Music City!

Live music may have been the core of my time in Nashville but there was plenty of other things going on as well. As American Cities go Nashville has a fairly compact feeling to it and is pretty easy to walk around getting from place to place.

With the Country Music Festival in town, things were going on all over the place. Live music was of course everywhere but that aside there were funfairs and shows, free gifts and competitions to enter. I've never seen pain killers given out on the street before and I have to admit being a little baffled by the concept!

Among the entertainment was the MLB roadshow. I passed by the batting cage and saw people pitching against the speed gun. I nervously watched for a while before plucking up the courage to have a go myself. Needless to say its not as easy as it looks. It certainly isn't like throwing a cricket ball. My first few pitches wound up a mile off the strike zone and although I did end up getting it a little closer, a 55mph fastball isn't likely to see me into the majors any time soon! I wasn't going to leave without having a swing of the bat too! Obviously there were people doing this who knew what they were doing. It seems like every kid at least learns some parts of the sport. Me, I'd never done this before and know what I know from watching it. Playing it is a different matter entirely. After a couple of swings and misses I did get the hang of it and was pleased just to be making contact with the balls that were coming at me (on what was probably the lowest speed). Whether I was crap or not didn't really matter to me, I'd finally had a go at it and had great fun in doing so!


In a place known as "Music City" there's more music to it than just the live variety. Record Companies, recording studios and offices fill whats known as Music Row - A section just outside the downtown area chock full of industry buildings. Indeed, artists come to Nashville to both record and play here. for many its a dream realised when they finally do. One such example was stying at my hostel. A guy called Lawrence had brought himself, his music and his guitar for the festival. You could see by the look in his eye that the whole thing had engulfed him. It seemed to turn a confident man into a nervous, bewildered one. Perhaps it was the realisation that there was so much talent here already or that his songs just might not cut it. Whatever it was the enthusiasm seemed to drain within a few days. Had it been me I would have wanted to be out there playing wherever and whenever I could and I got the impression he had come with such intentions but what I saw was a man afraid it seemed by what he was witnessing and awestruck by the experience.

I went to experience Music Row for myself, to see first hand the other heart of Nashville. Its impressive for sure. Building after building housing studio after studio interspersed with Record Company Headquarters or offices. Giant guitars surrounded many of the buildings, with road names dedicated to the great artists of yesteryear. There's no doubt that this City lives up to its billing!




Nashville is also home to a rather bizarre replica of the Parthenon. It seems so much out of place amidst everything else here. Set away in Centennial Park, just a few minutes walk from the hostel its place is not a natural one. It was designed as an exact replica of the Greek structure to go with Nashville's billing as the "Athens of The South". Now, I'm not entirely sure where that came from. There seems to be very little evidence of anything in this City being Greek at all, this building aside of course.



My three days in Nashville turned into five in the end. I had a real feel for the place. Its addictive in so many ways. The atmosphere and vibe of the place is relaxed, polite yet party filled. Its people and those visiting were friendly and welcoming and the ability to listen to live music all day, every day is bliss. The beer flowed, the music rolled and my time flew! Heck I was even doing the "Holla and Swalla" like a local by the time I left (if you're not sure what on earth that is, see the pic below. Raise your glass, scream your head off "Holla" and then drink your beer "Swalla" - Easy really)! Nashville, I WILL be back one day!

What the hell is CMT?

I was sat in St Louis, perusing the Internet when an email popped up from the hostel I had booked in Nashville. A somewhat unusual request was contained within. Apparently they wanted payment up front for the 3 days I had booked there due to something called the CMT Festival.

My curiosity obviously got the better of me and I googled said event only to be horrified by what I saw. The Country Music Festival! OH MY GOD! I was going to be in Nashville during the biggest Country Music Event in the World! Many thoughts ran through my mind, most of which had involved me wondering how on earth I was going to deal with 3 days of nothing but Country Music, of Country Music obsessed fans. I remember feeling like I was in my own private nightmare!

I happened to mention this to Emily when I saw her, only to be laughed at (sympathetically of course) "So do you know any country music?" She asked. "Do the Dixie Chicks count" I feebly replied. More laughter "Oh and I know that Achy Breaky Heart Song". More laughter, less controlled this time. I felt a sick feeling in my stomach.

And so it was that I came to be in Nashville for the Country Music Festivities of 2006. Unwilling to spend the rather hefty sums of money required to get passes to the main events I satisfied myself with the live music that seemed to be oozing from virtually every bar in town. Besides what was the point of paying to see someone you dont know sing a pile of songs you don't know when I could get that for free in any of the plentiful bars on Broadway and down 2nd.

From 10am till 2 or 3am the live music rolled out of bar after bar. During the day I was happy enough just plonking myself down in a bar, writing, listening and watching. Taking in the atmosphere, the people, the vibe. I knew very little of any of the songs, occasionally something by Johnny Cash would ring familiar bells or Lynyrd Skynyrd would become recognisable. Generally though I just took it all in. Some of it I found I actually quite liked, I mean, I couldn't define what it was or if it was one sort of Country Music but there were definitely things I preferred.





I could sit, sup a beer or 2, listen and watch some cool live music, write and chat (they would have the volume just perfect for it) and then when it was something I wasn't over keen on I could move on, find another bar and so it went on. I must have visited a pile of different bars over my time there, seen dozens of live bands, even got myself an autograph or 2 - Sometimes the artists would come round during a show and just sign stuff, wanting a little souvenir but having nothing for them to sign I got them to scribble in my journal. I think its made for a nice keep sake.

The Stage and Tootsies became my favourite hang outs and places I went back to visit the most. Tootsies I later learnt had a very storied history in Nashville. It was the place so many artists and bands had begun their playing careers or been talent spotted. It was in this bar that something quite unexpected happened.



I'd met an Aussie called Steve back at the hostel and the two of us had decided to go and check out some of the bars and music in town. This ended up being put on hold as the two of us were asked to be part of a documentary being filmed in Nashville by a Polish group staying at our hostel. We'd both agreed to it and after signing our lives away for them we were given our instructions. They asked me to appear to be teaching this woman how to play a country song on the guitar. Having never heard the song before I had no idea of the tempo of how it really went, I just had the chords and that was pretty much it.. Still, they seemed happy enough with it and got me to whack out a few other tunes as well before I left, the cameras still taking all the action in. It was certainly a strange experience and I guess not everyone can claim to have been on a Polish documentary!


We finally did manage to get into town and bounced around between bars to see what was going on and what some of the ones I hadn't been in were like. Obviously I knew very little of the music but the odd song was starting to become familiar and we were both now able to sing a few words to "I Love this Bar". Of course we had no idea whose song it was, we'd both just heard it a few times and we pleasantly surprised to catch a cool bluegrass version of it while we were out an about. Later in teh even we'd ended up in Tootsies and John Stone (who I'd seen earlier on in my time in Nashville) was playing so we decided to stay for a bit. We'd got chatting to a couple of lasses who were in town for the festivities but were getting a little tired of the music after John Stone had finished and were thinking of leaving. It was announced shortly afterwards that ABC wanted to get in and so some filming so they were locking the doors. If you wanted to leave you had to do it now or else go to the upstairs bar and wait for about 30 minutes.



Not feeling like we could be bothered to wait around we had decided to leave when one of the girls turned to us and said "Don't go, when they do this it normally means that someone good is going to be playing". Thinking it could be interesting, we followed the girls upstairs. They seemed to know what they were doing so we stuck around the back of the upstairs bit nearest the stair to get back down again.

Rumours upstairs started going round that a band called "Sugarland" were going to be playing. Now, of course this name meant absolutely nothing to neither Steve nor I. We were being told all sorts of stories ranging from the "they're really not that good" to "Think Nashville's U2" Whilst this may have been a rather big overestimation of their size they seemed to be a pretty well known, popular band. The pushing and shoving for position started creeping in.

45 minutes passed before we got the go ahead to make our way downstairs again. Somehow what we saw when we got to the bottom of the stairs was not the half empty room we expected but one already packed to the rafters. Locked doors my ass! Still they allowed just a few people from upstairs in, and being amongst the first few down we were allowed in. The girls were pretty excited by the whole thing and we were both getting into the mood of the occasion.

TV cameras were everywhere, apparently it was to be screened in an ABC special. The band played just a few songs, a couple of them I realised, I'd heard many times over the course of the past few days. Only know did it actually click that they were Sugarland's songs and here they were performing in a cramped by, free of charge to me and just a few others! The girls were teaching us the words and we were trying to sing along as best we could. The band shot back out the door pretty soon after they'd finished but I was totally blown away by the whole event. The atmosphere in there was just incredible, it seems everyone knew all the songs and the band captured me in those moments they were on stage. It was all starting to make me realise that some of this country music stuff was actually alright! Who the hell saw THAT coming??!!

A Brit infestation and a Norwegian Girl

It was funny saying goodbye to St Louis. I'd spent 8 days there, the longest I've spent in any one place while travelling till this point and the place had grown on me. I was sorry to have to say goodbye to the place and its people and had that strange feeling of leaving somewhere you know and headed again for the unknown.

My first flight in the US was a funny one, a plane taking no more than about 60 people, you could feel every movement and every turn in your stomach, something I've never had before. Fortunately it was only an hours flight to Nashville.

The hostel itself was pretty laid back, no one was there to check me in so a Scottish lass who was staying there and was at college for a while In Nashville showed me to my dorm. The place is pretty small and the only hostel in Nashville. One thing struck me immediately - It was full of Brits! They've never known it like it apparently but somewhere in the region of three quarters of the hostel population was British! I met a couple of English guys who had been road tripping together through the US and one, Lewis, was following a similar rtw path to me. They all seemed like a decent bunch and we agreed to meet up later and go out.

Later a bunch of us got chatting outside the hostel and we all ended up piling into 3 cabs and going downtown to some bars. My first taste of the Nashville nightlife was bizarre. We hit up 3 or 4 bars that night, country music filled the places we entered. Not knowing much about it at all I just went with it.




As the evening progressed I watched a rather entertaining moment unfold. One of the English guys had latched on to a rather stunning looking Norwegian girl. Now she'd been drinking most of the afternoon and evening and wasn't in too good shape. Still she knew what she wanted - The most expensive drink on the menu and yep, the English guy was going to pay for it. back at the table she proceeded to lose her balance and knock the drink flying all oer herself and a couple of others. Nice work! Even nicer was the way she proceeded to blame a couple from Leicester (Jon and Jo) for her work. They, of course, had done nothing wrong yet still made an apology. She wouldn't hear of this, called her a bitch and went off in a huff. Seriously I wouldn't want to be with someone so stuck up themselves like that, no matter how beautiful they are!

I returned to the hostel with Jon and Jo and was almost delighted to hear stories of the Norwegian lass puking her guts up, leaving the English guy to wonder what on earth went wrong! Can you say "just desserts?".

Beer, Baseball and Bowling!

The three Bs make up the final chapter in the St Louis adventures. A game at Busch and the Gateway Arch may be what defines St Louis but there are certainly a few other little things to keep you entertained.

First to 2 of the three Bs, baseball and bowling. Not two things you would think go hand in hand, yet here in St Louis they sit side by side like a couple by a fireplace in the heart of winter. Let me introduce the ST Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame, also housing (and free as part of your ticket, the National Bowling Hall of Fame. Who knew the two were so closely linked!

The Cardinals HOF was, of course, my main main reason for visiting. Housing Cardinals historic memorabilia from past to present. Artifacts from the likes of Stan "The Man" Musial, Lou Brock and Bob Gibson and one of the modern day gems, the car given to Mark McGwire for hitting his record breaking 70th Home Run in 1998. One of the things about getting into baseball is learning how highly the history of the game and its players are thought of. The great players from the past enshrined not only here but in Cooperstown, New York in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Somewhere I didn't get to visit on this trip but hope one day to make it to. Its something we just don't get in England.


A chance to view a replica World Series trophy, to take in game worn shirts and balls used in historic moments throughout the franchises history made a captivating day for me. It may not be every persons idea of an interesting day out but for me it was a perfect accompaniment to a few games at Busch.


Once done with the Cardinals HOF it leads you straight onto the Bowling HOF, something I know very little about but was able to take in and learn a little of the history of the game and whilst I may not have known who the hell any of those enshrined it made for an interesting half hour or so before hitting the lanes themselves to throw a complimentary few frames. I'd gone with Claire in the days she was around and we'd decided to stick about and have a couple of games, made all the better for the ludicrously cheap prices they charged! Undoubtedly a fun day out!



So it all finishes here on the subject of St Louis' other treasure. The beer. Here lies the home of Anheuser Busch, brewers of Americas favourite, Budweiser. The home of Bud lies just a 10 minute walk from the hostel and there was no way I could come her and not visit. So on my last full day in the home of the Red Birds I took the free tour of the brewery. The grounds are quite simply huge. Almost a mini City within the City.


The tour takes you around the various processes and plants, with a Chance to see the famous Clydesdale horses and, of course, to sample the wares at the end of the tour. I certainly wasn't aware of the huge variety of beers the place makes. Its Budweiser that is king of course but its certainly not all they make! I got to sample a fabulous Bock whilst there and am disappointed not to have seen it anywhere since!




It may not have the glamour of the Guinness tour in Dublin but you do actually get to see far more of the plant than its Irish counterpart. Given its free nature its more than worth the effort.

I also had the chance to sample another local beer "Boulevard". A tasty Wheat beer from the Kansas City region. Budweiser may be the king of beers but I was already understanding what the real joy of beer drinking was in the US! There is so much more to it than is portrayed back at home. We think of American beer, we think of Bud or Miller and such likes, what we fail t understand is just how big a part the micro breweries play in the beer market here in the US. I for one am delighted to be finding out! More beer and Whiskey or two may well be on the way as Tennessee approaches!

The Locals

One of the greatest parts of travelling is meeting people. One of the single biggest fears of many who are thinking of going off on travel adventures alone is what will happen if they don't meet anyone. Anyone whose done a bit of travelling or stayed in hostels will tell you that you're biggest worry will not be meeting people but how you manage to get some alone time. Simply put, you WILL meet people. All sorts of them. Generally over the course of a any trip, particularly one as long as this, you'll wind up meeting the good, the bad and the ugly.

Meeting fellow travellers is one thing, meeting locals is another and can be as educational or as fun as any City, beach or other tourist attraction on the map. It can make or break a place for you. I'd been lucky so far with the locals I'd met up till this point and here in St Louis my good luck would continue to run.

Its generally not something you can go looking for but rather something that happens by chance. I guess before I'd left home I had imagined how great it would be to get chatting with some fellow Cardinal nuts at or before a game and whilst I'd enjoyed the experience of my first time in Busch stadium I hadn't really spoken to too many fellow fans. Game 2 and that all changed.

Sat watching the game I was next to a young couple, maybe my age or a couple of years younger. They seemed like the sort of people you could get chatting to and a couple of pointless comments got us going. I had met Adam and Erin, St Louisians and Cardinals fans. For me it was just great to be able to talk baseball, Cardinals baseball, with people that actually gave a damn and were fascinated that I'd come all this way to watch them play. Later on in proceedings they had decided to go and join some friends sat along the 3rd base line - The other side of the stadium to where we were residing at that time and asked me if I'd like to join them. I wound up meeting a great bunch of people. Adam and Erin offered me a lift home after the game and on dropping me as promised said a big thankyou to me! "Thanks for showing us something we sisnt know about our own City!". Apparently they weren't aware that St Louis had a hostel.

The following morning I received what I still believe to be the loveliest, kindest email I've ever had, thanking me for last night. No guys, it really is YOU I should thank for being the best advertisement for St Louis and Americans in general that you could wish to have! From the bottom of my heart I thank you both so much for your kindness.

Soppy stuff aside now, the good people of St Louis didn't stop there. Sat in McGurks one afternoon/evening I got chatting to a local couple also sat at the bar. Its so true what they say about St Louis being a true baseball City. These guys were on top of it all with the lady working for one of the Minors Independent League teams. They were overly generous in buying me a few beers, again, something hugely appreciated and a gesture from the heart.

St Louis was also the place where I had the chance to meet up with Emily (another Booty). Her and her friend were the ones kind enough to drive me round and get me to Ted Drewes and trying the Toasted Ravioli. The two of us arranged to meet up a 2nd time before I left.



Now, you may remember the Gateway Arch saga. The rain preventing me from ever getting down to see the thing. Well I did in the end. Claire and I managed to get down there, the weather managed to stay fine and I finally got up close and personal with St Louis' most famous landmark. It was well worth the wait. Its certainly impressive to see it towering over the City but walking round it I finally had a sense of the scale of the thing and in some ways, its simplistic beauty.



What we hadn't down however was go up inside the arch to the observation deck. With that in mind, Emily, a life long St Lousian who had managed to go her life without going up in it either, and I made this our day out together.

Its quite a strange thing really. To look at the arch you wonder how on earth anything can go up inside it. One you get inside your cramped compartment you understand why its not particularly obvious. Each "pod" is designed to take 4 people. If it was just for 2 people you'd call it tight! We ended up almost sitting in each others laps on the short ride to the top.

The viewing platform itself is a strange experience. You're on top of the arch of course and either side of the corridor is bending back down towards earth giving you the sensation that nothing at all is straight! St Louis may not have the most stunning skyline but the views from the top are worth it with the aerials of Busch Stadium almost sending shivers down my spine!


It was nice to be able to share the experience with a local as well and to get her doing something in her own City she had never done. Once again, the hospitality shown towards me was unforgettable. My impression of the City was set by some of the most amazing people you'd ever wish to encounter.

Not everyone is the same of course and everywhere there will be good and bad. There's funny as well. Like the guy who wanted to ask me something like "Where have you been?" He managed "So where y'all been?" which seemed far too Texan, "Where you all have been?" (less Texan yet more confusing) and, what I believe was the closet he got "Where all have you been?" It may sound funny, and really it was, but its just a small glimpse into how different the English language can actually be from place to place. An honorary mention should also go to the guy who on seeing my English cricket shirt asked if I was from Wales - Oh well!