THE GRAND OLE OPRY

NASHVILLE SOUNDS

So, the question needs to be asked…. Why in all places in this great America is Nashville the country music capital? And, what the heck is a Grand Ole Opry?

Of course, after my recent trip to the Athens of the South  your intrepid chronicler did some research and just skimming the surface of the history of “country” music has my head spinning with its various forms and sub-genres trying to decide what to write here.

Hopefully I’ll get some of this correct. If I don’t, I guess my dog will run away, my truck will get a flat tire and my cold beer will get warm quickly….

Actually, country music is far more popular than I ever imagined. From what I have read the dulcet tones of warbling cowboys and toe tapping honky-tonk, et al, is enjoyed by over 40% of the population, that listeners are often affluent and homeowners, and there are more evening commuters tuning into country music stations than anything else.

WHO LIKES COUNTRY MUSIC?

That still doesn’t answer the question, ‘why Nashville?’

As for the Nashville sound, it was a move in the 50's to revive country sales devastated by the rise of rock and roll by using smooth strings and choruses and sophisticated background vocals. As for the Nashville Sounds, they are a AAA team of the Oakland Athletics. 

NASHVILLE SOUNDS

HILLBILLY MUSIC

Country has its roots in Appalachian folk music, mostly narrative ballads and traditional music brought from Europe mainly by English, Irish and Scottish settlers to the area, as well as African-American blues. Instruments typically played are banjos, fiddles, dulcimers and guitars. Parts of Appalachia are still isolated and poor and inhabitants often stereotyped as uneducated and unrefined, but there is a rich musical heritage from this region.

 

Ryman Auditorium

In the early 1900s there was a movement to collect and preserve these folk songs played by the people of Appalachia where previously the music was unwritten. For generations the music was passed on orally and musically to the next generation, sometimes just within families. When they began to collect this rich legacy the researchers first wrote the notes of the songs and lyrics down and later when the equipment was invented the music was electronically recorded. In the earliest recordings the artists had to travel to New York City or Atlanta, but in the 1920s a producer for the Victor Talking Machine Company set up a recording studio in a State Street building in Bristol, Tennessee. State Street is the border between Virginia and Tennessee in Bristol.  Artists were offered $50 for each side cut and 2 ½ cents for each single sold.  The popularity of the music, called “Hillbilly Music”, which wasn’t a pejorative term but instead used to differentiate the music from gospel and blues, quickly became popular beyond the hills of Appalachia.

Today Bristol Tennessee is considered the Birthplace of Country Music. The actual site of the Bristol recordings in Bristol, Tennessee is now a parking lot but there is a commemorative plaque there, while the Birthplace of Country Music Museum is located a few blocks away in Bristol Virginia.

BIRTHPLACE OF COUNTRY MUSIC MUSEUM

RED HOT FIDDLE PLAYING

The Grand Ole Opry began as a radio program on WSM 650 in Nashville Tennessee in 1925. It was called Barn Dance then and the first performer introduced was 77 year old Uncle Jimmy Thompson. The show’s producer wanted each segment to end with some “red hot fiddle playing” and the Fruit Jar Drinkers were tasked with that endeavor. The name was changed to the Grand Ole Opry when the announcer quipped one night in 1927 that the classical music that preceded the program had been taken from Grand Opera and what will follow is Grand Ole Opry. He then introduced the Harmonica King, DeFord Bailey. 

The hour long program was a massive hit and the crowds that gathered at the radio station on Seventh and Union soon overwhelmed the studio space, requiring a move (and an admission charge) to several other venues over the years before the Grand Ole Opry settled in the Ryman Auditorium on 4th Street in 1943. The Opry was held there until 1974 when a new home was built 9 miles east of Nashville. From the main stage of the Ryman a circle was cut out and placed on the new building's stage in a nod to the rich history of the Opry. But, when the Opry moved out of town so did the tourists and the once vibrant area of Broadway fell into a crime infested area for decades until entrepreneurs saved the Ryman and bars like Tootsie's Orchid Lounge from the wrecking ball.

Here’s a great list of the history of all the venues of the Grand Ole Opry over the years.

HISTORY OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY

crowd outside Ryman Auditorium

Although the Grand Ole Opry is no longer televised you can still listen to WSM 650 the radio station that started it all online at: WSM 650 ONLINE

Opry stage showing circle 

THE SHOW THAT MADE COUNTRY MUSIC FAMOUS

The Grand Ole Opry is perhaps the most visited attraction in America; at least that was what our tour guide at the place said after we paid our $30 per. There is now a sprawling shopping mall adjacent to the Opry called Opry Mills, but until 1997 that area had a musically themed amusement park called Opryland and between the two destinations 2.5 million would visit annually. No matter how many quips I could make about country music there is no doubt about the popularity.

post office at the Grand Ole Opry

Having been in a lot of venues over my career for me the Grand Ole Opry wasn't that special, but I can understand why enthusiasts would be interested in the back halls and dressing rooms and the machinations of the shows.  

The tour takes you around to the performer’s entrance, where our guides gleefully note there is no valet parking and the musicians need to drive themselves. We are then shown the check in desk where there is a mailbox for performers…yes you can write your favorite member and address it to the Grand Ole Opry and it’ll end up in their mailbox… Our guide on this part of the tour, a little blonde waif, rattled off the corresponding names of shouted out numbers. The check in desk attendant will then assign the performer to a particular dressing room; there are several differently themed dressing rooms. (I was particularly keen on seeing the Minnie Pearl themed room).

 

dressing room at the Grand Ole Opry

Interesting note: None of the dressing rooms have a bathroom, though there are communal ones down the hall. At least they are not outside……………….

There I go again with a quip.

The final stop on this tour was the chance to walk on stage and have your photo taken.  The $25 per pictures were available afterwards, but in keeping with your trusty cheapskates Janet photographed the photo and we now have a lasting memory of what is the most visited tourist destination in America.

on the stage

Membership in the Grand Ole Opry is the highest achievement in country music. Going into the requirements here would be counterproductive, but suffice it to say that two notables are NOT “members” of the Grand Ole Opry. Taylor Swift is “too pop” according to our guide and Hank Williams was “too drunk”. In fact this month is the anniversary of Hank Williams being “fired” by the Grand Ole Opry because he missed too many shows.

HANK WILLIAMS FIRED FROM GRAND OLE OPRY

Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish fame is a member.

Had we not been flying out early the next morning we might have considered staying for that night's performance of the Grand Ole Opry.. Surprisingly tickets were still available. 

Taylor Swift at the Grand Ole Opry

BEERS OF THE WORLD

WHEN IN ROME

Imagine my delight in finding out that there is a thriving craft beer market in Nashville. On our first night here, when we had dinner in Germantown’s Butchertown Hall, I drank two local beers that seemed unworthy of Tennessee, what with all the whiskey and music. I had a Czann Dunkel Weizen and a Black Abbey Special, a Belgian-style ale that was pretty darn close to the real thing. I am drinking, er, speaking from experience you know. Team VFH traveled to Belgium JUST to drink beer a number of years ago.

When we put in supplies for the week at the Kroegers market on Rosa Park Avenue I purchased a six pack of various local beers like Yazoo and Mill Creek, etc. and all were drinkable. Though we only visited one brewery in our short time in Nashville it was a good one. Black Abbey was a few miles outside of the downtown area of Nashville and in an industrial park. We purchased a reasonably priced flight of 6 beers at their tasting room, with the bartender throwing in an extra because we couldn’t decide on the allotted number.

Personally I think it’s important to sample local things. I would never, for instance, travel to Sydney to drink a Budweiser, or to Edinburgh with all those lovely lovely single malts to drink Jack Daniels and a Corona. I’ve known people who have…

CRAFT BEER IN NASHVILLE

NASHVILLE BREWERIES 

   

IT’S A BIG WORLD OUT THERE

Today is my birthday. How fortunate that I’ve lived as long and experienced so much. Still, there are always mountains to clamber over and vistas to make my heart swoon. I like to say God has graced me with a long life to give me an opportunity to finally get it right. I just hope he (or she) doesn't decide to cut bait and run anytime soon.

There is so much out there… and there… and there….It’s a big world someone’s gotta tell you all about it.

Love, laugh and enjoy our time in this Garden of Eden

WHISKEY HOT CHICKEN MARATHON

ALL NEW

On our recent trip to Nashville to visit my daughter we took it very slow and paced ourselves. My daughter had to work one day so we were on our own anyway. It was very hot, with temperatures approaching triple digits and our icy cold newly built apartment was just so wonderful and we found ourselves lingering a bit enjoying the frigid air….although we did overdo it one morning and had to go to a local hospital to be treated for frost bite.

Obviously that’s an exaggeration; we thawed out quickly in the heat.

I actually got a run in at the Centennial Park one morning. I was out there at 7 am and already the day was sweltering, but I managed 4 laps around the course before returning to the ice palace to recover.

But seriously, the brand newness of our apartment and actually all of Nashville is amazing. Our apartment was clean, efficient and very comfortable, but google map the address of our place at 2507 Clifton Avenue and the street picture from March 2016 shows it was still under construction. The satellite picture shows a derelict building. Even my daughter’s apartment complex in Germantown is literally a dirt lot in the satellite view.

All of Nashville is like this. There is new construction everywhere and if it’s not new construction it’s preservation as was our first stop this one day at the Marathon Motor Works. According to our tour bus guide, this building, once a cotton mill and then an automobile factory and located in what was once a very dodgy, rough part of town, is the most popular stop on their “hop on, hop off” tour.

SHOULD MOVE, DON’T

Now, the title of this section of today’s entry is not a comment about my running abilities, but about the automobile company that once flourished in Nashville.  The Marathon automobile was produced in this Athens of the South facility in the early 1900s. After a slow start, with one of the company reports about their car famously stating, “should move, don’t”, the Marathon Motor Company eventually produced a reliable and durable car and enjoyed great popularity and at one point was producing 200 cars a month.  But company mismanagement caused the company to flounder just about the same time as the Ford Model T was gaining popularity with America. Today, only a handful of Marathons still exist and four of them are on display at the old factory showroom for free.

MARATHON MOTOR WORKS 

RENOVATION OF MARATHON MOTOR WORKS

Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the Marathon Motor Works was abandoned and decaying for years, surrounded by weeds and inhabited by drug addicts. But an entrepreneur came in saw the potential and now the building houses stores and artisans and businesses. The hallways are decorated with photographs and industrial tools. Jack Daniels has a store here as well as the popular History Channel show American Pickers. Their store is called Antique Archaeology, and very appropriate for this historical building.

ANTIQUE ARCHAEOLOGY 

WHISKEY TRAIL

The Marathon Motor Works also houses two distilleries. Our interest was piqued with the Belle Meade Bourbon we had at Husk the night before  and we wanted to sample more Tennessee spirits. Our waiter from Husk was aglow that Belle Meade was distilled and aged just down the road, but our first adult libation was at the self-proclaimed “hand crafted small batch ultra-premium booze for badasses”, Corsair Distillery.

There is an actual official Whiskey Trail with approximately 30 distilleries across the state ranging from small, boutique-style distilleries to giants like Jack Daniels. The Tennessee Whiskey Trail website gives a history of the spirit before during and after prohibition, offers an itinerary if you choose to be foolishly brave enough to drive, or gives a listing of tour companies that will take you around for tastings. Tennessee is broken up into west, mid and east sections.

TENNESSEE WHISKEY TRAIL

Corsair Distillery is at the far end of the Marathon Motor Works building where the Yazoo brewery, a popular and ubiquitous brew in Nashville, once had their operation. Corsair also brews beer, but we avoided the hemp concoctions and such and bought a flight of three types of gins they produced in their little bar area. Janet had recently gone to a gin tasting event in England and was keen on this idea. I wasn’t particularly fond of their offerings though Janet liked them, but when she wanted to move onto a flight of their whiskeys I thought it would be better to pace ourselves…. It was just 11:30 after all. Thankfully their distillery tour wasn’t until much later in the afternoon, so we paid our 8 dollars and moved on.

CORSAIR DISTILLERY

YAZOO BREWERY

ALL BOURBONS ARE WHISKIES

We walked through the warren of corridors and peaked into a couple of shops, but then eventually left the cool confines of the Marathon Motor Works to walk the half block to Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery.

The history of the company is lengthy and incredible. The short version has them producing a lot of high quality whiskey in the 1800s. In 1908 Tennessee enacted its own prohibition, ahead of the United States and whiskey distilling stopped and the family swept it under a rug to forget the whole process. In 2011 two great-whatever-grandsons discovered, via a historical roadside sign, that here stood a distillery that bore their family name and upon further research they were able to find the original recipes of this high quality whiskey and have since restarted the distillery.

You have to go through a lot of jaw dropping history to drink the whiskey at Nelson's Green Brier Distillery, but it is well worth the $10. The guide explained the mixture of the sour mash had to contain at least 51% corn according to Tennessee whiskey regulations and he explained the charcoal filtration and aging process they used for the whiskey and the bourbon they produce. I still can’t give you a definitive answer to what’s the difference between the two types of liquor although they are evidently very similar. I believe it has something to do with aging and the type of barrel used….I think.

I know that last bit will inflame purists and I’ll be labeled a mook, etc. I say. ‘whatever’, the tour ended with four generous pours of their whiskey and bourbon. I wanted to stay and research the matter further, but we were ready to get something to eat.

GREEN BRIER DISTILLERY 

WHAT'S IN A NAME BOURBON OR WHISKEY 

TWO WHISKEYS TWO BOURBONS ONE HOT CHICKEN

Unlike Champagne that can’t be called champagne unless it’s made in France, having a myriad number of names like Cava or Asti Spumante when produced elsewhere, bourbon, named for a Bourbon County in Kentucky can still be made anywhere, as long the rules are followed. But, Nashville Hot Chicken is a local delicacy and very popular with locals and tourists The popularity of Nashville-style Hot Chicken is growing beyond the city limits though and KFC recently rolled out their version of Hot Chicken.

It basically is fried chicken but it’s the heat and the presentation that make it so unique. At the midtown Hattie B’s where we ate they bread the chicken and then dip it in a melted spice blend, fry it and serve it on a slice of white bread with some pickles.Hattie B’s heat goes from Southern (no heat) to Shut the Cluck Up!  There are several restaurants in town that offer Nashville-style hot chicken and all are represented at the Hot Chicken Festival held around Independence Day in Nashville's East Park. There’s a fire truck parade before this free event.

HOT CHICKEN FESTIVAL  

NASHVILLE-STYLE HOT CHICKEN RESTAURANTS

We had heard horror stories about extreme waits to get into a restaurant like Hattie B's but ours lasted just 15 minutes. Employees of the restaurant kept coming out to fill a water cooler with ice and resupply drinking cups for those brave patrons ready to stand in the heat. The food was well worth the wait. We ordered small white plates and with the two sides it was more than enough food. We had mild and medium versions of the heat and waddled back to our car, our whiskey hot chicken marathon was finished! The igloo awaited our return.

HATTIE B'S

SLOBBER AND HUSK

THE ATHENS OF THE SOUTH

Even the allure of great music, Tennessee whiskey and cold American beers, did not rouse us from our Airbnb on Clifton Avenue. It was nice and frosty in the air conditioning and as we had spent the entire previous day outdoors we were happy with getting a slow start.

When we finally emerged from our igloo it was into a sweltering day where the temperatures neared 100 and we decided to drive over to Centennial Park in the West End section of Nashville to be foolhardy and hale and take a stroll. Nashville has extreme weather swings from blistering summers to frigid winters, which we would later learn, is great for the aging of Tennessee whiskey.

NOT THE REAL PARTHENON

We dressed in tank tops and shorts and drove the short distance to the park. We found a spot near the Parthenon and discovered there were plenty of others with the same idea. School groups, tourists, locals and runners on a mile long well marked trail were all enjoying this urban park. On Wednesdays food trucks gather near the park’s event center. In the pavilion there a duet was playing music. We walked through the beautiful sunken gardens to check out the fare and strolled the grounds around the life-sized replica of the Parthenon in Athens eventually circumnavigating the park’s mile long running trail.

CENTENNIAL PARK NASHVILLE

Centennial park was originally created for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial and International Exhibition celebration of Tennessee’s entry into the Union in 1796. Yeah, they were a year late getting around to it. Though Centennial Park was dedicated as a public park in 1903, blacks were banned from it because of Jim Crow laws until the mid-1960s.

NOT THE REAL ATHENA

IT’S GREEK TO ME

Despite these elements of racial inequality by the 1850s Nashville was considered one of the most refined and cultured cities in the south. Long before it was known as the Music City the home of country music, Nashville was called the Athens of the South. She had several theaters and elegant hotels and a number of colleges. So, when the Centennial came up it was easy for Nashville to embrace her sister city in its displays.

The Parthenon is a full sized replica of the religious temple to Athena and now it even includes a replica statue, complete with ivory skin and blue eyes and a gilded dress.

the real Janet on a fake boat

Of course we didn’t pay the fee for entry into the museum where Athena stands proudly; we had to meet a dog.

SLOBBER PUSS

On this hot hot July afternoon we met up with my daughter taking her pup out for a run. We met them at a school’s baseball field across the river where the dog could run and not escape. Thankfully Janet has a smart phone for directions for we would never have found this place. I’m no help. I still carry my trusty flip phone. I can drop that thing and still make calls, but I can’t get directions.

As a family we’ve always had dogs and it makes me happy that my daughter has one still in her life. Under a year old the American bulldog/boxer mix frantically ran around for a tossed ball before collapsing at our feet, panting and drooling  I got down and petted her and she insisted on slobbering all over me and cut grass clung to me like a second skin.

NOT MY DAUGHTER'S DOG

It was wonderful.

HUSK

As we were in Charleston just for a few days three years ago, we never had a chance to dine at Husk, just off King Street. A table at this well respected Holy City restaurant, boasting a farm–to-fork approach to southern cuisine, is difficult to attain, but when we discovered Charleston has a kissing cousin in Nashville, we started making reservations before we even left the Philadelphia airport. Again, Janet was extremely helpful, because I don’t text and evidently that’s the only way to contact the kids of today.

With a day settled, Wednesday, we were able to get a reservation at 5 pm. It was either that or 9:30 pm.

THE REAL HUSK NASHVILLE

Like Charleston, Nashville Husk is very popular and despite the prospect of dropping a more than reasonable amount of coin on the meal we had to go. Set on Rutledge hill in a historic 1800’s mansion ii is a very beautiful dining experience. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. The wait staff was all dressed in flannel shirts and aprons and attentive. Our waiter, sporting a hipster beard and requisite tattoos steered us away from a white whiskey for an aperitif, cautioning us that it might be rougher than we’d like and recommended the Belle Meade bourbon, gleefully telling us it was distilled and aged just down the street. We did it all; appetizers, mains, a bottle of wine and desserts. With the tip the meal was in the mid-300s.

Now, I will never pretend to be a food writer, nor will I ever act like I enjoy parting with money. Though I am far from a gourmand, I do enjoy good food and great flavors, but don’t usually go to fancy places….more meals that way. Don’t worry I’m not a bore and certainly appreciate fine dining. I know what fork to pick up first and I have the uncanny ability to act like I belong. But, back in High School French my teacher, speaking in English for once, said that in Paris you can go to a restaurant and pay a lot of money where the waiters will practically give you a back massage to go with your great meal, or you can go around the corner for the same meal as long as you don’t mind the waiter just plopping it down in front of you..

I’ve learned that places that are proud of their food, their love of preparation comes through and that’s enough for me. Janet and I both agree that we could have gotten the same meal around the figurative corner for a far less dent in the pocketbook.

We both had catfish, my daughter had the chicken and we would not hesitate to order these again. By far the best shrimp and grits I had was at a Paula Dean sister restaurant on the road to Tybee Island Georgia. Since then I’ve ordered it at every chance I get and the only one that comes nearly as close is Janet’s concoction……..I know where my bread is buttered, but the Husk shrimp and grits appetizer for me just wasn't the same. For her appetizer, Janet had the steak tartar that seemed adorned with a crown of thorns fashioned from fried potato sticks. Though tasty it wasn’t what I expected. For dessert, my daughter had a peach pie which she fawned over and wouldn’t share and Janet had a Chocolate Beet cake with cream cheese ice cream.

Yes, Husk was a meal experience that I savored, but would hesitate to replicate.

A song about Athena... not the real one and not even the fake one.... but really about Teresa Russell.

Speaking of cheaper food there is a thriving food truck industry in Nashville. Here is a list of members of the NFTA, the Nashville Food Truck Association
NASHVILLE FOOD TRUCK ASSOCIATION Thanks for reading!

YOU CAN’T PARK HERE

KICKING AROUND NASHVILLE

With our day’s course of action set by the compass of the tour company we were ready to tweak our moral compass and go traipsing along historic Broadway in Nashville, affectionately known as the Honky Tonk Highway. The area is in full swing by 10 am and the revelry and music goes on until 3 am. Bar after bar has a band in it, windows and doors open to the outside, blaring music. Find something you like and go in. There are no covers and the bands play for tips. We started our country music crusade in the mid-afternoon so the area was relatively calm, but by evening with the Bachelorette Parties; Nashville is evidently the number one destination for "Hen-Do's"; drunken Frat boys and tourists and the countless bike bars and golf cart tours and lighted Cinderella-like carriage tours, the place is busy! Perhaps a bit too busy for these senior citizens!

PEDAL POWER

ONE OF MANY PEDAL BARS 

ACME FEED AND SEED

The first stop for us after our bus tour was food. We decided to go to Acme Feed and Seed at 101 Broadway right at the Cumberland River’s edge. The building served many purposes over its lengthy history, the last number of decades as a farm supply establishment before closing its doors after 91 years of service. It was reopened in 2014 in this current incarnation by a couple of smart entrepreneurs and this very popular spot boasts three levels of bars. On the first there is also a store where you order your food, take a number and wherever you end up in the building they take it to you. The second is sedate and offers sushi. The third is the rooftop and you get spectacular views of the river, Nissan Stadium where the Tennessee Titans play, the pedestrian bridge that crosses the river and Broadway’s Honky Tonk Highway.

 

JANET AT ACME

At 1 pm it was empty and no music on the stage. But we ordered our food sat at the bar on the first floor and had a couple of drinks. Janet had something with whiskey in it while I had a local beer, Blackstone. I had a hamburger and Janet had a salad with chicken. After finishing our food we walked up to the roof, there is an elevator, to stand in the sweltering sun to admire the views.

 

VIEW FROM ACME ROOFTOP

MAN IN BLACK

Our next stop was the Johnny Cash museum. I am more familiar with Cash’s music than anyone else in the country world and thought this was a nice side trip. I got a AAA discount on the admission price and we meandered a good while through the memorabilia and watched clips of his performances in films and television shows. He’s called the Man in Black because of his outfits. I’ve heard varying stories about how he was poor when he started and the only shirt he had that matched his band’s shirts was black, that black was easier to keep clean while touring, that Manuel the tailor in Nashville sent him all black clothing once saying he always considered Cash looked best wearing black…whatever. The museum was a nice diversion before moving on to the bars on Broadway.

TOOTSIE’S ORCHID LOUNGE

The tour guide gave us some story as to why the building is purple and that the back door to the place empties into an alley directly across from the stage door at the Ryman Auditorium, the home for the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. The story had something to do with getting out of the Ryman for a quick drink, etc. at Tootsie’s. Not sure about the purple part though.

 

THE STAGE AT TOOTSIE'S

The crowd at the door was a bit too crowded and the bouncer said we couldn’t stay in the door way like that, but invited us to go up the side entrance to the other floors. The band on the first floor played in a little wedge of a stage, with the drummer tucked into the window. There were three guitarists and a violinist and another woman standing and singing from the bar. Yeah, we liked who we heard but we couldn’t stand there and couldn’t get in, the place was that crowded at 2 pm on a Tuesday afternoon. So, we took the side door steps, but we heard nothing we liked compared to the “main” stage at the front. The topmost floor led to an open rooftop area that was inviting but the music did not keep us. We discovered though a way of descending to the back stage on the first floor where there was another group playing and we were able to get into the back area of the main floor via a stile configuration of steps. There we got a great look at the bar and all the photos and memorabilia adorning the walls, protected by plastic. The band was kicking up a storm and whipping the crowd up and soon somehow got some seats at the last table in the back. Whatever raw jokes I’ve made about country music in the past; like, you get EVERYTHING BACK if you play country music backwards (your house, your wife, your dog, etc.); it’s absolutely great heard live, especially with a band that was so infectious and talented and funny. I have no idea what their name was, or who was the front man, but we could have remained there all day and night until 3 am. Every once in a while a waitress breezed by and got us beers, but we didn’t have to order anything. The band too worked the room a few times with a tip jar, but we could have gotten away with a handshake. Don’t worry we’re not THAT cheap, we tipped the band and drank a couple of honest American beers for $7.00 apiece. Janet had Bud Lite Lime and I had PBR.

Only once did the band that day play original music, and he prefaced his song by saying that this was some country artist's song... except he hadn’t recorded it yet. The rest were covers.

Tootstie’s Orchid Lounge is the premier spot to play on the Honky Tonk Highway. Patsy Cline, Charlie Pride and Loretta Lynn among many others played there. Willie Nelson would stop by between sets at the Grand Ole Opry next door. Sometime Nashville resident Kid Rock has hung out there. Tootsie’s has the name and to land a gig there can be the hopeful launch of a career.

 

THE WELL WORN
STAGE AT TOOTSIE'S

When the Grand Ole Opry moved from the Ryman to its present venue outside of town the tourists followed and lower Broadway went into a steep decline. Prostitution, peep shows and crime were rampant, but with the new owners of the now 55 year old establishment leading the way to a revitalization of lower Broadway during the past 20 years the area has changed to a destination where 90% of tourists will visit when they come to Nashville.

TOOTSIE'S ORCHID LOUNGE

NUDIES

After the band ended their gig we didn’t want our adventurous afternoon to end so we found another place. We liked the music blaring out of Nudie’s Honky Tonk. Touted as the longest bar on Broadway, it has three levels and the walls are adorned with outfits worn by people like John Wayne, Gene Autry and Johnny Cash, as well as a 1975 Cadillac El Dorado convertible compleat with long horn steer horns on the front grill hanging on the wall above the stage. I guess you can park here...

Despite the name the bartenders were all fully clothed. It was much emptier on this Tuesday afternoon than Tootsie’s but I’m sure this place fills up with the evening. We got a couple of seats near the front of the bar and had some whiskey drinks and listened to the band play its final couple of songs before their set ended and then we moved on to our third stop of the day.

 

PARKING AT NUDIE'S

SOULSHINE PIZZA FACTORY

Janet had read that on Tuesdays a Blue Grass Band plays at this open airy place a few miles from Broadway and near Music Row, where all the Nashville recording studios are located. This small chain with 5 places located in Tennessee and Mississippi was inviting and we hurried to make the 7:15 start of the show. Sadly, though the food was good, I had a Carnivore pizza and the drinks were very well priced, the hipster version of Blue Grass, two guys playing a banjo and a mandolin and two girls playing fiddle and an upright bass, played all new material in their first set that was NOT the toe-tapping stuff that Janet was hoping to hear. They had promised in their second set to play more traditional blue grass, but we did not linger.

SOULSHINE PIZZA FACTORY

Our Lyft driver back home was impressed that these two old geezers had even ventured out to this area of town. The Division Street area is filled with a lot of hip new bars and restaurants, but we had had enough revelry for our first full day in Nashville.

Nashville is growing. My daughter’s area of Germantown and even our area along Clifton Avenue have lots of new construction. Some ridiculous number was tossed around that something like 65 people move to Nashville EVERY DAY. Our area was once a dangerous place to visit according to the driver, but I’ll bet that when we eventually return to revisit my daughter, that will have changed completely.

HONKY TONK HIGHWAY

Singing its praises

Janet has convinced me to go on little tours whenever we get to a new place, just to get the lay of the land. Sometimes they’re hokey and not very informative other times they are just a lot of fun. Charleston’s carriage ride has us joking with the driver and asking him about the best dive bars in that historic town. San Antonio’s carriage had us wincing a bit at the lack of details. The driver a self-proclaimed Jewish Cowboy from NYC would inform us that the bridge we were riding over was made of metal. The Duck boat ride in Liverpool was eye rolling and hilarious and it took us through areas of the city we would not have seen. The tour bus we took around York was a great way to see the city, especially because it was raining and we had a young child with us.

Here in Nashville we had only a vague idea of what was to be found in the Music City.  Yes, it’s the country music capitol, but we really knew nothing about where things were or even the historical aspects of this city. So we went on an Old Town Trolley Tour bus to get our bearings. My daughter was working so we were on our own.

 

TOOTSIE'S ORCHID LOUNGE

We took a Lyft into town because we figured we’d be lingering and drinking and hooting and hollering on the Honky Tonk Highway afterwards. That’s what the four block stretch of lower Broadway is called in Nashville. Starting at the river, Broadway is lined on both sides with bars offering live music all day. Best of all it’s all free. From 10 am until 3 am aspiring and established musicians get up on these little stages and play their hearts out for the contents of a tip jar. When he arrived at the Old Town Trolley Stop on a Tuesday morning the Honky Tonk Highway was already in full swing.

THE HONKY TONK HIGHWAY

But before we could go carousing along Broadway we had to take our tour, which is a good thing because we have to learn to pace ourselves. At first the tour bus chugged us through this historic downtown area, the guide pointing out different establishments like the George Jones museum, the Johnny Cash museum, Ryman Hall, and Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. It weaved back and forth along the streets clogged with traffic and construction equipment. Every time he would mention a place or a performer he would launch a little sound bite video on screens at the front of the bus. He cracked some really great bad jokes which had Janet waving a menacing finger at me lest I’d remember them for a future faux pas.

CENTENNIAL PARK NASHVILLE

But for every wise crack or song snippet he played he graced us with a sight or factoid that was fascinating and heretofore unknown. He drove us out of the downtown area through a serene Bicentennial Park (near my daughter’s place) past the capitol building and the Marathon Motor Works and told us of the history of this car company that was eventually bankrupted from competition with Henry Ford. He told us about the impact trains had throughout the history of Nashville and about the horrific train crash that occurred near here that remains the worst in U.S. history. He told us all about the humorist Minnie Pearl and drove us out to the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center (Minnie Pearl’s real name), which was remarkably near our Airbnb home, and then past the replica of the Parthenon in Athens which had been erected for the 1896 Centennial celebration. We made a mental to return to this nearby park for some strolling.

 

MINNIE PEARL

The best part of the tour was Music Row. Of course, here in the country music capitol there has to be recording studios. Well, even though it made sense; you have to record somewhere; we had no idea such an area dedicated exclusively to the music industry existed. The tour bus made a turn just past Vanderbilt University and soon entered Music Row, a long stretch of sedate looking homes that were actually recording studios. There is a historical preservation movement that owners cannot alter the outside of their buildings. Given the booming growth of Nashville this preservation movement is a necessity.

SAVING MUSIC ROW

We drove past RCA’s Studio B that has is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Erected in 1956 Studio B has had Elvis Presely Rob Oribson, the Everly Brothers, Bobby Goldsboro and Dolly Parton as a few of its many patrons.

The tour guide kept giving us tips about what where to go afterwards if we were so inclined and whether or not it would be free or for a cost. For instance he’d point out a studio that one could walk in for a quick free tour, whether they were working or not, or a visit to the Parthenon would cost a few dollars, or the rare Marathon cars you can visit for free, or the Belmont Mansion that you can just visit by walking up and knocking on the front door, or the famous tailor to the stars, Manuel, who gave Johnny Cash his distinctive Man in Black look, is still working and his shop is still open for sightseers and Elvis impersonators wanting to gussy up their inner hound dog.

MANUEL

So far I have to agree with my daughter about Nashville, that it is a friendly, reasonable and easy city.

I’m glad we’re here.