Not for nothing, as they say in Brooklyn, is Nashville known as "Music City."
Music is in every nook and cranny of this clean and lovely city, showing that Nashville is worthy of its designation as America's country music capital. Anyone who loves to hear a
musical twang or drawl will find a weekend in Nashville a rewarding experience.
The major draw, of course, is the Grand Ole Opry, which began in 1925 and moved to its modern facility on the outskirts of town in 1974. If you stay at the huge and luxurious Gaylord Resort in the Opryland complex, you can walk to concerts at this venerable institution. On Friday nights the Opry features "Country Classics," with such traditional music stars as "Whispering
Bill" Anderson and Jeannie Seely. On Saturday nights, there are two performances (plus one on Tuesday nights) of the famous regular show, anchored by the legendary "Little Jimmy" Dickens, and featuring such headliners as Ricky Skaggs, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood. You can even take a backstage tour of the facility and see the dressing rooms of such stars as the late Porter Wagoner and Dollie Parton. Back at the Gaylord Resort, you can see live broadcasts of the radio station that made country music famous, WSM, from its on-site studio.
In downtown Nashville, you can visit the Country Music Hall of Fame where you can listen to tapes of your favorite country stars and marvel at the huge collection of artifacts and costumes. A current exhibit, Family Tradition, pays tribute to the famous -and tragic - Williams family (Hank, Hank, Jr. and the rest of the clan. The exhibit will run till the end of 2009. A tribute to "Miss Dynamite," Brenda Lee, will open in August.
Nearby are the "honky-tonks" of lower Broadway and the Ryman Auditorium, which hosted the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 till 1974. Special shows are still held at the Ryman. Currently it's hosting "Always Patsy Cline," a bittersweet tribute to the star whose career was cut short in an airplane crash in 1963. The show runs through May 23. Just behind the Ryman is Jack's Bar-B-Que, which offers the best country ribs in this or any other town.
No visit to Nashville would be complete wiithout seeing "Music Row," the locale that hosts Nashville's recording studios. You can take a fascinating tour of "Studio B," the RCA studio where Elvis Presley recorded the majority of his records.
And in the Hillsboro section of town, don't miss an evening at the Bluebird Cafe, where you can hear jams by songwriters and up-and-coming artists.
For information on visiting Nashville, contact the Nashville
Visitors Bureau at its website,
www.vistmusiccity.com.