Country music icon Marty Stuart is not only a songwriter and musician; it turns out the Mississippi native is also an accomplished photographer. He got his first camera at age 13 while making his bluegrass debut as a rhythm guitarist in Lester Flatt’s band.

Beginning June 2nd, you can see 40 of Stuart’s photographs in the Concourse C corridor at Nashville International Airport (BNA). The photographs tell the story of three major influences on Stuart’s life: country music singers and songwriters, rockabilly music and performers, and the Lakota Tribe of North and South Dakota.

Photo of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard by Marty Stuart

Next time you pass through Nashville International Airport (BNA), check out the snazzy leopard-print woodwork on the piano in Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge.

Made by Baldwin Piano, a division of Nashville-based Gibson Guitar, “The Leopard” also has hard rock maple cabinetry, virgin wool hammers and ebony wood sharps.

And it’s not just for show: the piano is an in-house instrument for an airport arts program that features daily musical performances.

Photo: courtesy Nashiville International Airport

Some travelers had a tasty time at Nashville International Airport (BNA) yesterday. The airport threw a party to celebrate the opening of a dozen new food, beverage and retail vendors in the terminal.

Free food samples included meatloaf and peach cobbler from a branch of local favorite Swett’s, and cheesecake and turkey Reuben sandwiches from a New York-style deli named Noshville (as in “I’m hungry. Let’s nosh when we land in Nashville.”)

The food give-away is over, but the expanded dining options remain.

Photo courtesy: Devi Sanford

Nashville International Airport (BNA) has an ambitious live music schedule and, it seems, a fine art program.

Through June 1, 2008, the airport’s exhibition series (Flying Solo) features the work of four Tennessee artists, including T. Michael Martin who describes his work this way:

“I create quirky, vibrant worlds where geometries are manipulated to represent sci-fi fascinations combined with concerns of advancing technologies. My paintings and installations start from found blueprints, maps, diagrams, and schematics. Then I isolate seemingly mundane events from my daily life and incorporate them to invent unusual structures that question utopian or dystopian societal views.”

I bet this image on display in the south end of the ticket lobby was inspired by something Martin saw on the x-ray machine at an airport security checkpoint.

T. Michael Martin: Codes of Connection, 20′ x 9,’ mixed media digital collage on Tyvek.