The capital of Tennessee, Nashville. The Music City, home to more music than the overstuffed drawers of sheet music in my parent's house. I wouldn't mind coming back here and delving in a bit deeper, but I enjoyed my brief time here. I actually could have spent more time here, but I went up to Mammoth Cave on Monday during the day (that will be another post). After getting back from spelunking in Kentucky, I found a real homey diner called Brown's Diner. This was one of those places that any normal tourist wouldn't even notice, let alone eat at. It looks like a dilapidated mobile home with neon beer signs in the window, but when you walk in...it actually is a dilapidated mobile home with neon beer signs. One no-nonsense waitress, a few elderly customers, and a Frito Chili Pie for dinner. Perfect. It's these kind of places that make you feel like you're experience the average, everyday Nashville. This is the Nashville that isn't special at all; the Nashville that doesn't warrant a visit; the Nashville that shouldn't steal away a tourist from all of the other glitzy, one-of-a-kind icons. But that's what I wanted to find.
After dinner I headed to the Station Inn. This is a legendary bluegrass club where the likes of Ralph Stanley and Bill Monroe used to play. A true stahlwart in the over saturated music world here. Even though they have bluegrass six nights a week, I went on the one day there was no bluegrass. Instead, the Time Jumpers, a band made up of session musicians in town takes the stage every Monday to play classic country and western, western swing, and Django-style jazz. Now these guys are studio musicians in Nashville, which means they are the cream of the crop. The pedal steel player is a steel guitar Hall of Famer (didn't even know they had a steel guitar Hall of Fame). Suffice it to say, this band is very, very good.
The Station Inn is a small place and it was apparent that many of the people there are regulars. They frequent the place on Mondays to see the band or know some of the members personally. And even though they played the tunes of yesteryear, there was a wide range of ages there. Everyone coming together to share in some good music. They played old Bob Willis, Gene Autry, Patsy Cline, Spade Cooley, and others. They gave me a glimpse of what Nashville used to be 40-50 years ago. And the crowd loved every minute of it, hooting and hollering, a few dancing in the small remaining squares of floor space, requests coming in from old friends and new faces.
And to give you an idea of how good these guys are, Jimmy Dean, the sausage king, had come from Virginia to see them that night. And for those of you that don't know, before Jimmy got into meat, he was the king of country music hosting the top country music review show. He had every major country and western act in the 50s and 60s on his show and sure knows his stuff. So after he was acknowledged by the band, he slowly stood up and told of his appreciation for both the band and the audience for keeping this kind of music alive and ended by saying that the Time Jumpers are the best western swing band he had ever seen. And that includes all the originators of the genre. Pretty good compliment. And pretty good sausage.
In the second set, some obviously more well to do folks came in a lingered in the back. They were dressed in suit jackets with the women all dolled up for a night out. They were a completely different segment of the city and it was obvious. They were there to be entertained, still appreciating the music, but from the outside. Everyone else seemed to be experiencing this same communion, except for them.
This morning I grabbed lunch at the undisputed king of the meat-and-threes, Arnold's. A meat and three means you get a choice of meat and three veggies (mac and cheese counts as a veggie round here) on a plate for about six bucks. Good food for a good price. Unlike the others I've tried, Arnold's food turns your surroundings into the kitchen back home. It's good food served up exactly like Mom used to make, that is, if Mom ever made brisket, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, and mac and cheese. I'm getting hungry just writing about it now. The best comfort food I've ever had outside of a home.
I stopped by the Capitol building on my way out of town and I must say, it pales in comparison to Olympia. But there was a neat fountain commemorating the rivers of Tennessee. Now I'm in Jackson, home from a rained-out Diamond Jaxx game (the Mariners AA team) and ready to head down to Shiloh National Battlefield tommorow.
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