Hank Williams Jr. Bar Coming to Lower Broadway in Nashville

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Though it may feel like just about the last thing that Lower Broadway needs is another multi-story mega bar, one themed around Hank Williams Jr. as opposed to Walker Hays, Maren Morris, or some other pop country star seems like a pretty good option, especially when you consider where this one will be located.

Revealed earlier this week, Bocephus will be the latest country star to open up a Lower Broadway haunt, and it’s going in at 419 Broadway. To be called the “Hank Williams Jr. Boogie Bar,” it will be located right between Alan Jackson’s “AJ’s Goodtime Bar” and the historic Ernest Tubb Record Shop that is currently under renovation.

Of course we don’t know exactly what kind of music or clientele Hank Jr.’s bar will accommodate at this point, but it likely beats the alternative of a current pop country star. And since this will be right next door to Alan Jackson’s place that is one of the few Lower Broadway spots that specific caters to real country per Alan’s requirement, and the Ernest Tubb Record Shop that is arguably the most important and historic spot on Lower Broadway, this could constitute a cool run of bars on Lower Broadway.

This run of businesses is also roughly right across the street from Robert’s Western World, which is the bulwark for true country music in the Lower Broadway corridor, along with Layla’s right next door. “Nashville Crossroads” was the name of the business located at that address previously, which was a rather unassuming bar that perhaps struggled to get the same attention as others named after country stars. The establishment was known for hosting mostly classic country, as well as Southern rock, which makes a pivot to a Hank Jr.-themed concept an easy one.

The property is temporarily closed at the moment as it goes through significant renovations and improvements. Owned by Brad Sanderson, the plan is to add a 4th story to the property, and of course, a rooftop bar, expanding the overall square feet of the property to 11,895. No word on an official reopening or other features the bar might contain, but it will give ol’ Bocephus a greater footprint in Music City, and that can’t be bad for real country music fans.

Hank Williams Jr. was finally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2020, and released a blues album in 2022 via Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label called Rich White Honky Blues. Hank Jr. only tours about two weeks out of the year these days, and reportedly hates most everything about the music industry. But if there is anything that Hank Jr. loves, it’s Hank Jr., and having his likeness adorn a bar on Lower Broadway has to make him happy.

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