Efforts begin to preserve historic Jefferson Street music venue

An effort is underway to preserve the Jefferson Street building that once housed Club Baron, one of Nashville's most culturally significant music venues where future legends Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, Otis Redding  and Little Richard performed on their way to the apex of the music industry.

Now home to an Elks Lodge social club, the building is the last remnant of a golden era in Nashville music when Jefferson Street was the city's premiere live music corridor for black artists.

Jefferson Street once was lined with clubs where future icons and local legends would perform R&B, soul, jazz and rock music primarily for black patrons during the days of segregation. Marion James and Johnny Taylor and Jimmy Church were among the local stars who owned the scene between the 1960s and late 1970s. When the city decided to build Interstate 40 through Jefferson Street, the clubs suffered, and shuttered, including Club Baron.

Today, there are no full-time live music venues on the road, but local organizers are hoping to change that. The first step is designating the Elks Lodge as a historic landmark district by Metro government, a proposal that two Metro Council members are helping spearhead for consideration in the coming months.

Organizers also hope to add a statue of Hendrix, who lived and played in Nashville before he became an international star. The Hendrix statue was the brainchild of James, who passed away earlier this year.

"The Club Baron, which is now the Elks Lodge, is the only building left on Jefferson Street that housed live entertainment," said Lorenzo Washington, owner of the Jefferson Street Sound, a production company and small record label, and leader of the local movement to preserve Jefferson Street's musical heritage. "Folks like Little Richard, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Jones played at the Club Baron.

"It's a major asset to the community to still have that club. And hopefully one day there will be some money to help remodel and refurbish that club, and hopefully eventually make that a dinner club. And we can bring that music back to Jefferson Street in that historical building that is still left on Jefferson Street."

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