Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood self-funded a police substation next to his Nashville bar, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk, which officially opened its doors Thursday.
On Monday, the Metro Nashville Police Department he posted a video on X (formerly Twitter), as some of their employees light up a big blue “POLICE” sign in the opening ceremony of the office, located on Broadway.
“[Chief of Police John] Drake just activated the blue POLICE substation sign next to @FriendsBarNash,” the post read. “@garthbrooks & @trishayearwood funded the building of the space & sign for our Entertainment Unit officers.”
Brooks, 62, partially opened the bar back in November in Nashville’s popular South Broadway district — but his first full day was Thursday.
The “Friends in Low Places” singer has long expressed interest in getting local police involved in the bar’s opening — when it was first built in 2022, Brooks initially expressed interest in funding a police station next to his bar, and when construction on the bar began last year , the station was underway.
“… We created the Entertainment District Unit, and it needed a place to operate, a place to call its own, and not go to the Central Precinct,” Chief Drake said Monday. “They could have a substation all their own.”
“It’s a time when people kind of retreat. They can see, ‘Hey, people here are investing in us and investing in the great work that our men and women are doing.’ And it’s just an exciting time,” Drake added in the clip. “It’s a historic time for this to happen.”
Garth Brooks opens bar in Nashville named after his song ‘Friends in Low Places’
Friends in Low Places is a major addition to Nashville’s entertainment district — featuring four floors, over 54,000 square feet, plus the largest LED screen on Broadway, a live performance venue and a food menu that will Trisha’s Southern Kitchen manager, 59.
The place has already been to a few big events — in November, Brooks hosted an Amazon Music Live event where he performed a few of his biggest hits and talked about the ethos behind the bar, as well as why he didn’t put his name on it.
Garth Brooks Says He’ll ‘Send a Plane’ to Travis Kelce So He Can Sing ‘Friends in Low Places’ at His Bar Opening
“This city has been amazing to me,” Brooks said then, standing on stage and addressing the crowd. “When this [opportunity] the thought arose, does garth brooks owe nashville? You can bet Garth Brooks owes Nashville a debt. So I’m watching Lower Broadway, I’m going, it’s not the fact that Garth Brooks is missing, but ‘Friends in Low Places’ is missing here… So that’s why it’s not Garth Bar. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: You can like Garth Brooks. You can’t love Garth Brooks. Either way, chances are you’ve probably sung ‘Friends in Low Places’.”
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“This is for the next ones,” added Brooks, referring to the up-and-coming acts who will perform on the bar’s stage. “I can come here and play. And I’ll admit this: it’s too pretty! … Doesn’t this look like what I grew up in, does it?”
Garth Brooks says he’ll sell Bud Light at his Nashville bar: ‘I want it to be a place you feel safe’
Friends in Low Places Bar also drew controversy from conservatives in June 2023, when it announced it would sell Bud Light beer at the location, much to the chagrin of those who boycotted the liquor company for its association with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
“I want it to be a place where you feel safe. I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people who like each other,” Brooks said at the time. “And yes, we will serve every brand of beer. We simply are.”
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Source: HIS Education