Nashville and Memphis (Days 24-28)

I know I'm a broken record, but time flies...I can't believe we'll be back in LA in less than a week! Here is a catch up on the rest of our journey through Tennessee - a downright MECCA of music history (and much more). 

Days 24-25: Nashville

After our invigorating time at Big Ears in Knoxville, we wove our way to Nashville along some beautiful mountain roads (slightly scarier due to the intermittent rain). We met up with my mom, who flew in to join us for the Nashville portion of the trip! It was so great to spend a couple of days with her - just wish it could have been longer. 

We hit the ground running with lunch at Monell's in Germantown - a unique boarding house-style Southern comfort food restaurant, where everyone eats family-style at a big tables (multiple parties seated at the same table). It was a fun experience, and very delicious. Our next stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum downtown, which vastly exceeded my expectations! You may know that I have not always been a fan of country music...but I've gained a much larger appreciation in recent years, and glad I finally came around. The museum does an excellent job walking you through the history of country music from the earliest beginnings, which had a section on gospel music of the early 20th century. My mom and I were very pleasantly surprised to see a photo of my great grandfather, Dwight Brock, in this section! He performed with the Vaughan Quartet and the Stamps Quartet, among others, and pioneered the use of rhythm piano in gospel groups (fun fact: Elvis credits the Stamps Quartet as a major influence from his youth). My favorite exhibit, though, of course, was on the Western Country Rock that dominated Los Angeles in the 60s-70s. I also loved that the museum even included very recent work I love, like Beyonce's COWBOY CARTER, Orville Peck, and Chappell Roan's "The Giver." 

On a whim, we walked a couple of blocks up to the Ryman Auditorium, initially just to see the outside. The Ryman is known as the 'Mother Church of Country Music,' served as the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943-1974, and was also known as the 'Carnegie Hall of the South' for a time, as well...needless to say, it's a legendary space. We inquired at the box office just for kicks, and there were still tickets for the evening show...a Bacharach tribute with Todd Rundgren..?! Weird and decidedly not country-related, but we were curious enough and already had tickets to the Opry the following evening where we would surely get our country fix, so decided to get tickets. To kill time before the show, we made our way over to 'Honky Tonk Highway,' which had lots of cool neon signs, and fun-looking honky tonks, but the cross-bleed from all of the clubs playing different live music was a bit too overwhelming. We took refuge at the Assembly Food Hall (you know I can't resist a food hall), which was a much calmer place to hang out, and had a lot of Nashville faves. The Ryman show was actually great - I love Todd, who was so funny (even though he can't really sing anymore...), and the rest of the band was fabulous. The Ryman was just as special as I thought it would be, even though 2.5 hours of Bacharach is...a lot...but they sang ALL the hits.

The next day, we had a lovely lunch with my friend Carrie and her wife Elizabeth, who happened to be passing through Nashville en route from Seattle to Michigan, where they are moving! We had a great time catching up at the Elliston Place Soda Shop, a great old-school soda fountain dating back to 1939 (with excellent hot chicken, too). Our visit was too short, but luckily we will see Carrie and Liz again in a few months when we are visiting MI for a wedding. After lunch, we had to stop by Centennial Park to see Nashville's own Parthenon...an actual replica of the real one...very interesting/bizarre. The weather was lovely, so we also walked around the park a bit (there's even a Taylor Swift bench!).

After a siesta, our evening was spent at the Grand Ole Opry, which is always entertaining. The show was great - we saw Collin Raye, Rhonda Vincent, Tucker Wetmore, Hailey Whitters, Taylor Hicks (yes that guy from American Idol), Taya, and The Cleverlys perform. While I had a wonderful time, and the Opry is undoubtedly an institution, I do have some conflicted feelings about it. The Opry has always been fairly conservative and resistant to change (although it has been making some strides). One recent example...Beyonce's COWBOY CARTER introduced me to the first commercially-successful Black female country artist, Linda Martell, who was also the first Black woman to play the Opry (paving the others to eventually follow in her footsteps). Her singular album Color Me Country is just fantastic, but racism in the world of country music did not allow her career success to flourish for long. She eventually gave up performing in order to make ends meet, which is a travesty. All this to say - while the country music world has certainly making an effort to become more inclusive in recent years, there is still an air of homogeneity at the Opry that does not go unnoticed. 

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Days 26-28: Memphis

We sadly had to say goodbye to my mom, who had business to attend to in Raleigh, and made our way to Memphis. The storms and tornados at this point were starting to worry us, so we didn't waste time getting to Memphis, in case the storms took a turn for the worse (more on that, later). Taking advantage of the non-rainy weather (at the moment), we opted to head straight to Graceland. I had been once before as a child, but Alex had never visited. I definitely appreciated this more visiting as an adult, with much more knowledge of Elvis. Weirdly, some of the decorations that seemed lame as a kid I loooooove now (AKA the peacocks...). We also had a great dinner at Coletta's - a favorite Italian restaurant of Elvis, which also happens to be one of the oldest restaurants in Memphis (opened in 1923). We had to sample their famous BBQ pizza - forget the bougie CPK version, this is just pulled pork on a cheese pizza (lol)...but it was delish. They are clearly big on boosting their affiliation with Elvis, as well. 

The storms were a-comin', so we skedaddled to our hotel, and thankfully arrived just before a major thunderstorm came through (which raged all night). Our stay in Memphis will likely be my very favorite of this whole trip - The Peabody! We were very lucky to spend a couple of nights at this absolute institution - the lobby bar area is colloquially known as "Memphis' Living Room." The Peabody has been in operation since 1869, and in its current location since 1925. They are perhaps best known for their "March of the Ducks" that occurs twice a day (and they reallllly lean into the duck aesthetic, which is fine by me). The tradition of having 5 ducks march into the lobby fountain at 11am, and march back to their penthouse palace on the roof of the hotel at 5pm, goes back to 1933 when the hotel's General Manager and friend got very drunk and set some duck decoys loose in the hotel fountain after a hunting trip. Eventually, one of the bellmen (Edward Pembroke), a former animal trainer, offered to train the ducks to march from the roof into the fountain each morning, and back to the roof each evening. Pembroke continued to serve as the "Duckmaster" for over 50 years before passing the torch - and the tradition lasts to this day. Each duck is only 'employed' for 90 days before returning to the wild, and duck is not served anywhere on the menu at the Peabody (not even in its French restaurant)! We obviously had to catch all of the Duck March action (and also may have a crush on Kenan, the current Duckmaster...). By the way, you can still see the March even if you aren't staying at the hotel!

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In between Duck Marches, we had a particularly epic day of music tourism, and visited two historic studios. Stax Records (now known as the Stax Museum of American Soul Music) is a must-visit for any fan of soul music - their roster included artists like Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Booker T. and the M.G.s, The Bar-Kays, and many more. The original studio at Stax was sadly razed in 1989, but the Stax Museum took great care to recreate the studio on the same site, almost exactly as it was (which is on view as part of the self-guided museum tour). I'd also highly recommend watching Wattstax, their epic festival held at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1972. 

We noted on during our Stax tour that one of the most important gathering places for both Stax musicians and prominent Civil Rights leaders was The Four Way Cafe, just down the street. This was such a warm (and delicious) neighborhood institution - open since 1946, it was also one of the first integrated restaurants in Memphis. Our next stop was Sun Studio - known to many as the 'Birthplace of Rock-n-Roll.' Many historians claim that the first rock record, "Rocket 88" was cut here by Jackie Brenston/Ike Turner in 1951. As with many major historical firsts, this was largely due to an accident - an amp fell off of the band's truck on the way to the studio, which caused distortion in the electric guitar...and the rest is history. Among many other historic records, this is also the studio where Elvis cut his first hit, "That's All Right," and where Jerry Lee Lewis also recorded his biggest hits, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Great Balls of Fire." The guided tour was fascinating, and it is a must-visit for any rock lovers. We also poked around Beale Street a bit before heading back to the hotel for a rest, and capped the night off with some ribs at the legendary Rendezvous restaurant across the street. 

Our last morning in Memphis (April 4th) marked the somber 57th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. The rooms where Dr. King stayed at the Lorraine Motel (and the balcony where he was murdered) have been preserved and integrated into the National Civil Rights Museum. This is another must-visit if you are in the area - heavy for sure (and a bit crowded, too), but essential. It was particularly moving to learn more about the history behind MLK's famous "Mountaintop" speech, which was delivered the night before he died. It almost didn't happen...he initially was going to skip the event due to poor weather, but after a packed crowd showed up in spite of the rain, he decided to go forward with the speech - and winged it. Go back and read it...his premonitions are haunting. I hope our politicians can muster up even 1/3 of MLK's courage as we battle the current administration. Our last stop in Memphis was the Arcade Restaurant, a classic diner dating back to 1919, which was an excellent send off. We loved Memphis (and Tennessee as a whole), and can't wait to return. 

Next up: Dallas-Fort Worth, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Gallup