Recollections of a Journey Through the Deep South
Part VI - NASHVILLE '93
copyright 1995 by Monte Nordstrom
from issue # 23 - Cosmic Debris Musicians Magazine - Nov '95
When I first started plans for a musical safari through darkest America I
consulted several sources for information regarding my various and
sundry destinations. I had begun my journey at the SxSW
convention in Austin, continuing on to New Orleans en route to
Memphis. The last stop on the itinerary was to be Nashville. I had
been reading Rick Dennis' "Island Waves" column, in "Country
Waves" magazine. His article
mentioned a Gabriola C&W artist,
Eric Johnson who had recently
returned from Nashville. I acquired
Eric's number and called him up to
get the low-down. He suggested a
plan of attack which I followed and
it worked out quite nicely. At his
suggestion I pre-booked a room at
the "Days Inn Vanderbilt" just off
of music row. I then sent for a copy
of the "Nashville Scene" a weekly
arts and events publication. From
talking to Eric and reading the
"Scene" I basically knew what I
was in for. Subscriptions are
available for $26 U.S. from "The
Nashville Scene", 301 Broadway,
Nashville, TN. 37201-2005 (phone:
615-244-7989 fax: 244-8578).
"Riff" magazine is a smaller format
publication from the same address
for $12 U.S. and it includes articles
on the underground music scene as
well as club info and music
classifieds. I'd go for this one
myself.
From my central location at the Days Inn Vanderbilt I managed to
get a great deal of music business and sightseeing done. My first duty
was to get cassette copies of the demo I had recorded at Sun Studio
in Memphis made up. I already had my promo and the "Nothing More
Better" cassette album in hand.
I did the stroll on music row, following up a contact at "Bug Music", a
major publishing house who handle John Hiatt and K.D. Lang and
100s more. I also made an appointment to talk with a rep at BMI
and got some more helpful information. I visited RCA Studio and
had a tour of the facility used by all the greats over the years
including Elvis, Chet, Waylon and Dolly, etc... Next was the
Country Music Hall of Fame. This museum gives an idea how the
music industry has evolved over the years from humble hillbilly
beginnings to the muli-platinum 90s. Just across the street from the
hall is a row of gift shops and record stores bearing the names of
some of the stars including Barbara Mandrell, George Strait, Hank
Williams Jr. and the late Ernest Tubb among others.
I grabbed some lunch in a cafeteria just off the row and was
fascinated to see the writers come in in their suits to eat and mingle.
The big thing is co-writing so everybody is exchanging business
cards. Writers are an anonymous group for the most part so unless
you're hip you don't know who is who but it is a very monied crowd
at the top. There is a corporate attitude to the business that some
singer/songwriters may not care for but its the industry standard so
be aware.
Later in the day I prepared myself for the performance aspect
of the Nashville experience which is the open mike show. There are
100 listings for clubs in the "Scene". Many of them feature writer's
shows. You can get a copy of the listings and a map and see how
many you can take in over one night or you can find one or two that
are nearby and settle in for the evening. The Days Inn Vanderbilt
has two clubs, the Listening Room and the Back Bar. I opted to stay
put in the building and was glad I did. For one thing, the clubs here
are spread out all over the place. It's a sprawling city around the
size of Vancouver so one club might be down town and the next could be 20
miles away on the outskirts. Even with a car you'd still lose time.
I was lucky. I signed up early for
the evening session. It was not very busy
at first and soon it was my turn to do my
three songs. Eventually the host
announced the last player and finished
the show with a few of his own tunes.
He suggested that we keep our seats and
things started picking up. A buffet was
set up and soon there were about 90 new
faces. The Nashville publishers network
writers came in and set up "In the
Round" and a whole new session was
underway. Four guitarists and a
keyboardist (Barry Mann) were on stage
performing with a few special guests.
This surprise birthday party was for a
writer who arrived in time to be
presented with a platinum record by the
mayor of the city. Some truly fine music
was performed there that night by the
cream of the city's writers. As the party
wound down I slipped across the lobby
and signed in for the alternative
songwriters open mike session and
managed to get in a set there as well. In
Nashville alternative is anything that
isn't country cross-over. Jazz, blues, rock or whatever. It was a great
way to end the night and I didn't even have to be in the rain.
The next day I went back downtown to do the tour at the Ryman. The guide
got us on the stage describing the history of the place and got us all
to sing happy birthday to one of the tour. He said,"Now you can say
you've performed on stage at the Ryman". Around the corner I had
a coffee in Tootsie's and listened to an oldtimer doing some fine
Travis picking before heading down the block to check out the pawn
shops and Grumann's guitars. Stacks of awe$ome axe$.
I crossed the street on my way back and passed by a couple hard luck bars
with some real down and outers to contrast the previous night. I did
another round on music row in the rain before catching a cab to the
airport and home to Vancouver Island. I didn't see any big stars in
Nashville. They are mostly touring or have moved their operations
to Branson, Missouri. You would see them at
Opryland which I didn't bother with after
seeing the Ryman Auditorium. Nashville
continues to be the tin pan alley of the country
music industry and is worth a look at if you are
serious about writing or are just a fan of the
genre. It even has an underground scene with
raves, poetry clubs and alternative lifestyles in
spite of being the buckle of the Bible belt.
Shucks, howdy!
Next Month:
Attention progressive rock fans! The 3rd
annual "Progrest" will be held November
11/12/13 at the Los Angeles Variety Arts
Theater. This year's festival will feature seven
bands performing on Saturday and Sunday with
a convention trade show for collectors and
dealers of prog on Monday. Groups performing
this year include a Female Japanese Trio, "Ars
Nova"; a Symphonic, Folky Norwegian 6
Piece, "White Willow"; an intense Italian
Septet featuring a Cellist, "Deux Ex Machina";
a Hungarian super group, "Solaris"; a new
American group, "Spock's Beard", with their
debut release on Synphonic Records: Sweden's
groundbreaking prog band "Landberk"; and
closing the show, the prolific U.K.ensemble,
"Pendragon" who have released 8 or 9 prog
albums over the past 15 years. Boot up the New
Mellotron CD-Rom, dust off the dungeons and
dragons board, throw your runestones, polish
your stalactites and call up your favorite troll,
its time to get progressive! The next article will
review last years event and releases from this
years.
Note: Monte Nordstrom has produced over 75 demos and has recorded 8 albums to
date (Nov '99). He performs regularly at numerous venues on Canada's West Coast.
Email Monte at:
nordstro@islandnet.com
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