July 5th - Corbin, KY, to Nashville

​Our route took on us a couple of remote two-lane, hilly, curvy roads between sections of four-lane state highway. It was about 50-50, which made for a tiring drive. But the scenery was bucolic. 

The landscape that we saw was remote and rural. At one point, a car in front of us stopped on a hill behind a tractor that was mowing the shoulder on a steep bank. We waited a minute for him to pass the tractor, which was several feet from the road. When he didn't, we passed him - nevermind that we were pulling a trailer. No one followed us. Perhaps we broke a cardinal Kentucky law, because none of the cars behind us followed suit. We may get a ticket in the mail. But it sure felt good!

After setting up the trailer at the Corps of Engineers campground on the shores of  J. Percy Priest Reservoir 25 minutes east of downtown Nashville, we exercised and fed the dogs and set off for Broadway. We found a barbecue restaurant/bar with live music (Ripleys) and got a table next to the stage where a trio (two guitars and a piano) was playing country music. The food was great! The band was fun.

The band leader noted our enthusiasm right away. He asked where we were from and whether we had a song request. Hank asked for one of his favorites - an Alabama song, "If You're Gonna Play in Texas You gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band". Which was of course, improbable since they didn't have a fiddle player. Doh! (Pause to wipe egg off face.) They graciously played another Alabama song for us - "Dixieland Delight".

The band leader was personable and fun. He told us he had visited a friend in Bremerton and saw a nuclear submarine transiting an inland waterway. Later, from the stage, he told a story about attending a recent live concert by the 89-year-old Willie Nelson. He said Willie announced his age and noted that he had recently released his 80th album. 
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After dinner we walked from club to club on Broadway sampling the different live acts - all free of cover charge. We found a band at Legends with a good lead guitarist and a very entertaining female vocalist. They mostly played rock classics. She had a great voice and a charasmatic and charming stage presence. She interacted unselfconsciously with people in the crowd. We watched them a long time and really enjoyed the show. We returned to her act later in the evening after sampling several other clubs. We found out that she was scheduled to play Kid Rock's Honky Tonk on Thursday with a different back-up band. We made a mental note to drop in. Due to a combination of her lack of self-promotion and our own inattentiveness - we failed to note her name. We both regretted that.

At another club, we found a band with a fiddle. Their lead singer looked like Walker - the guitar playing cowboy from the "Yellowstone" TV series. We asked them to play "If You Wanna Play in Texas". They demanded $20. We balked and "Walker" - whose real name is "Nick Cross" - said, "How about we play it for you and you decide what it's worth?" 

The band pointed out that they have to split their tips five ways between the members of the band. Apparently, the clubs don't pay them. I don't think the clubs even give them free drinks because a couple of bands told the crowds what they were drinking, in hopes of finding patrons to wet their whistles. The fiddle player did play our song and he tore a horsehair on his bow while performing our request. 

Nick had a good voice. He was also quite a character. He came and sat at our table to chat for a bit. He was from Georgia - not the West. He learned our names, and later, addressed Hank personally from the stage several times. Nick was also trying to chat up a couple of girls at another table in the bar, as he publicly noted from stage. When they left later, he looked at us and shrugged. This was his sixth performance in five days, so maybe he was a bit worn.