787. Grand Ole Opry

Where: Nashville, Tennessee
When: December 31, 2015 - January 3, 2016
With: Dave

As a northeasterner, me + country music = not a pair. But, I am never one to turn down a new experience. Going to school in Florida gave me a small taste into the country music scene (by way of line dancing, which played right to my dancer's heart), and while I have very tiny playlist of country music resulting from that time, I still wouldn't call myself a fan of country.

However, Dave and I intrepidly decided to drive from Michigan to Florida for Christmas one year, and as a New Year's Eve stop-off in the middle of our drive back, we decided to saddle up our cowboy boots and spend a few days in Nashville.

Nashville has earned the nickname "Music City, USA". While it's definitely the mecca for country music, the love this city has for music in general was apparent as soon as we arrived. The main drag in Nashville is Broadway, a tourist central lined with honky-tonk bars all boasting Nashville's best live music and drink specials. As we walked along the drag, every bar had a musician playing. Every. One. One guy was actually sitting with his guitar up behind the bar among the bottles of booze.

We got there on New Year's Eve and had decided to ring in the New Year at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. While a bit of a tourist hub, the history is abundant and apparent. It is a classic "honky-tonk", a bar offering live country music, and it has sat on the main strip for the last 57 years. It is said that Willie Nelson was signed after performing here.

 For New Year's, Tootsie's sells seats in front of one of its three stages spanning the multiple floors of the establishment. The purple interior was filled with white and purple balloons, and a long buffet of southern cooking lined the front for dinner. It was so cool (and delicious)!

After dinner was served, live music took the stage. They did covers of mostly country songs, but it didn't matter, we thoroughly enjoyed ringing in the new year like this.

And with lots of balloons. Did I mention balloons?

At one point, we ventured up to the roof to look down on Broadway and the New Year's celebrations below. The streets were packed and a stage sat at the end with more live music. 

The next morning, we got up early to take a walk around the city. It was typical New Year's Day-empty, so it was a great time to explore. As the capital of Tennessee, there's a lot of government buildings and statues, and also some very pretty monuments. 

And like most cities, it sits on the banks of a river, this one being the Cumberland. 

After a day of exploring the city and eating some killer southern food, we got back to the music. This evening would be at a bar called The Station Inn, a little futher from the strip in another neighborhood of Nashville. Known for its bluegrass music, it was first come first serve at long plastic tables that felt more like a local community center than a hopping night club. 

They brought out a few different acts, all focused in bluegrass and it was amazing. First was a troup of kids that were amazing. They were old souls in pre-teen bodies, both in skill and poise on stage. And I loved their songs. I could have watched them perform all night.

After the kids, it was time for the Station Inn band to take the stage. These guys have been jamming together for years, and were incredible showmen and musicians. It was a blast. And one guy in particular who had so much personality stood out, and little did we know, it wouldn't be the last we saw of him. 

The next day, we decided to head to the mecca of country music by visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame. Located in a massive complex in downtown Nashville, this would be the best place to learn a bit more about this genre of music that was growing on me more and more with each bar we visited. 

Inside the grand entrance hall. 

Lining the staircase through the museum are thousands of gold and platinum records of country music artists.

In a prelude to my trip to Graceland, some of the memorabilia in the museum included Elvis' car and his golden piano. 

There was a ton of memorabilia dedicated to the all the greats, some I knew, some I didn't. This included guitars, costumes, albums, and everything in between. These guys, I clearly know. 

A plaque for every entry into the Hall of Fame.

There were also some great descriptions on the history of country music, including this mural showing the various influences that made country music what it is. 

After the museum, it was time to go actually listen to more country music. First, we headed back to Broadway, where several of the bars lining the street had live music just pouring out of them. 

We picked a few different bars to hop through and saw some amazingly talented people perform and sing. The only part that was awkward is that they are constantly passing around a bucket for tips. The first time the bucket passed, we put money in, but then felt awkward when the bucket passed us six more times within the hour and we were out of small bills. So heads up, lots of singles for Nashville. 

Finally, the coup de grace of live music in Nashville, and the title of this post, was attending a performance of the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. Founded in 1925, this show started as a live radio broadcast featuring all kinds of styles of country music and different performers, kind of like a country music variety show. Now, becoming a member of the Opry is the biggest achievement possible in the country music world. 

In 1943, it moved to the Ryman Auditorium, an old tabernacle turned performance hall, but as it grew in popularity, a larger facility was developed outside of Nashville to hold shows for the majority of the year. However, we were lucky enough to get tickets when it was back in the Ryman, the ultimate way to see this show. 

The inside of the Ryman looks like a big theater, but with pointed, stained glass windows and high ceilings that made us feel like we were in a church more than at a country music show. Some say that's what makes the Ryman so special. 

Not sure what to expect but excited to experience it.

The show was absolutely amazing. It is still operating as a radio show and feels like stepping back into the 1940s, when radio was America's TV. There was an MC hosting and there were breaks for advertisements read out loud old-school-style. There were a variety of performers that came out for only a song or two each. Each one seemed to cover a different genre of country music. When it changed up so much, even a non-country fan could appreciate the talent.

To break up the acts, there were dancers that came out and square danced with tons of energy. While we were watching the dancers, we recognized a particularly charismatic guy to be the same performer from the Station Inn the night before. Clearly hard working and super talented!

These three ladies are The Whites who sang the song "Keep On the Sunny Side" from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Couldn't believe I recognized one of the performers!

As we got to the end of the listed acts, we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Then we got a serious treat as they announced a surprise guest who happened to be in town and wanted to stop in and say hi. Then Brad Paisley came on stage. And remember that tiny playlist of country music I said I had? Well he's on it, so I was super excited. This guy I know! 

Brad Paisley, doing what he does best.

This was such a fun show, so much so that we try to make a point to remember now to tune in on a Saturday night. We had such a blast in Nashville. Even the most stark northeasterner can find their toes tapping to country music here. I even bought cowboy boots! So much fun!