The hardcore legend brings his vast collection of punk memorabilia to life in a Nashville gallery, with an eye on showing it to the world

Inside a moderately-sized building in Nashville’s gentrifying-too-fast Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, Henry Rollins confirms the rumblings that have been circulating in town: He is in fact a Music City resident. And he’s intent on giving back.

Over two days last weekend, Rollins unveiled “Cool Evidence: Captured Moments From the Last Century,” a curated exhibit featuring select items from his personal punk-rock history collection. Free to the public, the event at the venue Radar615 drew lines a few hundred people deep, each of them eager to lay eyes on relics from a niche but impactful musical past.…