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Nashville Tennesee, Music City USA
Last post 06-08-2007 5:35 PM by Mike Leco. 0 replies.
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06-08-2007 5:35 PM
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Mike Leco
  - Joined on 06-06-2007
- Posts 489
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Nashville Tennesee, Music City USA
This was originally posted to our old Forum:
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Mike Leco
USATourist Administrator
Joined: 14 Jun 2004
Posts: 101
Location: Pittsburgh Pennsylvania USA
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 Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2004 8:55 am Post subject: Nashville Tennesee, Music City USA |
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Music City is quite a unique place... Less than 60 minutes after I arrived in Nashville, I was offered an opporunity to play in a country western band!
It was Sunday morning, and I drove from the airport to downtown Nashville. The sun was shining, so I decided to get some good photos of Music City for the USATourist.com web pages. Downtown was deserted except for a few early rising tourists and the cowboys with guitars headed for their afternoon jobs at the honky tonk saloons. I followed one fellow dressed all in black with a ten-gallon hat and black snakeskin boots. He was lugging a guitar case and several big amplifiers. He stopped at one of the saloons and began banging on the door with little success. I told him that he must have arrived too early. He immediatly began complaining to me about his problems. His drummer was stranded in Ohio, and he was scheduled to begin playing at noon. He needed a drummer to fill in and had less than an hour to find one. He asked me if I could play the drums. I confessed that I could not carry a tune in a bucket, and passed up my chance to become a country wetern star. Only in Nashville!!
Most visitors to Nashville go to see a performance of the Grand Ole Opry at the new theater outside of town. They usually visit the original home of the Opry at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown, and they go to the Crazy Horse Saloon to see the county western dancing. Those are the favorite tourist haunts. I prefer the honky tonk saloons. They are the real heart and soul of Music City.
There are about a half dozen honky tonks along Broadway in downtown Nashville. Tootsie's Orchid Lounge is one of the oldest and most authentic of the bunch. The walls in Tootsie's are covered with faded yellowed photos of many country music stars. Every accessible inch of wall space, woodwork or decor is coverd with graphitti. The band is on a stage right beside the front entrance. You practically elbow your way through the performers to get into the bar. It holds about 100 customers. On Sunday night, there were about 300 jammed in. A second band played in the back room.
The music was loud. It was a mix of country, rock and everything else. The crowd swayed with the music and shouted encouragement to the band. For a few songs, the cute waitresses jumped up on the tiny bar and danced to the music. Several female customers joined them. The intensity of the music pervaded the entire room. The band responded to the crowd, and put their heart and soul into their performance. This is what Nashville is all about.
The band in Tootsie's front room are hoping to get a recording contract so they can play at the Grand Ole Opry. The band in Tootsie's back room are hoping they can someday play in the front room. They guys playing guitars for tips on the sidewalks along Broadway are just hoping to play in the back room of Tootsie's. Nashville certainly is Music City.
We had dinner at the Boundary Restaurant in the University district. What a unique experience. An old mansion complete with frescoed walls and a great atmosphere, serving a fascinating variety of dishes that can best be described as eclectic fusion. Hundreds of beers and an immense selection of wines were available to accompany our meals. | |
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