Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson and More to Play Tootsie’s 55th Birthday Bash

Famed Nashville honky-tonk Tootsie's Orchid Lounge will celebrate its 55th anniversary with a free star-studded bash on Oct. 21.

The event, which will be held outdoors on Broadway, in front of Tootsie's, will include performances by Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson and Terri Clark, with other special guests expected to appear as well.

“We kicked the Birthday Bash off years ago at the Ryman with Kris Kristofferson, Terri Clark, Mel Tillis and Jamey Johnson,” says Tootsie’s proprietor Steve Smith. “It’s become an annual event that everyone really looks forward to. We hope everyone will come out and help us celebrate our 55th birthday!”

Tootsie's became one of the very first venues in Nashville to offer live music after Hattie Louise “Tootsie” Bess purchased the property in 1960. Artists such as Kristofferson, Faron Young, Willie Nelson, Tom T. Hall, Hank Cochran, Tillis, Roger Miller, Webb Pierce, Waylon Jennings and Patsy Cline all got their start by performing at the lounge.

“If you missed a friend backstage [at the Opry], you knew where to go look for them,” the late Little Jimmy Dickens once told The Boot. “Because they would be in Tootsie’s visiting with one another, trading songs around or having a beer and visiting with one another, and I think that’s one of the greatest things that ever happened to country music, because these songwriters all got together and wrote these beautiful songs that we hear today.”

Last year's Birthday Bash included performances by Chuck Wicks, Trick Pony, Darryl Worley and Clark, among others.

More information about Tootsie's 55th Birthday Bash will be posted at Tootsie's website when it's available.