Nashville- Sun 11th Aug

Still had 100 miles to go when I left the motel at 11am.  The Tennesian countryside is very like England in many ways. Pretty flat with plenty of deciduous trees and rolling fields. Main difference is the humidity at about 80%. Phew!!  No way could I have slept in a tent with this heat.

Parked up on Broadway and walked towards the Country Music Hall of Fame and the heavens opened!! Just got in there on time.

Broadway, the Blackpool Riviera of Nashville

Country Music Museum and Hall of Fame, looks like a keyboard!!!

I paid for a museum visit and a tour of the RCA studio B, ran by Chet Atkins, who helped developed the "Nashville Sound" as well as being a big guitar influence on me from when I first picked up a guitar.

The Museum charted the development of country music very well.

Loads of guitars played by some well known country stars. Nothing for Chet Atkins though?! There was, it just was not a Gretsch, a D'Angelico Angel, modified, which had its neck broken in the 50s.

There was a couple of cars there too. This one with guns, horns and hoofs was the silliest!!

The Hall of Fame is circular and is best looked at from a list from their website.

 This painting hangs in the Hall of Fame, its quite interesting and different.

The RCA studio B tour was most interesting and we had a great tour guide who kept telling us about various anecdotes.  Very entertaining.  

Control room and echo chamber

Here is me on the piano played on over 10,000 hits produced here, including Elvis, Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, Jim Reeves and many others.  It still used as a studio.  The whole area is known as Music Row and their are studios for all the major labels such as Columbia, as well as ASCAP and other music publishers etc. Chet Atkins developed one of the first echo chambers in this studio in the late 50s.  It was the rise of British groups that motivated Chet to develop the "Nashville 

Sound" as competition. Like Sun Studios, this place is a key location for the development of modern country and pop music.

The Nashville Numbering System was also developed here by one of the Jordanaires. It used numbers instead of the dots to help session musicians quickly create arrangements etc, and it could be easily transposed in another key!  I bought a book on it to as it helps ear training. Here is a samlple hanging in Studio B.

Funnily enough the studio closed and was superceded by more modern facilities one week before Elvis died. 

Here I am at the piano in Studio B

It was getting late after I left the Country Music Museum, so I wondered around Broadway to find anything else of interest.  Its very commercial, with various bands playing in bars and honky tonks along Broadway. Loads of restaurants etc.  

I found the Ryman Auditorium where they use to hold the Grand Ole Opry. 

It still has music shows and live performances, but was not open when I was there.  The current Grand Ole Opry is played at a new facility outside of the downtown area called Music Valley Drive. Its pretty non-descript. I shall go tomorrow and see if I can get on a tour.  If not I will be back on the road.  

I drove out their to find the new Grand Ole Opry, and at the same time found somewhere to stay for the nignt.  The Regency Inn Express is ran by an english couple from Leicester, so it was nice talking to them for a moment.  Strange the places you find the English!!