“They’re going to love your Australian accent down in Nashville!” We weren’t sure if the airport security officer meant it in a good or sarcastic tone, but we soon came to realise what he meant.
Arriving at Nashville airport we were greeted with the sounds of country music and display cases of Gibson guitars – safe to say Tom was going to enjoy the town locals dub Music City.
We stayed at the Nashville Downtown Hostel which was a short walk to Broadway Street – also known as Honkey Tonk Road or “Nash-Vegas.”
It was only late afternoon on a Thursday, but already the street was buzzing with live bands blasting country music out into the street.
Wandering past the different Honkey Tonks (bars), we made our way to Legends – a popular spot for live music.
“Y’All from Australia! We love Australians. G’day mate! Y’All have a good day now.” Yep, they definitely love Aussies, especially the bouncers (thanks Keith Urban).
Most of the Honkey Tonks had open fronts so you could hear the bands from the street.
Wandering back down the other side of Broadway, we walked past one venue where the band was blasting Led Zepplin and Audioslave. Tom was sold, and it wasn’t long before he was up there with them on the spare guitar.
Day 2 in Music City and we were off to explore a guitar store or two… or FIVE! It was five…
Luckily (for me) shipping costs were expensive and the exchange rate is bad so I didn’t have to intervene in a guitar shopping spree.
Later that afternoon we made our way to Centennial Park where there’s a replica of the Parthenon (it was a festival gimmick that stuck), before heading out to a live music venue off Broadway called The Mercy Lounge.
Day 3 we decided to explore Nashville’s most popular attraction – The Country Music Hall of Fame and museum.
The museum featured some great exhibits to tell the story of country music through the generations from its early “hillbilly” identity, to the cowboy/country and modern day rock/pop country.
That night we enjoyed dinner on one of the many rooftop bars on Broadway before enjoying one last night of Honkey Tonk country tunes.
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