Locals and dozens of tourists get their church sitting on bar stools
Crosses hang on one of the walls in the home of Rev. Ron Blakely near Watertown, Tennessee, on July 26. (Luis Andres Henao/The Associated Press)
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Robert’s Western World is known as Nashville’s most authentic honky-tonk joint and is synonymous with country music. But for an hour on Sundays, no one is allowed to drink alcohol; everyone must listen to Christian music.
This is the Sunday Gospel Hour in Tennessee’s capital city, known as Music City.
For nearly twenty years, worship at this honky-tonk bar was led by the Reverend Ron Blakely, a 71-year-old musician and Catholic convert who was ordained in another faith.
“It’s been a blessing,” he said of his weekly performance. He was interviewed in his cabin on the outskirts of Nashville, where he rehearses with sheet music and Bible texts before Sunday services.
“It’s not like I have a board of elders and I have to raise the money to pay the bills,” he said, comparing it to regular houses of worship. “I’m just there, playing guitar and preaching the message that God has put on my heart.”
On a recent Sunday, he strummed his guitar, wearing a black crucifix and a white cowboy hat, while his daughter, Mimi Fischer, sang Patsy Cline’s “Life’s Railway to Heaven” in an angelic voice that moved some to tears. The stage was decorated with a waving U.S. flag.
A group of people at Robert’s Western World in Nashville listen to Christian music and words led by the Rev. Ron Blakely during the Sunday Gospel Hour on July 28 in Nashville. (Luis Andres Henao/The Associated Press)
“Her voice was just beautiful,” said Sonia Davis, 53, a nurse from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who was accompanying her husband on a visit. She didn’t know about the Gospel Hour until she walked into Robert’s church.
“I cry a lot,” she said, giggling and wiping away tears after the show-turned-church service. “I feel other people’s emotions, and I felt like there was a lot of emotion in hearing her and the whole band, and the fact that she was performing with her dad and it was family.”
It was Sunday, after 11 a.m., when many Americans sat on the wooden pews in their churches.
At Robert’s, a few locals and dozens of tourists from across the country found their church instead on the barstools of this popular honky-tonk bar, located on Lower Broadway across from Garth Brooks’ multi-story entertainment center and just steps from the Ryman Auditorium – the so-called mother church of country music.
Outside, partying bachelorettes and country lovers strolled through a packed Broadway of bars playing loud live music on a musical pilgrimage. Inside, tourists and locals, including children (open to all until 6 p.m.; 21 and over afterward), fidgeted in their chairs. Some seemed moved by the vibe, the Christian/country classics—or both—so they sang along, clapped, and even prayed.
“When I sing these songs, I want people who hear them to get an idea of what it means to feel Jesus and follow him,” said Fischer, who was accompanied that Sunday by his daughter Skyler, who was in charge of the red tip jar that was later passed around to the audience.
Around them hang posters and framed photos of musicians, neon signs for bourbon and beer, and shelves of cowboy boots – a relic of the place’s former life: a shoe and clothing store called Rhinestone Western Wear. The building also once housed the Sho-Bud Steel Guitar Company, where a then-failing country singer and pig farm owner bought the guitar that would become a legend and be named Trigger before he became widely known as Willie Nelson.
Today, Robert’s is proudly known for its no-frills style as one of the last bastions of traditional country music, often standing out from the many brightly lit, TV-equipped bars on Honky Tonk Row. It’s home to the ($6) “Recession Special,” with its famous fried bologna sandwich, moon pie, potato chips and a Pabst Blue Ribbon, though drinkers must wait for their beer after church services on Sundays.
“They can hang out throughout the entire service and then grab a beer,” said John McTigue III, the band’s drummer and Blakley’s best friend since they met outside Robert’s over a decade ago.
“A lot of people may come to visit or have been there the night before. And they come back and don’t even know there’s a service going on,” McTigue said. “And once they’re there, they realize what’s going on – and … they don’t feel judged, they don’t feel pressured to stay there or stand up and say something. It’s just a place to enjoy the Spirit of God.”
Robert’s is owned by JesseLee Jones, a Brazilian-born musician who has lived in Nashville for a long time and is the leader of the honky-tonk house band Brazilbilly.
The devout Christian likes to say that it’s not about the building – because God can be found anywhere – and he doesn’t mind spending money on a sober hour (or two) if “Father Ron,” as he still calls him, can help everyone at Robert’s have a “church.”
“Sunday worship brings a certain atmosphere to this place,” Jones said in a storage room above the bar, surrounded by beer crates.
“People say, ‘Oh, it’s a bar.’ Well, I disagree – Robert’s is not a bar. It’s a honky-tonk. Yes, we sell beer and liquor because we’re in business. … But we don’t have TVs on the walls. From opening to closing, there’s traditional country music. … There are church services on Sundays.”
Mimi Fischer (right) and her father, the Rev. Ron Blakely, leave Robert’s Western World after the Gospel Hour held at the Nashville Honky Tonk Bar on July 28 in Nashville. (Luis Andres Henao/The Associated Press)
The Rev. Ron Blakely rehearses with sheet music and Bible texts for his Sunday Gospel Hour at Robert’s Western World Honky Tonk in his log cabin near Watertown, Tennessee, next to his dog Ope on Friday, July 26, 2024. (Luis Andres Henao/The Associated Press)
The Rev. Ron Blakely looks at black-and-white photos of his parents, musicians Jimmy and Dorothy Blakely, in his log cabin near Watertown, Tennessee, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Luis Andres Henao/The Associated Press)
The Rev. Ron Blakely smiles onstage during the Sunday Gospel Hour he leads at Robert’s Western World Honky Tonk in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, July 28, 2024. (Luis Andres Henao/The Associated Press)
Jeremy “JB” Duckett, an employee of Robert’s Western World, poses at the legendary Nashville honky-tonk bar in Nashville on July 28. (Luis Andres Henao/The Associated Press)
Musicians perform after the Sunday Gospel Hour at Robert’s Western World Honky Tonk in Nashville on July 28. (Luis Andres Henao/The Associated Press)
A group of people smile at Robert’s Western World Honky Tonk in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
A receptionist at Robert’s Western World looks at passersby on Broadway in Nashville after the Gospel Hour, held at the legendary honky-tonk bar in Nashville, Tennessee, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Mimi Fischer and her father, the Rev. Ron Blakely, rehearse for their Sunday Gospel Hour at Robert’s Western World Honky Tonk on Saturday, July 27, 2024, at Blakely’s log cabin near Watertown, Tenn. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
A musician wearing a cowboy hat is reflected in a window as he sings and plays country music at Robert’s Western World, while Broadway bars are reflected in a window of the legendary Nashville Honky Tonk Bar, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
