Sunday, December 11, 2016

Nashville Music City Trip

I enjoy being a tourist in a completely new city. 2016 marked a few new cities for me: Austin, Atlanta (dragoncon), and Nashville. Below are some highlights from my Nashville trip.


Places


  • Johnny Cash Museum
  • Frist Art Center (Gallery fashioned from a gorgeous deco post office)
  • Parthenon (Greek architecture in Nashville. gallery inside and fantastic park outside)

Music

Local radio Stations
I listened to some FM radio while in my hotel and wanted to save them here for reference. Thanks to the internet you can listen to them outside Nashville too.



Legendary Johnny Cash
I listened to many Johnny Cash songs and covers of Cash songs at listening stations inside the Johnny Cash museum. I liked how the museum organized the songs by decade and also provided a viewing theater for live shows. The "covers" listening station was really fun to explore. I've linked to a few memorable ones. Did you know Snoop Dogg (walk the line), Ray Charles (ring of fire), Norah Jones (cry cry cry) all sang songs by Cash? They can probably create an entire box set (ahem I mean digital album) out of artists who covered different Cash songs. Amazing stuff.



Rob and Trey Bluegrass
When I was exploring live music options (there are tons daily and even in the mornings around the downtown Broadway area), I decided to skip the large venues for smaller stages. Station Inn was known for bluegrass and seemed like a cozy space, so I decided to look up the scheduled acts. Rob and Trey (official site) Pride and Joy on youtube sounded good so I went to the show. If you have never heard of a dobro before, give them a listen and you'll be amazed. After the show I did some more research on their upcoming tour dates and found out about a bluegrass festival in Seattle (of all places?)

Vanderbilt Blair Music School
Check their events calendar for concerts. I heard a group of talented high school musicians play recitals here. The campus is also quite scenic so I took several leisure strolls.

Ragnar Kjartansson Performance Art
Somehow I must have missed "Visitors" exhibits at MoMa a few years back. No matter, I got a close look at it in the Frist center. The concept seems simple: take a bunch of musicians who are linked up by microphone/headset and separate them into diff rooms inside an old dilapidated upstate NY Astor mansion. let them jam and sing their hearts out. As you walk through the exhibit area, you will see each wall which shows what's going on with the artist in that room, you will hear the instrument in more focus. Featured instruments include guitars, accordion, pianos, banjo, cello, drum set, etc. I didn't see the entire 64minutes but did manage to catch the end and beginning and most of the first part.  

Food
I did not manage to stuff my face with BBQ but I thought the two places did live up to the hype and reviews:

  • Hattie B's Hot Chicken http://shop.hattieb.com/
  • Flying Saucer (site) cozy bar / food joint featuring many many plates covering ceilings and walls (hence saucers). You are bound to find a beer you like on their list. It's next to Union Station Hotel and Frist Art Center so a good spot after some art and architecture.


Next Place

  • Grand Ole Opry
  • Ryman Auditorium
  • Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum (and xmas lights if I'm around Dec)
  • Visit Belmont University (also has a nice music school)
  • Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
  • more food exploration around The Gulch
  • more music!

2 comments:

T-Bone said...

Sounds like you really did a lot of walking in Nashville! Or did you rent a car for part of the time?

st2128 said...

Thanks Cat for sharing links to radio stations and bands. I will check them out.