A Music Weekend in Music City: Part 1

My third trip to Nashville, which took place just last month, unwittingly became all about music.

Well, okay, there were a couple other activities in there, but considering I'd been to Nashville twice before and never been to any sort of concert there, it was about time that I had a "Music Weekend in Music City"!

Unfortunately...I have a real job. And even with gaining on hour on the five and a half hour drive to Nashville, we didn't arrive until nearly 11 PM on a Friday night. A quick change of clothes and we were on our way downtown to see a friend of a friend play sax in a band at BB King's. And this is where it's great to know the right people - no cover charge! (Though a double Beam and Coke cost nearly $20 ::gulp::)

Katherine and I at BB King's (she's my friend who knew the sax player, and also who we stayed with for our Nashville weekend!)

Not surprisingly (this was Music City, after all) the band was awesome! My only issues with BB King's lay in the price of the drinks (seriously, nearly $20 for a tall Beam and Coke???) and the fact that nearly half of the restaurant has no sight lines to the stage. Simple poor design.

We left not long after the band finished playing, but for some silly reason did not call it an early night. Try 5 AM. Oops. At least that was spent hanging out back at our friends' place...far less expensive to drink, that way ;o)

Somehow I woke up fairly early the next morning, but we still got a slow start and decided that first things first, we needed to check out the Parthenon. Despite having been to Nashville twice, I'd never seen the darn thing! It was really cool to wander around and see how they restored it and all, and I agree that if you have the time it's a must-see...but I think once is plenty.

I know this is supposed to be a pretty good replica of what Athena would have looked like in the real Parthenon, but it kinda creeps me out. The eyes...the eyes...

The disappointing thing about the Parthenon is the fact that it's basically impossible to get a picture of the entire thing without buildings in the background or cars in the foreground. So I'm sparing you all of the crappy pictures I took. You can thank me later.

Honestly, both Steve and I were having the worst allergy attack all weekend and all I could think about on our first full day was when I would get to go to bed. But first, it was time for a truly Nashville experience - Tin Pan South. This nearly week-long "festival" (for lack of a better word) is used by songwriters to showcase their work. Most of them are small-time, but there are always a few surprises. We didn't get a surprise famous singer/songwriter, but it was still an amazing experience!

Left to Right: Lisa McCallum, Michelle Wright, Michael Logen, JP Williams, Patricia Conroy

We saw the early show at the Commodore Grille. Granted, the restaurant left a lot to be desired (the food was average at best) but we got to listen to five songwriters showcase five each of their songs. Of course some were better than others; our personal favorite was Michael Logen (he definitely had the best lyrics and music), though Lisa McCallum had some good songs (and a beautiful voice!) as well.

This particular Tin Pan South show lasted over two hours, and due to our late night the night before we were more than ready for rest when it was over. We decided to call it a night (but don't worry, this was after returning to our friends' house and playing guitar for a little while, to round out the evening), but rest assured that our biggest Nashville music day was yet to come! Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Music Weekend :)