Nashville Real Estate blogger Grant Hammond is reporting that country star John Rich and business partner Phil Martin have purchased the Seanachie Irish Pub building on Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville. The building is currently pending renovations as the group completes the process of acquiring building permits. Hammond speculates that the selling price “was in the neighborhood of $5 million.”

According to Hammond’s sources, Martin is a developer who has had success in Alabama and Florida.

Hammond also reports that Jimmy Buffett is rumored to be planning on opening a Margaritaville in the old Planet Hollywood building which is now called the Global Café. A job posting for a Nashville area manager was briefly posted recently on the Margaritaville website.

The Abbey Road studios, recording home of The Beatles and many other British hitmakers over the years, from Cliff Richard to Pink Floyd to Radiohead, are to be sold by the EMI group. London’s Financial Times describes the sale as an attempt to reduce EMI’s highly publicized debt burden.

The studio gained worldwide fame via the hugely successful albums the Beatles recorded there in the 1960s, specifically the Abbey Road album of 1969 with its iconic cover shot of the band members walking across the pedestrian crossing in the road outside the studio. Although the crossing has since been moved, it still attracts fans from around the world.

The 1831 Georgian town house in the suburbs of north London became the world’s first custom-built recording studio in 1931.

The Financial Times quoted a media lawyer saying, “The brand is worth more than the building … what you have is a very expensive piece of heritage.”

Yesterday (2/17) BBC DJ Chris Evans and former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney both raised the prospect that the building might be purchased by Britain’s National Trust, a government agency that protects special places in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their proposition triggered an immediate outcry from listeners, with many emailing support for the idea. The public has also been voicing widespread support for the idea via Twitter.

‘It’s not often that the public spontaneously suggests that we should acquire a famous building”, said a National Trust spokesman, “However, Abbey Road recording studios appear to be very dear to the nation’s heart – to the extent that we will take soundings as to whether a campaign is desirable or even feasible.”

The 9th annual Birdhouse Thing, a live and silent auction of birdhouses decorated and signed by recording artists, fine artists and local celebrities, will be held Thursday, March 11 at Nashville’s W. O. Smith Music School. Proceeds will benefit the school, which has been providing 50-cent music lessons to Nashville’s underserved children for more than 25 years.

Country stars who have contributed decorated and signed birdhouses include Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker, Wynonna, Josh Turner, Vince Gill, Kellie Pickler, Sara Evans, Jason Aldean, Chris Young, Danny Gokey, Keith Anderson, LeAnn Rimes, Gretchen Wilson, Ray Price, Clint Black and others. Celebrities including Billy Bob Thornton, golfer John Daly, the Nashville Predators along with artisans Paul Harmon, Diana Johnson Wiles, Delia Seigenthaler and Bob McGill have also donated houses.

In addition to birdhouses, paintings, sculpture and other pieces of fine art by artists including Cindy Wunsch, Joanna Carter, Charlie Dyer, Toni Hooper and others will be auctioned and a silent auction will include hotel stays, golf outings and other gift packages. Food will be provided by more than a dozen of Nashville’s top caterers and restaurants along with wine, martinis, margaritas and other adult beverages.

Tickets for the Birdhouse Thing are $40 and are available here or by calling 615-255-8355.