Nashville day 5

The last day in Nashville was mixed with both sad and fun things. In the day we went to see the house where Johnny and June Carter Cash lived as a family, however the house burned down a couple of years ago when the buyer Barry Gibb, former member of the Bee Gees, was renovating it. All that remains of it now are the ruins and a house across the street that Johnny bought for his parents. The area was quite posh with big and beautiful houses. Keeping up with the Johnny Cash theme we visited his and June's grave at a cemetery nearby. We also saw the graves of their parents as well as Johnny's lead guitarist.

 

In the evening we went out on Broadway for some live music and drinks, starting of at B.B. King's. We had a great time almost wishing we could stay longer in this truly inspiring city.

 

Nashville day 4

Day 4 in Nashville was first spent visiting the legendary Bluebird café where many artists (mostly country) started their career and got their big break. There are songwriting sessions here most nights and you need to reserve a table at least a week in advance if you want to go there and witness some music making. Wish we would have known this before so we could have gone. Oh well, another time perhaps. 

In the evening we had bought tickets to see the Grand Ole Opry which is a music show that is also a live radio show. I wrote about this in my last post so I won't go into detail about it again. The show consists of 8 music acts, both old an new artists, and is hosted by the comedian and character Minnie Pearl. It lasts about 2 and a half hours and we both enjoyed most of the songs. There was also a little boy in a giant cowboy hat in the audience close to the stage that celebrated his birthday. One of the musicians on stage made everyone sing happy birthday to him and I'm sure he won't forget his 4th birthday anytime soon.

Nashville, day 3

On the third day in Nashville we started off with a late breakfast at Arnold's country kitchen. This place is like a cafeteria where you line up along a counter and tell the person behind it what sides you want with your meat. Meat-and-three is a common concept here in the south where you basically pick three sides and one type of meat. The sides are often green beans (with lots of flavor), mashed potatoes (super creamy and delicious), Mac and cheese (which I find a bit weird as a side dish for adults), cornbread, and other vegetables. The meat at Arnold's was amazing! The guy carved right in front of you. You could choose between roast beef or ham, and chicken dumplings. I went for the roast beef with gravy along with mashed potatoes, green beans and a piece of corn bread. I also had a very nice chocolate cake for dessert. This meal was a welcomed change from fast food and BBQ (even though the BBQ is pretty awesome) since this tasted like whole hearted home cooked food. I still dream about this meal! And so does everyone else it seems as this place is busy from opening to closing.

The rest of the day was spent taking a tour inside the Ryman auditorium, which was where all the big artists (Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Elvis Presley etc.) first started to perform. It was a very big platform for both old and new acts back in the day and the woman who managed the place made sure the shows always sold out. All the performances in the Ryman were also recorded live on a radio show called the Grand Ole Opry. Because of increased popularity of the Ryman shows they had to move to a bigger building that is now called the Grand Ole Opry and the radio show is still recorded live from there. We actually went to see this show one night but I'll blog about that later. The Ryman stood empty for about a decade until it was finally renovated in 1989 and could be used for performances again. We got to see pictures from the renovation process and what was the most fascinating was the amount of chewing gum that was stuck underneath the old benches. I 'm sure most middle aged people can relate to this somehow - was there a bubble gum craze when they where young? At the Ryman auditorium we got to go backstage and see the rooms where, for example, Johnny Cash would be hanging out before shows. This place was also used to film the Johnny Cash show. We were also told about a character called Minnie Pearl here. She was a comedian who basically hosted the shows, and, even years after the woman who created her died, still lives on as a character played by another woman.

After seeing the Ryman we drove to Music row where all the big labels and recording studios are. Studio B is here, as I told you about in the earlier blog post, as well as Sony records and other labels. Taylor Swift started off recording in one of these studios too. On this street they also have speakers in the street corners that play music. Pretty cool. 

From music row we went on to take a look at the Parthenon which is an exact replica of the original Greek temple that can be found in Athens. Nashville is apparently called "The Athens of the south" (don't ask me why). Inside this huge building is an art museum and a massive statue of the Greek goddess Athena Parthenos. Unfortunately, the museum was closed when we were there so we didn't get to see her.