Ernest Tubb Record Shop Gets AV Upgrade

Nashville, TN (June 24, 2026)—Located on Lower Broadway, Nashville’s legendary Ernest Tubb Record Shop has been hosting intimate shows, mixing modern sounds with its time-worn vintage vibe. Making that happen is a complete AV system that was designed, engineered and implemented by Black Box AVS.

“The project required more than an audio upgrade,” said Martin Lawrence, owner of Black Box AVS. “[We were] tasked with creating a cohesive technology ecosystem that supported live music, venue operations, guest experience, networking, lighting control and long-term serviceability. Beyond audio, Black Box AVS designed and implemented the venue’s technology backbone, including network infrastructure, wireless connectivity, centralized control systems, equipment rack systems and integrated lighting control.”

It’s not the biggest spot on Lower Broadway, but Ernest Tubb Record Shop is long and narrow, with exposed brick walls and wood floors throughout—and given the ambiance and vibe that creates, those floors and walls couldn’t be covered by sound absorption panels and the like, so the Black Box team had to focus squarely on coverage, delay zones and tuning.

Part of that effort was the implementation of Yamaha CZR line arrays and point-source cabinets. “The CZRs really let every instrument breathe,” Lawrence said. “You hear the subtle harmonics in a steel guitar, the snap of an upright bass, and the shimmer of acoustic strings, all without cranking the volume.”

• Mix InfoComm 2026 Best of Show Winners Announced

Control is handled with iPads linked to centralized racks in an AV closet, enabling full FOH and lighting control without traditional booths. Chauvet fixtures, Luminaire software and Visual Productions cores bring dynamic lighting into the same interface. Netgear switches and Ruckus access points provide connectivity across four floors, with Mid-Atlantic racks and Panduit cable management keeping the system tidy. Nexo ePS Series loudspeakers round out the system with high-output, and are deployed throughout the space.

• Subscribe to Mix magazine and our daily Smartbrief newsletter for free!

“People say it sounds great: It’s not super loud [and] you actually hear the individual instruments,” Lawrence said. “It’s helping start that shift from bars putting in systems that are just the cheapest and the loudest to something that’s different, building a system from the ground up that makes the user experience enjoyable.”