Nate Rau

nrau@tennessean.com

The old RCA Building, where artists ranging from Willie Nelson to Miranda Lambert recorded songs that would define Nashville music history, will soon be sold to a Brentwood developer.

News of the impending sale moved rocker Ben Folds, an anchor tenant at the Music Row building, to send an open letter to the entire city of Nashville on Tuesday fretting about the city's preservation of historic music landmarks. Folds said he is unaware of the firm's plans for the building.

RCA Studio A anchors the Music Row building, which is nondescript, except for the array of artists who have recorded there.

The RCA Building was the brainchild of Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley, Country Music Hall of Fame members and architects of the Nashville Sound. Atkins and Bradley wanted a larger studio that could encompass their ornate, layered sound, which revolutionized country music. So they built Studio A, which is the younger sibling of the more famous but smaller RCA Studio B.

Folds said he has leased the studio for the past 12 years and pumped more than $1 million into rent and upgrades.

"I could have built my own space of the same dimensions with that kind of investment," Folds said. "But I'm a musician with no interest in development or business in general.

"I only want to make music in this historic space, and allow others to do the same."

Folds made clear that he's not opposed to progress, but he expressed concern that Nashville may be running roughshod over buildings of historic significance to the music industry.

"While we Nashvillians can feel proud about the overall economic progress and prosperity we're enjoying, we know it's not always so kind to historic spaces, or to the legacy and foundation upon which that prosperity was built," Folds said in his letter.

Country star Jamey Johnson also is a tenant in the building — he rents Atkins' old office. Johnson has recorded there as an artist and a producer. He said Studio A was the first place he "ever recorded anything." Johnson said the building is full of memories and uniquely Nashville stories, like when he watched a pregnant Gretchen Wilson effortlessly lay down a vocal part for a song on a first take.

"It is impressive when you see it the first time," Johnson said. "I have always heard Patsy Cline was that good, and so were a lot of other singers over the years. But the first one I watched walk into a studio and absolutely handle business and tear out afterwards was Gretchen Wilson. It was like a seminar had just gone on in here, and I caught every bit of it in three and a half minutes."

The building is owned by heirs of Atkins and Bradley, according to Bradley's brother Harold Bradley. The sale has not closed, but Folds said in his letter that the buyer is Brentwood-based Bravo Development, which is owned by Tim Reynolds. Last month Reynolds' company Reynolds Holdings and Development, which specializes in residential real estate, sold a Murfreesboro apartment complex for $21 million. Reynolds did not respond to requests for comment.

The Davidson County property assessor valued the building, located at 30 Music Square West, at $2.4 million earlier this year.

Folds said he had recently pursued opening up the studio for public tours, similar to what the Country Music Hall of Fame has done at RCA Studio B, where Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, the Everly Brothers and Atkins recorded iconic records. The Mike Curb Foundation bought Studio B and entered into a lease-in-perpetuity agreement with the Hall of Fame.

In addition to country music, hit records from virtually every other genre were recorded at Studio B or the Quonset Hut. But Studio A was larger than Studio B and more accommodating for stringed instruments and multiple musicians. Folds recently recorded with the entire Nashville Symphony inside Studio A. Dozens of artists including crooner Tony Bennett and country mainstays like the Oak Ridge Boys, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban have recorded there.

"My simple request is for Tim Reynolds or whoever the next owners might be of this property, before deciding what to do with this space, to take a moment to stand in silence between the grand walls of RCA Studio A and feel the history and the echoes of the Nashville that changed the world," Folds stated in his open letter.

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau.