The Story Behind the Tour
History is personal. So is this tour.
Hi, I'm Matthew — and I've been falling in love with Nashville for a long time.
I came to this city more than two decades ago, and somewhere along the way it stopped being the place I lived and became the place I belong. I've raised a family here, watched neighborhoods transform, argued about which hot chicken spot is actually the best, and spent more hours than I can count digging into the history, architecture, and stories that make Nashville unlike anywhere else in America.
My background is in urban planning — I studied the way cities work, the way they grow, the way they hold memory in their streets and buildings. For sixteen years I channeled that curiosity into teaching, helping young people learn to pay attention to the world around them. Turns out those two things — understanding cities and telling stories — are pretty much the perfect preparation for leading a walking tour.
Footnotes Nashville was born out of a simple conviction: the best way to know a place is on foot, at a human pace, with someone who genuinely can't stop talking about it. That's me. I know these streets, I know these stories, and I consider it a genuine privilege every time someone trusts me to show them around.
You're in good hands. Let's go exploring!