Music City
Alison and I very intentionally did not make plans for Labor Day weekend this year. We expected that we would be moving (or very close to it) and would be busy preparing. Unfortunately, that is not our reality. We are getting close to moving into our new home, but we are not as close as we thought we would be. We realized a few weeks ago that we weren’t going to be moving in September. It was disheartening. We did what we usually do when life is getting us down. We planned a trip.
Actually, I planned three trips. The night we decided to take a Labor Day trip Alison went to a work dinner. I was home looking at options. I cast a wide net. By the time Alison came home I pitched her three ideas - Houston, Kansas City, and Nashville. All three checked a lot of boxes for us, and Alison chose Nashville. We booked it that night.
We left on Friday night after work. It is month-end which makes traveling a little more complex. I had work left to do when we headed to the airport, fortunately, most Delta flights now have free fast internet so I was able to work on the flight and I wrapped up a few final tasks once we arrived at the hotel. The great thing about working remotely is that I can work from almost anywhere these days.
Our first stop on Saturday was the Country Music Hall of Fame. We spent a couple hours wandering through exhibits celebrating the present and past of Country Music. We were surprised by the number of displays celebrating contemporary artists and music. Our favorite room was the Hall of Fame rotunda. We strolled around the rotunda stopping to read the plaques of some of our favorite country music stars.
After the hall, we stopped by the Hatch Show Print store. Hatch Show Print is a letterpress print shop that was founded in 1879. We would see their work all over Nashville. They have a vintage Americana style that Alison loves.
Our next activity took us outside of downtown Nashville to Opryland. We went on a backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry. We had tickets to the Opry show in the evening so we booked the last tour of the day at 3 p.m. and planned to hang out around the Opry until after the show.
The backstage tour was amazing. We loved learning about the history of the Opry and the iconic performers who bring this place to life. It was interesting to see the dressing rooms and backstage areas where the performers prepare and it was a cool experience to walk out on the stage and stand where many legendary performers have stood as they sang their signature songs.
After the tour we were hungry so we grabbed dinner at Mission BBQ. It is a pretty good barbecue place.
Then we headed back to the Opry Plaza. Since it was a summer Saturday night there was a free concert in the plaza. Tonight Patrick Murphy was performing. His most recent claim to fame was a writing credit on Tim McGraw’s hit single “Standing Room Only”. Patrick was great. He played a bunch of covers and a few original songs. We were entertained.
As soon as Patrick wrapped up his set we headed into the Opry for the Saturday night show. They proudly told us a few times they are the longest continually running radio show in America - celebrating 98 years next month. They had an excellent lineup for us tonight with a lot of bluegrass and fiddle.
Here is the lineup:
Dailey & Vincent
Sweethearts of the Rodeo
Keith & Kristyn Getty
Grand Master Fiddle Champions
John Conlee
Jessica Willis Fisher
Connie Smith
John Oates
Don Schlitz
The show was excellent. It was a good mix of music, mostly country, but many different styles. We liked all of the performances and loved quite a few. There were a few moments that particularly stood out.
The Sweethearts of the Rodeo shared a special moment with us when they invited their daughter/niece Jenny Gill out onto the stage to sing “Jenny Dreamed of Trains”, which is a song Jenny’s father Vince wrote about her when she was still a little girl.
Keith & Kristyn Getty are a musical duo from Northern Ireland. They play primarily hymns and religious music. They graced us with two spirited versions of American hymns with an Irish twist. Their version of “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus” was spirited and awesome. They also had some nice Irish step dancing to go with their final song. My sister would have loved it.
Alison and I were excited to see John Conlee because he is one of Blake’s favorites. And he did not disappoint he sang three songs and, oh boy, can he sing. What I found most impressive about John Conlee was the way he waltzed out grabbed a microphone like he just walked in and with no preparation or anything and gave an excellent performance. You could see his poise in the ease with which he performed because he had done it thousands of times before.
John Oates is in the Rock and Roll hall of fame. He is an unbelievable performer in his own right and he brought out James Burton to play guitar with him. John Oates was in awe that he got to perform tonight with one of the greatest country and rock guitarists of all time. James played guitar with many of the greatest musicians ever, including Elvis. John Oates played mostly Elvis covers and took time to give James the spotlight. It was remarkable. John Oates with giddy as a schoolboy by the end of it all.
After all of these amazing moments (and many more) Don Schlitz stole the show. He started his set by reading these words:
“I like mine with lettuce and tomato
Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes
Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer.”
Then he pointed to the sky and told us all he hoped Jimmy Buffett was enjoying his cheeseburger in paradise tonight. It was a touching tribute from one songwriter to another. Don Schlitz was not the most talented singer we saw that night, but he had one of the most storied careers - he wrote big hits for big stars. His first and arguably most famous is “The Gambler”. Don Schlitz knew he wasn’t the most talented - he even told us that the best advice a mentor gave him was that he better introduce every song he sings at the Opry with “I wrote this”, or else the crowd might think they stumbled into a bad karaoke bar. He was a consummate showman as he led the crowd of ~4,000 in a sing-along to a few of the songs he wrote: “Forty Hour Week (For a Livin’), “When You Say Nothing At All”, and of course, “The Gambler”. That wrapped a very wonderful evening indeed.
We headed back to downtown Nashville. We walked over to Broadway. It was probably around 10:30 p.m. or 11, so peak time on Broadway. The honky tonks and bars were filled to bursting and spilled out into the street. We didn’t have it in us to fight the crowds at that point so we retreated back to our hotel. There was a bar with live music so we found a seat and enjoyed the performance late into the evening.
We slept right through breakfast on our second day in Nashville. Alison woke up right as I was heading out the door. She texted me wondering if I was going to eat some breakfast. When I told her I was actually getting coffee she texted me back, “You’re doing heroes work.”
By the time we were up, we were famished. We decided to try Hattie B’s Hot Chicken. It is a popular Nashville place. There was a line, but I really wanted to try it so we waited. It took about 30 minutes, but I got my hot chicken along with some bacon and cheddar grits and potato salad. It was good eating, even if by the end I felt like I was ready to breathe fire.
One of the top things on the list of things Alison and I wanted to do in Nashville was visit Parnassus Books. Parnassus Books is an independent bookstore that is owned by one of our favorite authors - Ann Patchett. We have wanted to visit ever since we read her collection of essays, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. What was even better is that Parnassus Books was just up the street from our evening activity. We couldn’t have planned it better if we tried.
We spent the entire afternoon at Parnassus. Alison quickly found a book (The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store) and a chair to sit and read. While she was reading I browsed the shelves. I found a children's book to buy (Alison and I have collected children’s books from around the world and the country). I then began scouring the store for the perfect books to bring home as presents for Anna and Skylee. It took me some time, but I found one for each of them. I don’t particularly like reading books in bookstores. I don’t want to commit to a book that I may or may not finish. Luckily for me, I found two short books by Ann Patchett I was able to start and finish both while Alison was reading - What Now? and The Shop Dogs of Parnassus. Both were excellent and both came home with us. I don’t know if I have ever bought so many books at one time from a bookstore as we bought at Parnassus. We had quite a haul.
We had a little time between Parnassus and our next activity, but lucky for us some of Alison’s favorite stores - Pottery Barn, William Sonoma, and West Elm were nearby. We have spent a good amount of time the past few months browsing these stores and we visit them every chance we get. It helps give us good ideas about the design and style we want in our new home. I have found that it has been very helpful to spend time thinking about our home because often it takes time for ideas to crystalize. Devoting time to shopping, whether we buy anything or not creates space to dream and think, which leads to inspiration. We found some good inspiration today.
When we were done browsing we walked to the nearby Bluebird Cafe. We had reservations for the Sunday night artist spotlight. The Bluebird Cafe is a really cool venue. It is a small, intimate space in a strip mall out on the edge of Nashville. For 40+ years it has been one of the preeminent songwriter performance spaces in Nashville. Tonight Karli & James performed. They are an up-and-coming country duo. We really enjoyed their music. They have a contemporary country sound. A lot of their music is autobiographical and I appreciated their writing style.
Here is their setlist:
"The Wines Gone To My Head"
"Tullahoma"
"Dear Home Town"
"Just a Word"
"Someday Dreaming"
"Count Me In"
"Love You Like a Lover"
"If I’m Being Honest"
"Mercy"
"Riding the Memories"
"I Need Neon"
After the show, we got to meet them briefly and thank them for the performance. We loved the Bluebird Cafe.
There we headed back to the hotel. We got a nightcap and watched the Yankees-Astros game before calling it a night.
We had a slow morning on Monday. There was nothing else we really wanted to do in Nashville and we had a midday flight so we arranged for a late checkout. That way we could chill and watch the US Open. We did venture out for some Jeni’s Ice Cream (very good, but Salt & Straw is still our favorite).
We loved our weekend in Music City and will hopefully make it back here again soon.
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