Nashville is a storied city in the most literal sense - a place built on imagination, interpretation, and narration. Alongside the songs and songwriters, journalists have played an under-rated role in building the idea and brand and renown of Music City. I got up to speed in this town reading Robert K. Oermann, Chet Flippo, Bill Friskics-Warren and other greats. But in the 21st century so far, nobody’s written the Music City story with more depth, discernment and humor than author, reporter, songwriter, producer and baseball fanatic Peter Cooper, who died on Tuesday at the age of 52.
The soul of the Exit/In is one thing that no amount of money or snazzy promotion can buy. It was a true original, giving truly original performing artists a place to shine their art.