There’s an old joke about how if you play a country music song backwards the singer will get back his horse, his dog, the money he lost gambling, his girlfriend and even end up with a full bottle of whisky by the end of it.

Unfortunately for many of America’s country musicians, it’s going to take a lot more than playing a record backwards to get millions of dollars worth of gear back after Nashville, Tennessee was flooded this week. Although venues such as the Grand ‘ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame only sustained minor water damage, Soundcheck Nashville, a storage rental hub in an industrial park next to the swollen Cumberland River was completely flooded. Up to 1,000 musicians and music businesses which had their gear in the 160,000 square feet facility, which was stored in rehearsal room sized lockers, damaged or destroyed. It is feared that losses there alone will be in the tens millions of dollars.

Among music stars to lose gear or have it severely damaged were Keith Urban, Vince Gill and LeAnn Rimes. On the bright side, there’s an album’s worth of inspiration for the local musicians right there.

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