As I've learned, you can tell a lot about a culture by their machines -- vending or otherwise. In Dubai, I saw my first Gold Bar ATM (yes, it's an ATM that spits out gold bars). Here in Nashville (aka Music City, USA), there are music machines on the sidewalk street corners. No, not juke boxes, but actually machines with speakers that play music (!!). It's amazing; it's like being in your own personal music video as you walk down the street.
We head to Broadway, heeding the hotel receptionist's words: "There's music always playin' here in Nashville." It's broad daylight and we hear live music streaming from all the bars (or "honky tonks" as they're called here). We head to Bluegrass Inn, have a few Bud Lights, and patriotically sing along to "Ain't that America." Most of the patrons have cowboy hats and cowboy boots on. And the weird thing is: we don't feel a bit out of place at all.
It's said that 6000 people move to Nashville every year to try to make it in country music. Many make their start at Tootsie's, and we head there to see two bands play (with one singer performing literally on top of the bar). One thing I love is all the live stringed instruments, from fiddle to mandolin to banjos to basses. The bands always ask for requests, and we stumble upon our new favorite band hearing the song that Tyler requested earlier in the night: "If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band."
We learn new songs (like Wagon Wheel), and I discover that Tyler knows a whole lot more country songs than he ever let on in India. We music-hop to six honky tonks, culminating in a giant dance party at The Stage, curtesy of Savannah Jack, whose praises I've already sung. We walk back to our hotel, still singing...
Strolling down Broadway:
At the world-famous (or so we're told) Tootsie's:
Awesome Johnny Cash covers by the bassist...
Savannah Jack, with our favorite fiddler ("and the crowd goes wild!!")...
And in case there were any misgivings about missing Memphis and Graceland...
We head to Broadway, heeding the hotel receptionist's words: "There's music always playin' here in Nashville." It's broad daylight and we hear live music streaming from all the bars (or "honky tonks" as they're called here). We head to Bluegrass Inn, have a few Bud Lights, and patriotically sing along to "Ain't that America." Most of the patrons have cowboy hats and cowboy boots on. And the weird thing is: we don't feel a bit out of place at all.
It's said that 6000 people move to Nashville every year to try to make it in country music. Many make their start at Tootsie's, and we head there to see two bands play (with one singer performing literally on top of the bar). One thing I love is all the live stringed instruments, from fiddle to mandolin to banjos to basses. The bands always ask for requests, and we stumble upon our new favorite band hearing the song that Tyler requested earlier in the night: "If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band."
We learn new songs (like Wagon Wheel), and I discover that Tyler knows a whole lot more country songs than he ever let on in India. We music-hop to six honky tonks, culminating in a giant dance party at The Stage, curtesy of Savannah Jack, whose praises I've already sung. We walk back to our hotel, still singing...
Strolling down Broadway:
At the world-famous (or so we're told) Tootsie's:
Awesome Johnny Cash covers by the bassist...
Savannah Jack, with our favorite fiddler ("and the crowd goes wild!!")...
And in case there were any misgivings about missing Memphis and Graceland...
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