything bad is going to happen, which I love… That speaks volumes of Nashville when we think about our men and women in blue here, but it also speaks volumes about this community.”
Black Friday concert at Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk
To open up Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk to the public, Brooks put on a Dive Bar concert featuring some of his biggest hits, as well as some brand new tunes from his newest project, Time Traveler.
As for what country music lovers can expect, “Dive bar shows aren’t very long. They’re not the two-hour kind of thing. You get in for 45 minutes to 50 minutes, you do a Dive Bar, and you go,” the 61-year-old said before taking the stage on Black Friday. “You’re gonna hear new music… but nothing pisses you off more than going to a concert, and the artist doesn’t play you any of the stuff that you came here to hear, right? We do all the old stuff, and I’ll tell you this, I’m really proud how the old stuff has kind of made the leap of time.”
“We’re going to be playing stuff that you know (hopefully) and can sing along with, and we’re playing some new stuff… Hopefully you’ll feel that same fun that hopefully everybody here has had,” he concluded with a grin, leaving Garth Brooks fans on the edge of their seats.
The performance streamed live on Amazon Prime following the football game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets.
When Does Garth Brooks’ Bar In Nashville Open?
While the spectacular performance occurred on the first day that Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk opened to the public, the grand opening will not take place until March of 2024.
“We’re gonna do a soft opening. Just the first two floors, Black Friday, and then we’re gonna try and stay open on the weekends… If we stay open the weekend, maybe we’ll go past New Years, maybe end of Valentines, and shut back down again. Then in March, open this whole thing up, all four and a half floors,” he teased, and we seriously cannot contain our excitement.
Country music lovers can check out Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk for themselves at 411 Broadway beginning this Friday, located across from Layla’s Honky Tonk, Robert’s Western World, The Stage on Broadway, and more.
