The Ryman Auditorium

Last Sunday i toured the Ryman Auditorium.
The backstage tour was around 30 minutes long and was a great insight into the history of country music and the venue it's self.
Originally opened in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, built by Tomas Ryman as a place for the Revivalist Samuel  Porter Jones to preach.
In 1943 the Ryman was home to The Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast until 1974, it is still used for 3 months of the year as the home of the Opry.

The tour focused mainly on the country stars that graced the stage, which of course was to be expected but for anybody interested in music you should know about this venue, many starts of the Rock world have played here and many other genres too. Of course Johnny Cash taped his TV show at the Ryman, this was four years after he had been banned from the building for losing his temper with a microphone stand and preceding to smash the bulbs lighting the stage front . Johnny Cash brought in all different forms of music to the Ryman for his TV show, including Bob Dylan, Louie Armstrong and Neil Young.

Neil Young later recorded a live show at the venue for a DVD release, watching the DVD was the first time i became aware of the venue and its history, this made me want to visit the Ryman one day.

As i walked around back stage, we were led into the Johnny and June dressing room, then the Hank Williams dressing room, each room we were told stories about the stars they were named after and the other stars that used the rooms through history. It was a fantastic tour and i would recommend it to anybody coming to Nashville, even if you aren't a big country fan. The tour guides are very good and have a deep knowledge of the history.

There are shows on at the Ryman every week, Ringo Star played last week, with a group of specials guests joining him on stage. I hope to go to a few Ryman shows while i'm here in Nashville.

Stay tuned!

The Journey So Far

Third Man Records, the building that brought me to Nashville. For 3 years i have wanted to visit the head quarters of Jack White to see it in person, rather than through a computer screen. Having been a White Stripes fan for 9 years and often describe Jack White as my hero but Third Man Records isn't the only thing to see in Music City and certainly wasn't the only reason i decided to spend 5 months here.

So here is a quick run through of what i have done so far and a general overview of Nashville.

When i first arrived here, i spent a week at the Inn Town Suite in Bellvue, which is about 10 miles west of Nashville, it was a lovely area but very quiet and i knew i would miss out on things happening downtown, so after a week i moved into Music City Hostel. I have been at the hostel a month now and would recommend it to anybody who wants to come to Nashville on the cheap. It is a little way from downtown but the walk is only 30 minutes top! Walking isn't always wise though, especially in the hot weather.

Ahh the weather, that has had a huge impact on my living conditions, it has been hotter than hell! temperatures of 42,41 and 40 all in the same weekend just about killed me off. The following week we had storms and i tell you, walking home in the rain was glorious.

Centennial park is home to the full scale replica of the Athens Parthenon. This houses a replica Athena statue which interests me a lot. I have recently become a fan of Greek Mythology so viewing this statue is a must. I have yet to enter the Parthenon and the picture here is just of the day i went to the park. I shall be going inside the Parthenon as soon as possible and posting about it.

I went to Third Man Records early in my trip, being in the room which i had viewed through a computer screen was a little hard to take in at first, as i was browsing the store and looking at all the records i plan to buy when i have the money, the owner of the store walked by me and out the front door.
Already struggling to compute the fact I was finally in my favorite musicians store, my head was spinning now. The girl at the counter gave me a knowing look and we both shared a smile.
I started to think about things to say to my hero but as i was thinking about it he walked in again.
Now i did want to say "hello" but Mr White had a walk of purpose and looked rather busy, i decided to leave him be and not be "that annoying fan".

Since then i have figured out that he must have been busy with Radiohead.

Later in the same week i went to see a band called The Ettes. I have been listening to this band only for a few months and was excited to see they were to play at the Mercy lounge when i arrived. If you haven't heard their music, it is alternative rock with a deep sexy bluesy groove. They have tons of great songs. The show was only $10 and i arrived as the second support band were playing, i can't remember their name but they played a great set. As i looked around i noticed Jack Lawrence of The Greenhornes, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. He there with a friend having a drink and enjoying the show, i thought it was cool that somebody like him could be at a gig with only about 50 people in the room and not get mobbed by fans.

When the Ettes took to the stage i then noticed Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys walked in, i laughed to myself at the fact that in two weeks i had been stood next to 3 of my favorite musicians. The Ettes played on and the lead singer seemed to be very drunk, She missed queues and sang off microphone, later on she started to play a song that the band had already played, the other two members looked on in horror. I have been reliable informed that most Ettes shows are fantastic, i must have just got a bad night, in the end the lead singer fell over and the gig was finished.
I do hope i get to see them again as i really like their music, hopefully next time is better.

One day i was just hanging around in my room, two beautiful American girls had become my latest roommates and one of them received a phone call. I overheard the words "Black Keys" and "Secret show".
When the call had finished the two girls discussed between themselves at a low volume, as not to attract to much attention.
I held up my Black Keys T-Shirt to them and they said "Do you want to come with us? The Black Keys are playing a secret show at the Springwater in Nashville and shooting a video too!"
Obviously i wanted to join them. We all got ready very quickly and didn't think to take any water or food. As we rolled up to the Springwater, we saw 2 people in line. Trying not to get too excited we walked down to the venue, which was a little shack of a bar, and as we approached a police women told us the bar was shut tonight. We knew exactly what that meant. Upon reaching the venue, the two guys in the queue smiled at us and asked "You here for The Black Keys show?"
We queued for 5 hours and signed release forms, we were to be in the video if the director used crowd shots.
As we walked into the bar we positioned our selves at the front of the stage, the director gave us the information that "Little Black Submarine" was the song they were filming the video for and the band wanted to play a show around the filming of it for the fans.
It occurred to me that we (60 people in a dive bar) were seeing one of the worlds biggest bands in a situation that not many people will get the chance to see them in again.
The show lasted around an hour and 10 minutes, they played "Little Black Submarines" 3 times within the set.
So if the director uses crowd shots you my well see me.

I grabbed a drum stick off Pat and the lighting guy handed me Dan's pic that he had flicked out and nobody caught. All in all a great day and my most memorable Black Keys show of the 4 times I've seen them.

Since then i have mainly been working and hanging out at bars and the hostel. For the 4th of July, the hostel put on a BBQ. After this i met my friends downtown by the riverfront to watch the fireworks. America really knows how to do fireworks! the Nashville Symphony Orchestra played along with songs such as Star Wars Theme and 1812 Overture, it was truly magical. I tweeted about the Orchestra and my tweet has since appeared on their website in the favorite tweets of the week section.

I also recently toured the Ryman Auditorium, another big reason for me wanting to come to Nashville. I will be doing a separate post all about the Ryman very soon.

So keep checking back for updates and i hope you enjoy reading about my adventures as much as i enjoy living them.