Three to get ready, now go cat go!

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Geo: 36.1682, -86.7772

After yesterday's disastrous drive, and subsequent incredible music evening, we found ourselves enjoying the luxury of a long lie in. After a very late entry into breakfast and consuming the morning's dregs, we headed back down the hill to the main tourist attraction in Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame. Home to an incredible array of memorabilia, footage and photographs, it was a thorough walk through the history of the genre. Spread over three floors, there was an immense amount of information to read and marvel at. We were also given an audio guide, which gave extra anecdotal information about many of the exhibits. We saw Dolly's dresses, boots belonging to Alan Jackson, a huge display dedicated to Kenny Rogers, dresses worn by winners of the CMAs and cowboy hats a-plenty! There were constant snippets of music being played, interactive video exhibitions and, behind glass panes across from the exhibits, huge archives chock-full of even more memorabilia, as the collection is constantly changing.

We were not sure how long we'd need in the museum and so opted for a tour of Historic RCA Studio B as part of our ticket at 1pm - giving us two hours in the museum itself. However, at 12.45, and only halfway through the exhibits, we suddenly realised the time and had to race downstairs to catch our shuttle bus. We were met by the most enthusiastic Southern Belle I've ever met. She spoke at ten to the dozen as we crossed the crazy traffic of Nashville, regaling us of stories of the stars we had come to pay tribute to. With her Southern drawl, the history of country was brought to life. She told us a story about Dolly Parton, who literally left her mark on the hallowed walls of Studio B: running late for her first recording, she drove her car into the brick wall of the studio. You can still see the discolouration of the brickwork where they had to patch up the damage!

As we entered the studio, we were taken into a foyer, where huge photographs of its alumni adorned the walls. Here, our enthusiastic guide talked us through the history of the building, and played music from their incredible back catalogue,which contains some 35,000 songs in all. We heard from the greats of Country Music, and then were treated to an exceptional experience. We left the foyer and passed down the corridor and into the chequered-floored Studio B itself. Despite other, larger studios being made available to him, Elvis always preferred to record in this studio because of its intimacy. The guide turned down the lights, to the dimness that Elvis himself enjoyed to work in and told us stories of his recording late into the night. Then, with the atmosphere charged and air tingling, played us one of his recordings, its raw quality adding to the effect. It was incredibly moving, and after spending time at his graveside the previous day, it really gave us an understanding of how important to music the man really was.

Then the lights were brought up and we were given the opportunity to go into the technical booth and see the equipment that recorded thousands of hits. It was incredible to think about the stars that had passed through this very space, putting their hearts and souls into the recordings that made them superstars. Finally, we enjoyed the piece de resistance. The gleaming Steinway grand piano, which sat in the corner of the studio, was opened up for us to play. This was the piano that Elvis sat at when recording many of his famous hits, and it was made available to any of us to play. For this moment alone, I was grateful to my parents for the years of piano lessons they allowed me to go to. For this moment alone, I also wished I had done more practice as a child so that I would have been able to play something more impressive than Sandman's Lullaby! However, it was a truly once in a lifetime opportunity and one I (quite literally) grabbed with both hands!

After another amazing lunch and music combination at Robert's Western, we raced back to the hotel to change ready for the main reason for us coming to Nashville. We changed into our best clothes, grabbed the car and drove out of the city towards Opryland on the outskirts. The enormous arena, home to the show that used to be hosted in central Nashville at the historic Ryman Auditorium, was our destination for the evening. We picked up our tickets for our VIP backstage experience and waited with the others on our tour. We had pre-booked our seats and knew we had front-row balcony seats waiting once the performance had begun, but for now, we were taken away from the hordes of spectators arriving to take their seats and into the sanctuary of backstage. We were taken into the rehearsal room, where the resident band chat with the artists and run through any last minute preparations and then were were given a tour of the artists' entrance and lockers.

Then we were taken into a dressing room and introduced to who we thought was a kindly elderly gentleman. He was introduced to us as an Opry member, George Hamilton VI and it turns out that he is country music royalty! Fortunately, we grabbed an autograph! He told us about the Opry, about the performers and the performances, about the lifestyle, the celebrations and the family of men and women who make up the Opry membership. We then explored the dressing rooms, each decorated in a different theme and dedicated to different elements of the Opry and country music. We were greeted by Kathy Mattea, one of the great women of country music. She shared a joke with us and then went back to her preparations. After a tour of the green room, complete with a marker to show where the damaging recent floods had affected the building, we were taken to the stage where we joined the family and friends of the performers. Here we waited for the curtain to rise on the show. The curtain itself was so thick that it blanketed out the sound of the audience beyond, but as it rose on the first performance of the night, and we stood enraptured on the edge of the stage, we were suddenly treated to the roar of the audience beyond.

After the first electrifying performance, we were escorted back to our seats for the remainder of the performance, and what a performance it was! Each artist, whether world renowned or new to the business was given the same amount of time. We enjoyed performances by the aforementioned Kathy Mattea and then the amazing song we'd heard on the radio on the way to Nashville was played by its original artist! What a moment! The entertainment continued asll the way through the night, and in no small part, due to its live status on the radio. Because of this, whenever there was a break between performances, the live announcer came onto the stage and read out advertisements in a dead-pan voice for the sponsors including the Boot Barn - "I wouldn't get my boots anywhere else!"

At the end of the evening, we were treated to the highlight of the evening - Alison Krauss took to the stage and sang a set entirely acapella . It was simply stunning and goosebumps were erupting all over our arms. She left the stage to rapturous applause and, after a thanks from the entire cast, it was time to head out - exiting of course via the gift shop! After locating the car, it was time to go back to the hotel, ready to pack for our final journey onto Atlanta Airport in the morning.

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