Rainbows in Waterfalls

Things we did in Nashville

Here are a few of the things we did in Nashville:

1. The Bluebird Café http://www.bluebirdcafe.com/–

We had a great time! We went on Sunday which is song-writers night. They have two shows but once you are inside you can stay for both. Only song writers perform and they only perform material they have written themselves. The first show was a writer named Brad Cole http://www.bradcolemusic.com/. He put on a great show. The next show was probably 10 to 12 different writers performing about three songs each. They were all really good! The Bluebird hosts great song writers famous and not-so famous. Judging from my one-time experience, I would think you would get a great show any night of the week. If I ever go back to Nashville – this will definitely be on my to-do list.

2. Ryman Auditorium tour http://www.ryman.com/ – The Ryman is called the Mother Church of Country Music. It is part music hall and part museum. It claims to have the 2^nd best acoustics in the world. It was built in 1892 as a great tabernacle by a businessman/steamboat captain for Rev. Sam Jones. Through the years it has been used for church, political rallies, community events and lots different kinds of entertainment. It served as the home of the Grand Ole Opry for 31 years. The tour was great; the venue is amazing. Name a band, singer or songwriter and I bet they’ve been on the Ryman stage. Oh, I’ve been on there too. When you take the tour, there is a little roped off area that is actually part of the stage. I sang, “la la la la al” just so I could say I sang on stage at the Ryman. I’m so glad I did this. Jackson Browne and Sara Watkins were playing the Ryman while we were there but we had to attend another event that night. Jackson Browne is one of my absolute favorites – I was soooo sad to miss him.

^{Picture: This is the Pedal Tavern.  There is music, a bartender and a driver.  The guests sit on the outside and pedal while they drink.  In these two pictures they are stopped at a stop light.  When the light turned green, the driver shouted, “pedal – let’s go – pedal” (you can see him in the second picture serving up some brew as they waited at the light).}

3. Walking around downtown – especially 2^nd Avenue & Broadway. I really wish the boys had been with us. I think they would have loved just walking down the street and hearing live music pouring out of every open doorway.

4. The Country Music Hall of Fame – If I were a country music fan, I’m sure I would have gotten more out of this. It was very well done. The building itself is fascinating. It looks like piano keys and from the air it supposed to look like a bass clef. There is a huge new building being built next door which is supposed to look like a guitar from the air.

5. Hatch Show Prints – This letterpress poster shop has been around since 1879! Their walls are covered with shelves and drawers of type and they have the old-fashioned crank-type letter press machines. You can go in there and watch them crank out posters. While I was there, they were making Carrie Underwood (fellow Okie) posters in pink. They have two cats and a puppy that run around the shop. Well, I think they more sleep than run but you get the idea. One cat is BIG and fat, the other cat is normal but they say it’s a bit cranky (that could be a pun since they “crank” out posters – it makes sense they would have a cranky cat – ha ha). The puppy was locked in a kennel but he was cute.

I’ll put more of the things we did in the next post.  See you then!