Today we shine a light on an obscure album recorded in Nashville more than 50 years ago that features a Christmas choir performing inside the lobby of a downtown bank.

Local listener Matthew Bond came across the vinyl record two decades ago and wondered: Why did a bank form a choir? And what were their performances like?

To figure this out, we dive into the city's banking history, glean clues from the recording itself, and learn just how popular this all-volunteer choir became.

Credits: Curious Nashville is a production of Nashville Public Radio and uses music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Nashville Public Radio's Tasha A.F. Lemley, Blakle Farmer, Mack Linebaugh, and Cynthia Abrams.

Host: Tony Gonzalez

Reporter & producer: Justin Barney

The Grand Ole Opry has elevated Nashville and its country music to a global stage and turns 100 years old this week. That much you've probably heard (WPLN has lots of Opry 100 coverage online.)

But a Curious Nashville listener has a question that hits at the foundation of the Opry: What does it mean for an artist to be a “member” of the Opry? WPLN’s daily talk show, This Is Nashville, dove deep into the Opry and tapped multiple music experts to share the answer.

Some listeners could not get enough of Curious Nashville's reporting about gyros. When we broadcast the story on WPLN’s This Is Nashville program — and opened up the phone lines — some called in with first-hand intel about Chicago-Style Gyros and founder Joey Kahn.

Our question today: What is a "Chicago-style gyro," and why are there so many shops with that name in Nashville? 

Little did we know that trying to figure this out would take us way beyond Nashville and lead us to uncover the very creation of the gyro as we know it. And reporter Justin Barney is taking you along as he crisscrosses the country, plunges into culinary history, hits the factory floor, and gets face-to-face with the man who elevated a niche menu item into a cultural staple.

You can make Curious Nashville even better by asking us a great question at WPLN.org/Curious.

Credits:

Curious Nashville is a production of Nashville Public Radio and uses music from Blue Dot Sessions. Another version of today’s story was also produced for the food podcast “Proof,” from America’s Test Kitchen, and you can check that out if you want to go deeper into culinary history.

Host: Tony Gonzalez

Reporter & producer: Justin Barney

Editing: Blake Farmer

Special thanks to Nashville Public Radio's Tasha A.F. Lemley, Mack Linebaugh, and Cynthia Abrams.

WPLN is reviving Curious Nashville. The recipe is simple: Listeners ask questions and we find the answers.

Learn more about the comeback in this interview between WPLN's Tony Gonzalez and Blake Farmer.

"Making Noise" is a four-part series by Nashville Public Radio about how the music promotion company Lovenoise has changed the music landscape of Nashville. The best way to listen is in the WNXP Podcasts feed. Subscribe now!

A juvenile court in Rutherford County was illegally jailing and detaining kids for 16 years before a former juvenile delinquent-turned-lawyer came up with a plan to take it on. This four-part narrative podcast builds on a joint investigation by WPLN Nashville Public Radio and ProPublica and is produced by The New York Times and Serial Productions.

“The Kids of Rutherford County” reveals how this system came to be, with particular attention to the adults responsible for it and the two juvenile delinquents-turned-lawyers who try to do something about it. The podcast's host is Meribah Knight, a Peabody Award-winning reporter for Nashville Public Radio who co-reported the original investigation.

Something new has hit Nashville’s hot real estate market: a beach, right smack in the middle of downtown Nashville.

But, until it’s sold, Nashvillians driving through the intersection of Lafayette, Division and 4th Avenue may wonder: What is that sandy triangle doing there?

One listener directed this question to our Curious Nashville project, so we took a brief “vacation” to SoBro to find the answer.

Photos: Visit this story at WPLN.org to see photos of the Little Chill Beach.

On a small island in the middle of Centennial Park’s Lake Watauga stand five towers of beehives. One of our listeners spotted the hard-to-reach hives and inquired about the bees: Who cares for them? What happens to the honey? Do other parks have hives?

In 2017, a listener wrote to ask: “On Sulphur Creek Road, in Coble, Tennessee, we saw what appeared to be a ‘space capsule’ with a NASA logo on the end. What is it?”

Now, for the first time anywhere, Curious Nashville has the story for the Hickman County space capsule.

Credits: Curious Nashville is a project of Nashville Public Radio. Tony Gonzalez is executive producer, and Paula Ramirez reported this story. Paige Pfleger edited this episode. The music is from the Blue Dot Sessions.