A great night out at Chiswick’s Lil’Nashville

An authentic honky-tonk bar which attracts rhinestone cowboys from far and wide

Chiswick has become like the Wild West. You see blokes in checked shirts and ten gallon hats and women with suede fringed waistcoats and beautifully tooled leather cowboy boots strolling along the High Road at dusk.

They are headed for Lil’ Nashville, which became an instant hit when it opened in January last year. The fact that it was selling out its ‘Big Nash Bash’ nights within a month was one of the reasons it won the top hospitality award in West London Business Awards last month.

READ ALSO: Lil’ Nashville in Chiswick wins top hospitality award in West London Business Awards

The judges were impressed that for such a new business they had become so popular in such a short space of time and had generated over £1.5 million in revenue in their first year.

Right on trend

“We got the timing right”, co-owner Rob told The Chiswick Calendar. “Country music has gone a lot more mainstream in the last few years. It’s the fastest growing genre”.

Until 2019, country music’s share of the UK singles market never rose above one per cent, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which represents record labels. Last year’s BPI’s annual yearbook showed country music had more than doubled its share of the UK singles market in the previous two years.

Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have helped with that, along with artists such as Morgan Wallen, Post Malone, Dasha and Shaboozey attracting a younger audience.

Digital platforms and TikTok have played a significant role, as has the expansion of access to live performances. There has been a country music festival at the O2 in London every year since 2013, which this year featured some of country music’s biggest stars: Zach Top, Keith Urban, and Brooks & Dunn.

And of course, there was Dolly Parton at Glastonbury. Everybody loves Dolly.

“We wanted to bring that real honky-tonk feel”

Rob’s wife and business partner Helen has always been a fan, having spent family holidays in Florida from the age of ten, while Rob came to country music via folk. They now visit Nashville together every year.

They looked for somewhere to enjoy country music in London.

“No one really did it the way they do it in Nashville. We wanted to bring that real honky-tonk feel, so we decided to jump on a dream”.

They picked Chiswick for practical reasons, as they live in Oxford, and the bar / restaurant in Barley Mow Passage had “the perfect feel”.

I went with some friends to see what all the fuss was about.

A first taste of line dancing at the Big Nash Bash

On Friday nights they serve food until 7.00pm on fold up tables that are promptly cleared away to create a dance floor, so it has the atmosphere almost of a community barn dance, except the live musicians and women who lead the line dancing really know what they’re doing.

The food is good. You go over to a table in the corner where your plate is loaded with meat – Southern fried chicken, barbequed beef, chips, beans and slaw. I discovered their peach lager. For a lifelong lager and lime drinker who is tired of explaining to young bar staff I mean cordial not a slice of lime, peach lager is perfect.

We thought we were being clever sitting on the banquettes at the back. When the tables and chairs were cleared away from the dance floor, we still had a seat, but when it filled up and the dancing began, we realised the flaw in our decision.

Lines of people dancing tend to shuffle back, so we found ourselves too squashed in to heel strut and flick with style. The experienced Big Nash Bash goers sit and eat at the tables in the bar, which are not cleared away, so they have somewhere to sit down between dances, but they can strut their stuff up the front.

V-step, toe-strut, hip-bump, scuff – and repeat

The stage is built up high, like the one in the bar in the Blues Brothers (without the cage), so you can see the band and the dance teachers above the crowd. I would not say I am particularly a country fan, but found I knew the some of the words to most of the songs – Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks.

It is a beautiful thing when you have a crowd of people lipsyncing the anguished cry: ‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jo- leean, please don’t take him just because you can’.

We had a great night, and I would definitely go again.

They are closed Monday and Tuesday, open every other day, with line dancing lessons on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, suitable for ages 12+ and all abilities.

The Big Nash Bash, with live country artists, line dancing and a DJ takes place on Fridays or Saturdays.

Beginning to get a reputation for putting on big artists

The great thing about it is that you can rock up with no experience and have a go at line dancing, but if you are a devotee you may just find yourself there on a night when a really well-known musician is playing.

James Johnston chose Lil’ Nashville for his first UK show last year, for its authenticity. The Australian singer attracts huge live crowds on his home turf and has built a serious global following.

“I’d say he’s a year away from being huge”, said Rob.

Coming up this weekend, on Sunday 5 April they are hosting the Song Suffragettes – ‘a heartfelt, intimate showcase of incredible female songwriters sharing their stories and songs’.

Lil’ Nashville are members of The Chiswick Calendar’s Club Card scheme. Check out their offer to Club Card holders here:
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