Woodlawn Cemetery

This piece is a part of our 2015 Nashville Trail Map. Check out all the points on the trail and download our hand-illustrated map here.

“I didn’t really know anyone in Nashville when I moved to town a year ago. My only friends were the people I hung out with who were interred in Woodlawn Cemetery. My Sunday’s consisted of laying out a blanket in front of George Jone’s grave and reading and taking photos. Despite its huge size, I found my favorite famous graves including: Boudleaux Bryant, Felice Bryant, Little Jimmy Dickens(more recently), Red Foley, George Jones, Claudette Orbison, Johnny Paycheck, Webb Pierce, Porter Wagoner, and Tammy Wynette. Each week I would document the gifts their friends and fans would leave for them. One visit, a police officer was dispatched to question me about my reasoning for being in the cemetery. I wasn’t doing anything illegal, just eating an avocado sandwich and reading. He fortunately couldn’t site any real offense other than not being a fan of avocados/eating in graveyards.”

Contribution from Brit Hessler – Brit is visual artist and head designer at Original Fuzz. bhessler.com