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Jason Hollis — known simply as Hollis in Nashville circles — has spent his life chasing detail. First it was music: working the floor of Ziegler Music, his stepfather’s Baton Rouge chain of instrument shops, where teenage Hollis would beg to be locked in after hours to experiment with drum machines and learn the gear he’d sell the next day. Then it was artist development: moving to Los Angeles in the early ’90s, immersing himself in the city’s chaotic music scene.
“You take a lot of things away from things that you loved about certain places. And for me, like back in Los Angeles, my first trip there in the early ’90s, I became buddies with Johnny Depp. And, you know, he kind of took me in as like a little brother, and I got to see the whole Viper Room be built,” Hollis recalls. “The night it opened, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played. Michael Jackson came in with Elizabeth Taylor. I was just amongst all of this stuff. And it was every single night after that for two years — Tom Waits on stage with Timothy Leary reading poetry, Shane McGowan from The Pogs. It was such a time stamp in that moment in time.”
But while the L.A. scene offered excitement and success, Hollis began thinking about raising his daughter. “I’d spent some time in Nashville working and visiting friends, and Music City just seemed like a way better place to raise her than Los Angeles. It was smaller, more connected, and you could really build a life here. That, combined with the concentrated music scene, made moving here the obvious choice.”
Arriving in 1995, Hollis dove into Music Row, building relationships where mentors like Tony Brown, Frank Liddell, and Travis Hill helped shape his approach to artist development and producing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, with more time on his hands, Hollis discovered that the historic Douglas Corner space — formerly home to the famous Douglas Corner Cafe — might be converted into a hookah bar. Recognizing an opportunity, he acquired the space and set out to honor its storied past.
“This space is sacred, you know,” Hollis says. “Tony Brown rushed the stage and signed Trisha Yearwood here. Clint Black was signed here. Garth Brooks signed his publishing deal here. Every corner of this building has a story.”
Designing the new Eighth Room bar and lounge became a collaborative effort with his wife. The duo meticulously curated every detail, blending vintage pieces with custom finds: a 1950s Vladimir Kagan “boat” sofa anchors one corner; the green room is wrapped in rare Versace wallpaper designed just before the icon’s death; and the men’s room walls are covered in Andy Warhol Polaroids, licensed from the Warhol estate. “My wife’s vision was that no matter where you point your phone, it’s Instagrammable,” Hollis says with a laugh. “But beneath it all is history and craftsmanship. Each piece carries a story — a time stamp.”
“The design of the ’50s and ’60s can’t be beat,” he adds. “This stuff is almost indestructible, but more importantly, these pieces carry stories. They’re time stamps — just like songs.”
For Hollis, music and design are inseparable. His years on Music Row, working with some of the most influential figures in modern Country, Rock and Americana, sharpened his instincts for storytelling, whether through a song or a space. At The Eighth Room, every object, every wall, and every corner has been curated with intent, creating a space that honors Nashville’s history while inviting guests into a vibrant, lived-in experience.
“Music and design are the same to me,” Hollis says. “They both live in the details. They both tell stories. And if you get it right, they both last.”
If you’re coming to Nashville, Broadway if fun, but if you want to step it up a level, or in this case, many levels, you must see The Eighth Room –2106 8th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37204
–Jerry Holthouse
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