Nashville
July 15th, 2005After driving through crazy southern rain (Utah doesn’t see rain like the south) and arriving in Nashville late in the afternoon yesterday, we set out for tourist central, Broadway st. After doing the loop, we settled for what appeared to be the most touristy restaurant, having a nice dinner out on the patio. There was a storm threatening, but aside from spectacular lightning, we were dry.
The night was spent between three bars (we just peeked in Tootsie’s), sitting through some of the most talented cover bands I’ve ever heard. It was touristy as hell, and most of the people in the bars were older. Yes, even older than me, JB and McQueen. We ended up at this great western swing bar with some musicians that reminded me a lot of the 330 Ritch, Club Deluxe and Demarco’s days in San Francisco.
It made me want to dance with my lady. Heather lets me throw her around on the dance floor, smacking into me and spinning away. It’s not Swingers, but we have a great time on the floor and the band last night were smoking it up and Heather would have loved it.
One of the topics of discussion last night, was that the trip was a bit indulgent. This is coming from three fathers who don’t golf, fish, or go on extended business trips, aren’t sports geeks and who are very involved with their families. I think we deserve the trip, because our families aren’t hostage to football games on TV or Nascar races. Not saying any of that is bad, just the some people can get a little crazy. Do I worry about my wife and how she’s doing? Yes. A lot. But I’ll be staying home watching Leta while Heather’s at BlogHer, so it’s not like Heather doesn’t get time with the girls. McQueen brought up the socio-economic angle, that the trip is costly (which should tell you a lot about keeping resources for the family) and that others might see it as indulgent in terms of finances. I countered that we had made choices to enable the trip. He mentioned all the people cleaning up after us every night. I feel, perhaps somewhat naively) that for a lot of people, those kind of jobs can be their ticket away from one kind of life toward another. For many, it’s their entrance to the U.S. I’m tempted to launch into a huge discussion here, but I won’t.
Today, we hit Hatch Show Prints and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Hatch was fantastic. Fantastic. I can’t say that enough. That it’s part of the Country Music Hall of Fame is important, because so much of country is the typography and so many careers were made with Hatch work promoting shows. It was hard not to compare the two halls of fame. The country version had a very calming design that featured brilliant sound design and straightforward layout. Perhaps thats a reflection of the music. I really liked the rock and roll hall, but it was chaotic and noisy and didn’t appear to have a flow. I think the Experience Music Project in Seattle does a better job with the audio history of rock and roll. Most impressive at the country hall were these conchoid columns that were very well insulated and allowed the visitor to go inside them and listen to restored country classics with very little outside noise. Some of the restorations are nothing short of spectacular. The country hall is more about preservation and archiving than the rock hall. Not saying one is better, just wondering that perhaps some lessons have been learned?
I think Nashville as a city is very much like Los Angeles, but filtered through southern hospitality and maybe a little less botox. McQueen: “It’s a little tough to make a generalization like that after a day”. Agreed. Still, we heard a shitload of music on the cheap and every band we heard was extraordinarily talented and professional. Yet there was that one occurrence of what has become a trip barometer and joke: Margaritaville. I just don’t get the parothead thing. So we’ve been joking that maybe the misbehaving one of us might need to spend some time at Margaritaville. Or one of us will threaten that we’ll spend the rest of the trip eating at and hanging out at Jimmy Buffett’s inexplicable chain. Or the Hard Rock. o
July 15th, 2005 at 10:20 pm
your trip sounds fantastic! thanks for the updates. hurry home for heather’s 30th. i’ll be having glasses of wine in her honor that evening myself!
July 15th, 2005 at 10:40 pm
i live in nashville, just thought i’d share that. i work in a music store just thought i’d share that also. a really touristy thing to do is go to the wildhorse and go line dancing, and of course tootsies. but if you want to go out of the way try going to puckett’s grocery. they sometimes have some really good live music.
July 16th, 2005 at 12:09 am
I have to say, I went to the EMP in Seattle before I went to Cleveland, and I think I liked the EMP better. I agree, more flow…and less chaotic.
July 16th, 2005 at 12:43 am
I find the brief discussion you brought up about whether or not the trip is indulgent very compelling, because the older I get, the more socialist I get. I do understand the concerns that a trip like the one you are taking could be construed as self-indulgent– but I am not sure that is necessarily a bad thing. I engage in self-indulgent spending, but I also go overboard contributing to charitable organizations when sometimes I shouldn’t. I think you have to strike a balance. Do I think it would be great if the very very wealthy redistributed their wealth more? Yes, absolutely. But I think that ultimately it can be a quality of life issue: if you indulge without pause, without ever giving anything back, then yes, I think that is worthy of criticism. But people like you and I are not even in the ball park of being able to completely change society by self-denial. And yes, what if all of our friends decided to engage in self-denial, would we be able to change the world? No. It has to come from the few and the powerful (and it is not going to without Marx’s long touted revolution– and I think even that is a stretch despite my own socialist tendencies). It is more self-indulgent to live ostentaciously on a daily basis, perhaps, than to enjoy a trip as you are doing (and from the little I know of your life, I don’t think you are overly ostentacious in your daily life, though Draper is a helluva neighborhood if you live nearby it– my uncle and his tennis court live there).
I think your awareness on the trip is awesome– but I think you should enjoy it.
July 16th, 2005 at 6:36 am
I feel the very same when I travel. Plenty of people will voice an opinion as well,,,”how can you leave your husband and three children to go to Europe for 2 weeks”. Well he does leave as well for trips and somehow I’d like to think that my daughter and sons as well, know that married people travel independently of each other, to grow, learn, live. I want them to have such options as adults. If we’re not setting the example how do they know? Leta will know that when she’s married, she’s free to make a life where she continues to grow, be nurtured by friends, travel and feel excitement. You’re giving Leta a gift as well you know. She won’t expect any less for herself.
July 16th, 2005 at 7:02 am
It’s fantastic that you have a marriage where you can take a roadtrip and know your wife is fine with it (and that you both miss each other like mad) and also that she can go off with the girls and you’re quite capable of looking after Leta and Chuck. I know a lot of people who’ve become resentful in many ways that they perceive their life to have ‘ended’ when they had kids.
As well as getting valuable time to yourself, I agree with impy that you’re giving a valuable gift to Leta too. Life is there to be explored, with friends as well as family.
July 16th, 2005 at 12:29 pm
I’ve never been to L.A., but man, your comparison of the two cities rings true to me. I’m two hours south in Huntsville, and it always amuses me how so much of Nashville is for show. I have musician friends [as does anyone who has friends in Nashville], and they all bemoan, it, yet they stick around. It cracks me up.
If I’d've known you were going through Nashville, I would have directed you to stuff a little off of Broadway to go catch shows, places like 3rd and Lindsley that are a rite of passage for most any up-and-coming artist in Nashville. You can see some great work and some absolute dreck there, and … it’s somehow strangely worth it.
Enjoy the mid-South … it’s been real rainy this week.
July 17th, 2005 at 12:26 am
I wish I could meet this McQueen guy…he sounds guilty and tormented and I can relate to that.
I hope when you are in Memphis you are only eating VEGAN bar-b-que. ‘Cause if you are going to get guilty, ya might as well go all the way.
But have fun anyway.
July 17th, 2005 at 12:54 pm
It’s a big world. You’ll never see it all. You’ll both hear about more of it if you occasionally take turns going out and seeing it and reporting back to one another.
The money you spent on this trip was going to go to _someone_ — a charity, a business, a mutual fund. It’s gone to people who worked and created things to earn it. What’s wrong with that?
But leaving your wife alone to dogsit Bo all by herself? That’s dubious.
July 18th, 2005 at 6:59 am
HOW CAN YOU NOT GET THE PARROTHEAD THING?
Jon. This is going to make me lose sleep tonight.
I may have to kidnap you and take you to a show.
Be prepared. Have limes. And coconut-boobie prosthetics.
Trust me. One show is all it takes. We’ll have you in an inflatable gumby costume in NO time!
July 18th, 2005 at 8:55 am
Ireally hope that while you are in Memphis you hit places like STAX, WDIA, the Lorraine Motel and not just Beale Street.
July 18th, 2005 at 7:19 pm
Well, if I’d knowd you were gonna be in Nashvegas, I would have set you up with backstage passes to The Grand Ole Opry. Imgaine walking into the mens room and seeing Little Jimmy Dickins, no pants, in his boxers, socks and sock-garters (oh yeah), standing in front of the mirror, strumming the guitar. I speak from unfortunate experience.