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Published: November 3rd 2016
Hello to anyone still reading this and thank you for letting me bore you with my holiday spam! In fact, we've been having too much fun and packing our days full of activities for me to fit in time to write about it all - probably for the best really!
Well, I left you all as we arrived in Music City - Nashville, Tennessee. It is big and built up and brash - and currently rapidly expanding with 120 new arrivals every day! We thought it would just be young hopefuls, with nothing but a backpack and a guitar, with a head full of songs for the broken-hearted and hope of being spotted and making it in one of the biggest businesses in the USA. In fact, the number 1 industry in Nashville is healthcare - who knew?! But anyway it was a little culture shock coming down from the mountains to the bright lights of the honky tonks on Lower Broadway. We kicked off our 4 day stay by... having a big lie-in! We were seriously tired after our few days driving so we had a lovely time chilling out in our airbnb house.
We then hopped in an uber into town to the Hatch Show Print - this traditional printing press uses wood blocks and has created thousands of music event posters since the early 1900s. We opted out of the tour but now are the proud owners of several posters which will be taking pride of place in our flat upon our return. We wandered from there to Lower Broadway - the hub of Nashville's party scene and also the location of the 'honky tonk' bars which line broadway, musicians with their backs to pedestrians trying to impress punters and, almost certainly, hoping they'll catch the eye of music producers. After we'd listened to some country music and had a few beers we headed across town to the Station Inn. This is a tiny dive bar in the 'Gulch' part of town which hosts some of the most authentic bluegrass music you'll come across. We were the first people in, thanks to John's eager planning - and were greeted at the door by a fellow Brit. He was suitably impressed with our itinerary and slightly disappointed that, each time he suggested a new and 'off the beaten track' musical experience, John admitted that it was already on the agenda. It pays to go out with a music nerd. And boy did it pay that night. After about an hour of playing cards and drinking beers, the lead singer of the scheduled band for the night, Val Storey, approached and introduced herself. She was delighted that we'd come all the way from the UK and made an effort to go and see them in particular. A few minutes later we were approached by a tall, white-haired gentleman, and the look on John's face made me suspect this was something special. This chap was Carl Jackson - former banjo player for Glen Campbell and current talented musician. He leads the band that play at the Station Inn every Monday and was very welcoming of John's eager greetings and praise. We then were treated to an evening of fantastic western swing - they even did a request for John. Each musician was unbelievable in their own right and together they were just incredible - all three of us were smiling from ear to ear all evening and we went home in the best spirits.
Tuesday morning was another chance for a lie-in and a chill back at the airbnb. For lunch, we ventured out to catch a southern classic for lunch: at Arnold's, we queued up with locals and other tourists, grabbed our plastic trays to be served canteen-style plates full of 'meat and three' - classic, home-cooked food, in appropriately american sized portions. I opted for a bowl of chicken and dumplings with sides of mac and cheese and spring greens. This resulted in a fairly epic afternoon nap. Then it was time to head out for our big night at the Grand Ole Opry. This was originally a weekly country music show which was broadcast live on radio and, from its rather humble beginnings in a radio station in the 1920s, has now grown to such an extent that it is now housed in a ginormous purpose-built auditorium which seats 4,000 people and is part of a wider 'Opry Mills' complex (which includes a huge shopping mall and a cheesy hotel). It was big and bold and brash and everything I had assumed about country music prior to my education from John. Giant plastic guitars for photo opportunities, a gift shop full of over-priced tat. I loved it. The acts forming the weekly shows weren't announced when we bought the tickets back in March (somewhat unsurprisingly...!) so we ended up going on a night called 'Opry goes pink'. This is an annual event to raise money for breast cancer charities and was suitably cheesy. At the beginning of the show a country pop music star flicked a giant plastic light-switch to turn the lighting on stage pink to rapturous applause from the fully packed auditorium. The show is still broadcast live on radio every week and it was strange to sit through a number of adverts for the main sponsors as part of a show which we had paid a lot of money to see. And, here's the brutal honest part. This was the worst music that we had seen for the entire trip so far. I mean, admittedly, the line up was all country pop, which is not really our bag. But when you've seen some of the most talented musicians ever in some of the coolest, least expected venues in the past week, and you're then faced with rhinestone encrusted, shiny, crooners of cheesy pop, it's hard not to judge. Having said that, however, we both thoroughly enjoyed the experience (Leo had opted out of this one so it was just me and John) and do not regret making our way out to the Opry at all.
We decided to carry on our trend of relaxing and sleeping in on Wednesday morning. We did, however, manage to build up enough energy to drive the 10 minutes down the road to nearby 'Hattie B's'. This had been recommended to us by one of our uber drivers as being the best 'hot chicken' in Nashville. 'Hot chicken' is another music city speciality and is basically fried chicken with a spicy coating served over bread and with a variety of sides. I opted for the medium hot thigh meat with coleslaw and fries. It was delicious. There's not too much more to say really. An afternoon of reading and a quick but efficient trip to Old Navy later and we thought it best to head out for the evening. We hopped in an uber out to East Nashville, think of it as Nashville's equivalent of Shoreditch - think lots of beards and craft beers. We sat in an achingly cool pub, drinking happy hour beers and playing cards - I am currently getting quite an education in the Fogarty family card game which is named 'Oh Hell' for a reason - my biggest loss so far was by over 100 points but I also beat John in one round so I'm getting there.
On Thursday, we got up and about a little earlier to head in to the Country Music Hall of Fame - a large museum dedicated to those special few who have been awarded membership to the esteemed Hall of Fame. It was a slick, modern affair but had some interesting exhibits including a temporary exhibition on Bob Dylan's connection to Nashville and the many musicians who have worked on countless records but without the fame and glory associated (think session musicians who have backed up those big names you know - pedal steel players, guitar players, harmonica players etc etc). Following the museum, we hopped on a mini bus to tour RCA Studio B - the recording studio which produced some of the biggest hits from this genre - including Dolly Parton's 'I will always love you' and Elvis Presley's 'Lonesome Tonight'. It was a quick tour, and very touristy, but it was impressive to sit in that otherwise nondescript room and hear some of the stories behind some songs which will be known to everyone for generations to come. Real music history. After our tour, John and I headed to Lower Broadway for the full experience, wandering in and out of the tacky souvenir shops, trying on genuine cowboy boots and sitting in the Honky Tonks listening to more music. That evening we had tickets to the 'Opry Country Classics' show at the Ryman Auditorium. This show, though hosted by the Opry, takes place each week at the beautiful Ryman Auditorium, one-time permanent home of the Grand Ole Opry, originally named 'Union Gospel Tabernacle' and widely known as the 'Mother Church' of country music. It's a beautiful red-brick building and an amazing place to see live music. The Country Classics night is hosted by Larry Gatlin and his band - he fills the gaps in between visiting musicians with silly banter and, at one point, rather impressively took requests for gospel songs (one of which was, of course, called out by my dear fiance) in a revue-style show. The musicians can be anyone but they tend to book a 'featured artist' who is slightly older and we had Pam Tillis - daughter of Mel Tillis. She wasn't quite what we were hoping for but she headed a very entertaining show, where musicians perform their versions of songs known to many. A really enjoyable experience and one of the most beautiful venues we have had the pleasure of going to on this mad trip. One final dinner on Broadway and it was time to pack our bags and jump back in the Cherokee, ready for our next stage of the journey - moving from country pop and the nashville sound on to soul and blues in Memphis...
Theme for Nashville: the smooth nashville sound of
