Nashville for a newbie....

Meh. Centennial Park is full of trees and you don't get that Vandy stank on you. /GoBigOrange.

 

Is it still full of homeless people? I haven't been back to NashVegas since 2010, but next year is my 25 year reunion, so I'm looking forward.

 

Is there a place in Nashville where a lot of the regular session players go to play live? I figure playing on tracks with only a producer for an audience gets tiresome and they want to jam a bit.

 

The Station Inn is probably your best best; although, The Broken Spoke at times has some amazing talent show up (Tim McGraw was the house act for a few years and then Keith Urban was).
The Bluebird's got all the hype, but really that's because a writers-in-the-round night is still the real deal.
Skull's in Printer's Alley is a hoot. I suppose if I had one night to "do" Music City, I'd hit that sometime after midnight.
The Basement is a place a lot of wannabes perform each night, with the later sets being pretty damn good (think of it as Open Mic night The Laugh Factory on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood).

 

Nobody's mentioned Jack's. They have a good selection of barbecue and sides.

 

We all get older, they stay barely legal.

 

My only experience with Nashville is bypassing the fucker. Before they finished 840 my favorite drive used to be cutting across through Leiper's Fork to Franklin across the gap between the freeway ends on the 2-lane roads. That drive was actually a pleasure.

 

There are still some beautiful drives in the area, but most of them are in the surrounding counties and Kentucky.

My recs:

• Jack's BBQ
  
  
• Bolton's Fish in East Nasty (You get bonus points for every hipster you run down.)
  
  
• Avoid the Loveless, it's overrated. Same goes for Hattie B's in Sylvan Park.
  
  
• Cafe Coco is great for people watching, especially in the late pm.
  
  
• Scarrett Bennett center is the small part of West End area that Vanderbilt University hasn't eaten. It's this odd, small, quiet place where you can walk the labyrinth or just sit if you need to get away from the noise.
  
  
• The Brown Jug is a dive, but it's the place to go for standup.
  
  
• The Family Wash in Yeasty Easty is good for local talent of the musical variety.
  
  
• Prince's Chicken is kind of touristy now, but it's still good. When they say it's hot, they mean it.
  
  
• Fisk campus is a gem. The Jubilee Singers still sound like they're serenading you from another plane if you're lucky enough to catch them.
• Go to Frist when there are school groups. I'd rather see a kid get wobbly because the art grabbed him than an adult actiing like they're too cool to be moved.
  
  
• For lunch, go for the charm and the parade of people: The Yellow Porch, Baja Burrito, Sam and Zoe's
  
  
• Downtown Presbyterian still gives tours. The mock Egyptian motif is by turns impressive and a little overwhelming.
  
  
• Hatch is still around. It's worth the investment of a very strong mailing tube if you want to get your souvenirs from there.
  
  
• Depending on when you're here, there are some good concert series going on. It's a way to see some artists up close and personal. I'm still living down an incident where one of my besties yelled that I loved the Wood Brothers and we needed to leave so Oliver Wood needed to give me a hug. (Me to Pia: No. Oliver Wood to Pia: Uhkay! Dear lord. Nashville can be...)
  
  
• If you feel the need to get right with the Lord, McKendree UMC in downtown Nashville is the place to be. I challenge anyone to sit through a sermon by Rev. Handy and not feel good.
  
  
• Downtown Public Library usually has exhibits of historic photojournalists' work. They sometimes host chamber readings by Nashville Shakespeare.
  
  
• Shakspeare in the Park might be happening. Bring a blanket, water, and something to nibble while you watch.

Of course, there's this thing I call "The Buckaroo Banzai Rule". It will either be the odd day when everything sucks or you might not like any of this stuff. I'd just as soon be talking to people in Allen County, Kentucky about their monster chickens and natural dyes, so take that into consideration.

 

Arnold's! Forgot the name. We went there and it was standing-room-only. I had to grab the only available table while the other two guys lined up for food. Place was packed, food was tasty. Later is saw it on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Worth the trip.

 

Just saw people lined up at 10:30!?!

 

It's all about hype and being seen.

 

So had dinner at The Palm, then a hard to find speakeasy, then finally some live music at Winner. People are very nice in Nashville.

Did drive around Vandy, beautiful brick architecture there and surrounding houses.

Bummer couldn’t do more but only in town for really one day and had to work.