We Are The Fanclub: The Playlist: The Grand Ole Opry

Nashville is an interesting place; imagine the absurdity that Calgary becomes during the ten days of Stampede if it all took place on Banff Avenue - without the beauty of being in the mountains...

Don't get me wrong - it's a cool town... but it's a little over the top - and not in a good way. Perhaps I'll have to give it another shot someday; the city is in recovery mode at the moment after all, and it seems to be overcompensating - as if to say 'see, I'm fine... *cough*... no really... I'm good'.

My hotel was just off Music Row, an area southwest of downtown near Vanderbilt University. It's the part of town where the business of country music takes place; it's home to literally hundreds of recording studios, publishing companies, record label offices, guitar stores, and anything else you can imagine that makes the country music industry tick. It's a neat place to kick around for an hour or two, but it's also really comical to see guys in suits with cowboy boots and hats typing furiously on their iPhones and Blackberrys as the clip, clop down the street.

I then ventured over to an area known locally as the 'rock block', where - you guessed it - the indie rock clubs are. There were two clubs in particular that I was keen on catching a show at (The End and/or Exit/In). Luckily a local singer/songwriter in the Lily Allen vain, named Natalie Prass was playing at The End and I managed to catch most of her set - really cool, I liked it.

Day two consisted of lunch at Arnold's Country Kitchen (I highly recommend the slow roasted beef), supper at Jack's BBQ - an institution that's been around for years and serves some of the best brisket I've ever eaten - a stop in at Hatch Show Print (one of my favourite authentic silk screen/letter press gig poster producers), drinking in the tourist-packed, flashing-neon honky tonks on Lower Broadway, and - oh yeah - a tour of the Ryman Auditorium, legendary home of the Grand Ole Opry.

The Ryman is why I came to Nashville - plain and simple, and it is as beautiful as any southern belle in the great state of Tennessee. The history of the building, originally built as the Union Gospel Tabernacle in 1892 by Thomas Ryman, is as fascinating as it is long (for a good, quick synopsis click here), and it's supporters and lovers as are passionate as any folks I've met.

Take Grandpa Bud, for instance. Grandpa Bud was my tour guide; a 60 year old, Nashville born and bred walking encyclopedia of a man. His southern drawl was so thick (and authentic) that I swear I was only able to make out half of what he said. He's been working at the Ryman since 1964, first as a concession worker, then as a stage hand, then as an artist handler (before it closed in 1974 when the Opry relocated to Opryland USA) and now as a tour guide (since it re-opened in 1994). His wealth of knowledge was truly a blessing to get to experience.

The Opry itself is - for those unfamiliar - a weekly country music stage show that has hosted the biggest stars in country music since 1925. The legends of country music, including Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Roy Acuff, the Carter family, Bill Monroe, Ernest Tubb, Kitty Wells and Minnie Pearl all became regulars on the Opry's stage. Everyone from Johnny and June Carter Cash to Carrie Underwood have performed, and it's said that you haven't really arrived in country music 'till you've played the Opry. A much more in-depth history can be found on it's Wiki page.

Today's playlist is a who's who of country music pioneers and legends. All grew up or came of age on the Opry stage at the Ryman, and along with Sun, Stax and Graceland it competes my quartet of can't-miss music history stops on this trip. I am a richer person for having been to these places - to experience them in the flesh, and if you have the chance, you really should come see one or all of them for yourself someday.

Hey Good Lookin' by Hank Williams