2 posts tagged “bluebird cafe”

Cruising town was the order of the day, including the Parthenon, a trip to Hendersonville to visit the graves of Johnny Cash and the rest of the Carter family and then around the Opryland area. Cooter’s was quite neat with its Dukes of Hazzard memorabilia including a variety of original cars (two General Lees, Daisy’s Jeep, the sheriff’s patrol car), original costumes etc. There’s also a Willie Nelson & Friends museum and general store and a Wax Museum of the Stars in the same block.

I then had a look around the Grand Ole Opry and the museum, decided against buying a ticket for Saturday night, wandered around the Opry Mills mall for a while (where you can buy anything from Gibson guitars to powerboats).

On my way back I spent some time finding a good spot from which to photograph the Nashville Skyline from and managed to find a reasonable one. There were still too many power/telephone lines or other obstacles but the light was right so I’m quite happy. 

A quick walk around the Farmer’s Market was next with a few photos of some fantastic looking squashes/gourds. It was a bit too late in the day to be really busy, though and most of the main stalls were already shut.

Back to the hotel for a quick nap and then for a second helping of the Bluebird Café. It was quite packed and I just about managed to get a seat in the pews. The artists tonight were Melissa Cusick, Cliff Goldmacher, Dillon Dixon and David Worby. A bit differently from Wednesday was that they often played as a band rather than just one of them and they often sang each other’s songs. There were some great songs, some really funny, some thoughtful or sad, a very good mix indeed and all for the price of a couple of drinks. Unfortunately no good pictures this time as there were too many people in the way but hey, it was free and I didn’t forget to take some of the outside.

Afterwards, I drove back to the spot where I had taken the skyline shot to take one at night but it was a lot less bright (fewer lights) than in some photos I’ve seen. Briefly pondered to visit Lyrix but decided I’d rather have a late dinner and then relax in my room as I was feeling tired (damn I’m getting old).

Parked my car at the hotel and wandered to the parallel street where I’d seen some restaurants. I didn’t fancy Italian and the Mexican grill looked a bit too shabby for my taste so ended up in mAmbu, more of an upscale place. I had Salmon with black pepper crust with greens and apples (sounds weird but worked really well) on potatoes. The fish was cooked to the point, nice and juicy with crispy skin and the rest of the flavours harmonized wonderfully. A glass of Pinot Grigio and a Chocolate Crème Brulee rounded off the experience for just under 45  bucks, incl. tip.

First item on the agenda was Jack Daniel's Distillery. I joined the very informative tour and know a lot more about how JD is made. It's free, too, so if you're ever in the area, don't miss it. Although Moore County is dry, the distillery have a special license to sell a special bottle of JD. I didn't buy one because I wasn't sure how well it would survive the journey.

Next stop was Shelbyville for breakfast and then I drove pretty much due North to Lebanon, stopping on the way at the Cedars of Lebanon State Park where I did the short walk through parts of the cedar glades. Very pretty.
From Lebanon I carried on West avoiding the Interstate to Nashville where I found my motel and checked in.

Then I decided on a whim to try if I could get into the early evening show at the Bluebird Cafe and indeed I could.
They say you should leave the best for last and I think I've just broken that rule. The Bluebird Cafe was on my high priority list to visit and as the time was just right for the first show and I wanted to eat something, anyway, I drove to Hillsboro. I think if you didn't have exact directions you'd never find it because it's a tiny store front tucked away in a retail park type street next to furniture shops, petrol stations and fast food joints. Not exactly an area where you'd expect the venue for up and coming as well as established songwriters. Many a big name in Nashville played here first, some even used to work there (like Andrew Jackson as a barman). Ever since I'd heard Together at the Bluebird, the fantastic live album by Townes van Zandt, Steve Earle and Guy Clark, it had been my firm intention to go there if I ever ended up in Nashville and I managed it.di
It's really small, I'd say about 80 capacity (seated at tables, the bar or in the back on a couple of church pews) so no wonder the second shows are sold out quickly. The musicians sit in the centre, facing each other. On "In The Round" nights, it's usually four who sing a song each, going round the circle several times, from 6 to 8.

Tonight it was Teresa Wright (all her songs are sung by others on her myspace but she has a wonderful voice, too), Ben West, Todd Caudill and Dar Franz who I couldn't find online, except in reference to tonight. Each had a different style which kept interesting although it was just the artist with an acoustic guitar. Nothing else. The sound system is superb, too, especially considering the size of the place. A wonderful wonderful evening and a perfect start for my time in Nashville.

I put a small collection of photos which might give an idea of how great this place is on flickr.

On my way back I drove through the Centennial Park and took a few photos of the Parthenon. Very strange thing, that. I'm going to have a better look during daytime tomorrow.