Beating the Blues: A Week in Nashville

As another instalment of Nashville’s famed AmericanaFest music festival wrapped up, the city slowly returned to normal. Not that the normal Nashville is much different from the AmericanaFest Nashville as, no matter where you turn in the music city, a musical experience is never too far way. On any given night of the week, you can walk into a myriad of music venues across the city and be treated to the next Taylor Swift or Chris Stapleton. Or maybe, you might even cross paths with a bone-fide musical great like Lori McKenna.

While Lori McKenna might not be a household name, the three-time Grammy Award winner is behind some of country music’s biggest hits. She wrote “Fireflies” for Faith Hill and “Humble & Kind” for Tim McGraw. She co-wrote “Girl Crush” for Little Big Town, “I Bet You Think About Me” with Taylor Swift, “A Beautiful Noise” with Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile, and most recently, “Burn It Down” with Parker McCollum. Time your visit right and you might just get the chance to hear some of those songs in her own hands.

There is certainly no shortage of stages for artists like Lori McKenna to play in Nashville. Broadway is home to a plethora of bars with music emanating from their stages all day and night, while scattered around town are a slew of iconic music rooms where listening takes precedence over drinking. In places like the Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry House, The 5 Spot, Station Inn, and Bluebird Café, you’ll be treated to some of the best damn original music to be heard. Tonight however, McKenna ventured downtown and took to the stage at Eric Church’s Broadway venue, Chief’s and what a night it was.

“I love this room,” McKenna enthused shortly after taking to the stage of the gorgeously intimate venue. “It’s like a smaller version of the Ryman.”

McKenna then toured the audience through a selection of heartfelt songs inspired by the everyday that highlighted why she is one of the most lauded songwriters and most engaging performers currently doing the rounds. Along with stripped down versions of hits like “Girl Crush,” “Humble & Kind,” and “Burn it Down,” she served up an enchanting selection of songs from her own twelve album discography. Among the many highlights were “The Time I’ve Wasted,” “The Bird and the Rifle,” “Marie,” and a selection of songs from her latest album, 1988, including “The Old Woman in Me,” “Happy Children,” and “The Tunnel.”

Walking back onto Broadway after the intimate show was a sensory overload. Music blasted from every open window and door that lined the infamous thoroughfare while the overhead neon signs cast a kaleidoscope of color across the night sky as the aroma of spicey barbecue wafted from old school eateries like Jack’s Bar-B-Cue. It was a Wednesday night and iconic bars such as Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, Honky Tonk Central, Nudie’s Honky Tonk, and Robert’s Western World were alive with punters settled in until the 3am closing or their ears started bleeding.

Nashville’s legacy as a music city dates back to 1925 when radio station WSM launched a radio program that would come to be known as the Grand Ole Opry. Having long occupied downtown Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, in the mid-1970s it moved to Grand Ole Opry House in Music Valley. The Grand Ole Opry continues to be performed every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and occasionally Wednesday and Sunday, while tours of the concert hall are also available daily. Not to be outdone, the Ryman Auditorium also still stages concerts of its own.

Opened in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, the Ryman Auditorium is a historic 2,362-seat live-performance venue and museum located in the downtown Nashville. Having hosted an array of country music elite, ranging from Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys to Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton, the present-day Ryman is home to the annual Americana Music Honors & Awards and as such has seen the likes of Jason Isbell, Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlisle, and Allison Russell grace its stage. When the performance venue is not in active use, the Ryman is open for tours and in addition to the theater itself, includes a variety of permanent exhibitions featuring an array of memorabilia.

If it’s music history you’re interested in, Nashville offers no shortage of places to indulge your curiosity. Even for the most casual music aficionado, a visit to RCA Studio B is a must. Established in 1957 by Steve Sholes and Chet Atkins for RCA Victor, the iconic recording studio has seen everybody from Chet Atkins to Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton record there. Presley recorded over two hundred songs at the location and there is an X marked on the floor where, with the studio lights dimmed, he stood and recorded “Are You Lonesome Tonight.” The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum run daily guided tours through the studio.

While The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is also well worth a visit, especially for its Western Edge exhibition which examines the close-knit communities of Los Angeles-based singers, songwriters and musicians who, from the 1960s through the 1980s, embraced country music, the Johnny Cash Museum is a must-see. Located in the heart of downtown Nashville, the museum features the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of Johnny Cash artifacts and memorabilia. The museum was established in 2013 by Ben Miller, a longtime friend, fan, and associate of Cash, and contains 100,000 square feet of interactive displays and exhibits covering all facets of the Man in Black’s career.

As you will find while museum-hopping, there is also no shortage of southern hospitality to be had in Nashville and that famously extends to the city’s culinary culture.

No visit to Nashville would be complete without sampling the city’s famous hot chicken. Floured, seasoned with a paste of cayenne pepper, and deep fried to perfection, there are several longstanding outlets that have locals debating over who does it best. Some swear by Hattie B’s Hot Chicken while others will tell you it’s Prince’s Hot Chicken, but for an authentic experience you can’t go past the East Nashville staple – Bolton’s Fried Chicken. While you can choose how hot you want your chicken, be warned – medium comes scorchingly hot!

You will also find fried chicken gracing local breakfast menus and to sample the best darn fried chicken and waffles anywhere you have to visit The Loveless Café – and make sure you smother them in maple syrup. A southern cafe with down-home dishes and a country vibe, they also serve up Country Ham, 22-hour Tennessee Hickory smoked BBQ, scratch-made sides, and world-famous biscuits. As soon as you’re seated in the homespun diner a complimentary basket of piping hot biscuits lands on your table – and they’re to die for.

Not to be outdone in the homespun stakes is the East Nashville institution, Dino’s. Perhaps the most ‘lived-in’ dive bar of them all, Dino’s infamy was established long before Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown thrust it into the international spotlight. A late-night haunt that serves up hangover-busting classics like the Dino’s Cheeseburger, Fried Chicken Sandwich, and Frito Pie, when you add a side of fries to your selection make sure they’re animal style, with Velveeta, grilled onions, and special sauce. You won’t regret it, well, not immediately.

To wind things down why not settle back for a southern sunset at one of downtown Nashville’s countless rooftop bars? Summer in Nashville perfectly lends itself to a little alfresco entertaining and with a 270-degree view of the city, PROOF at the W Nashville is the perfect place to see and be seen. L.A. Jackson is the city’s original rooftop bar and offers plenty of seating and a great view of downtown or, if just want to watch over the comings and goings along Broadway, give the Whiskey River Saloon a try.

Brett Leigh Dicks is an American/Australian photographer and writer based in Fremantle. He has written and photographed for The New York Times, VICE, The Sunday Times and Rhythms Magazine. For 20 years he was based in California and wrote about music for the Santa Barbara Independent and Santa Barbara News-Press.

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