Nashville’s Big Tickets Mural Immortalizes Classic Concerts With Local Connection
Written by Michael Broerman
Back before the days of dynamic pricing and digital queues, a little rectangle of glossy paper is all that stood between you and an evening of unforgettable music. As the concert industry continues to adopt digital tickets as the norm, a group of artists in Nashville is looking back on iconic concerts with a new mural dedicated to the ticket stubs that got fans there.
Recently unveiled at The Nashville Warehouse Company on 4th Avenue South in the Wedgewood Houston/Chesnut Hill neighborhoods, the Big Tickets Mural immortalizes 62 concert tickets on eight, 50-foot paneled murals. Designed by Adventurous Journeys, Studio Delger, and Eastside Murals, the work highlights artists with special connections to Nashville from Johnny Cash to The Rolling Stones.
The Big Tickets Mural chronicles the tangential musical relationships that made Music City what it is. A ticket from blues legend Muddy Waters‘ show at Muther’s Music Emporium connects to a concert from a band named after a Muddy Waters song, The Rolling Stones, in 1972. That concert opened with a 22-year-old keyboardist named Stevie Wonder who went on to press many records at Nashville’s United Record Pressing.
The mural was created from actual physical tickets given to Eastside Murals artists Ian Lawrence and Sterling Goller-Brown. It took over three months for them to create the 5,775-square-foot mural from a mix of bucket paint and spray paint. The Big Ticket Mural pays homage to 120 artists including The Allman Brothers Band, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton, Eric Church, Etta James, George Clinton, Guns N’ Roses, Jack White, John Prine, Loretta Lynn, Mavis Staples, Radiohead, Run-DMC, and more.