After nearly two years of excavation, construction, furnishing and outfitting, country and comedy music legend Ray Stevens is finally ready to unveil his new state-of-the-art Nashville showroom, CabaRay. Today, Stevens announced his grand opening celebration set to take place Jan. 18, 19 and 20.
“This whole process has been a real labor of love for me,” says Stevens. “It took some time to get the building fully constructed and iron out all the kinks but I’m thrilled to say we’re finally ready to open the doors to the public. We’d hoped to open last year… but better late than never!”
CabaRay is an homage to the producers, musicians, songwriters and artists who “made Nashville Music City,” according to Stevens. The venue’s interior is wallpapered with recording studio photos of sessions where hits like “Pretty Woman,” “El Paso,” “Ahab the Arab,” and many others were born. The showroom features six red leather banquette booths named for Nashville record producers Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley, Shelby Singleton, Fred Foster, Jerry Kennedy and Billy Sherrill.
“This is a uniquely Nashville facility that celebrates the city and the industry I love and that has been so very good to me,” notes Stevens.
CabaRay features dinner service for 500 patrons downstairs with beverage service for over 200 more upstairs in theatre-style seating. The Bill Lowery High Spirits Emporium is a true piano bar, featuring Nashville favorite John Jonethis on keys. The venue also includes a lobby gift shop, chock full of souvenirs.
Stevens’ current plan is to host his own weekly dinner shows— Thursday through Saturday evenings. As the year progresses, he plans to add Wednesday night shows, as well as bring in outside talent to perform in the venue.
In addition to serving dinner, drinks and entertainment, the facility will also act as the production studio for Stevens’ popular CabaRay Nashville TV show, airing nationally on Public Television. The building will eventually house the office operations of Ray Stevens Music publishing companies, recording studio and real estate interests, all within the 35,000 square foot building.
CabaRay is located in West Nashville at 5724 River Road. Free parking is available for nearly 300 vehicles, as well as several tour buses.
About the Author
Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at [email protected]View Author Profile
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