Road Trip Day 5 or: Play Some Skynyrd, Man!

Monday, 4/18:

Sadly, it was time to depart St. Louis and make the five hour drive to my next destination - Nashville, Tennessee!  I was hoping to get a bit more of an authentic country experience here than I did in Branson, and I was not disappointed.

I didn't arrive in Nashville until 8pm, so my tourist options were limited. I headed directly for Broadway, the downtown street littered with honky-tonks, open containers, and crushed dreams.

Broadway is compact, and I was able to barhop with impunity.  At Tootsie's Orchid Lounge (which I swear is the most popular bar on Broadway and not a place for seersuckered dandies to sip mint juleps) the bandstand was so small that the singer walked up and down the bar instead, tip bucket and microphone in hand.  I noticed all the bands had tip buckets, and it was made quite clear that it would take a tip the size of a car payment for a patron to hear hisself some "Freebird". Apparently, bands in Nashville feel about playing "Freebird" the same way Radiohead feels about playing any song that might be considered a hit.  

Of course, there is always the exception that proves the rule¹, and after a while I happened upon a guy who absolutely shredded on "Freebird"...and he was the only guitar player in the band. Lynyrd Skynyrd had three guitar players, and here this one guy killed it. This is why I'll recommend hitting the bars in Nashville even if, like me, you don't like country music - in Nashville, even to play in a dive bar you have to be REALLY good.

Miles today: 320
Miles total: 2325


1. I've always hated this expression.  How does an exception prove the rule? It makes me as mad as "I could care less".