There are still a few places in Nashville where you can find great country music.
Becky Hinson and the Nashville Palace House Band are really good. I did 17 gigs at the Nashville Palace in Nov/Dec 2017 in their larger back room that holds a couple hundred folks. But I would always go the the smaller bar in the front of the venue where they always seemed to have a good band playing and listen while I ate dinner (they have great burgers). My favorite group was/is Becky Hinson's group.
I made friends with these guys while I was there. Really great musicians. But as time and age would have it, I can't recall the names. I think the steel player is on this forum.
I was also deeply disappointed by Nashville. I had a friend who held their bachelor party out there, and I was excited to go since I'd only ever driven through Tennessee and had never stopped in Nashville.
Broadway was tragic. Historic honky tonks where all anybody played was Top 40. I heard Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy" in four different bars that night. Ernest Tubb's was closing. Every beer was $14.
Even The Opry was not what I expected. The music was great and the stage sound was incredible, but there's something really hollow about walking out and seeing a Dave & Busters and a Rainforest Cafe right there. I didn't get a chance to see the Ryman unfortunately, no one else in the party was interested in that.
I have a friend who lived in Nashville for close to 10 years and he said if you can get off Broadway that there's a massive music scene that's actually worth your time. It's just a little more underground, but I'd rather go to a little underground bar than a 4 million dollar building with "FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE" on the outside.
You're going to the wrong places, even for Broadway.
Unfortunately, I was with a bunch of folks who aren't bothered with things like that. PhD students at Duke. Team leads at sales companies. Guys with trust funds. Im just a lowly high school teacher
Chris Harwood wrote:Those older folks that complain about the younger generation seem to forget it was our generation that raised them up.
Chris, when it comes to the past, nothing beats first-hand knowledge. Been there, been here. And that's how I know that there was better.
Your post makes no sense...and Im probably your age if not older.
My point is ....well...maybe you're now saying the great generation did a better job of raising kids than the boomers??
Yeah...I've got some old T shirts too.
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As a Nashville steel guitarist here for 43 years, I’ve seen a ton of change. Being that this forum is all steel players, we think Nashville is the home of steel and fiddle, the foundation of Country Music.
Well, it’s not that way anymore. But you can search it out here and find some great steel/fiddle music. The bulk of it, not on Broadway. But, you can find some fine Steelers on Broadway, but not abundant.
Heck…..I would have never thought Tootsies would ban steel guitar on stage.
Last edited by Ron Hogan on 26 Oct 2023 6:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ron Hogan wrote:Heck…..I would have never thought Tootsies would ban steel guitar on stage.
Wait, what? Is this a real thing? Tell me more!
Yes, the owner of tootsies, kid rocks, Rippy’s, and several other clubs actually hate steel. Currently, he only bands it from tootsies. He’s one of the partners and his name is John.
I could tell a good story of when I was playing, rippys, and had a run-in with him. After he left the building, the sound man came up to me and said pay no attention to him. He just hates steel guitar.
Ron Hogan wrote:
Yes, the owner of tootsies, kid rocks, Rippy’s, and several other clubs actually hate steel. Currently, he only bands it from tootsies. He’s one of the partners and his name is John.
I could tell a good story of when I was playing, rippys, and had a run-in with him. After he left the building, the sound man came up to me and said pay no attention to him. He just hates steel guitar.
Wow. That's something else. I had no idea.
Tootsies had three bands going when I was there. The band on the bottom floor was playing a Maroon 5 song. The band on the second floor was playing Pharrell's "Happy." The band on the third floor was playing "Bohemian Rhapsody." Not a great night for a country fan only hearing cheeseball pop hits.
I guess 6th Street is sort of the same in Austin though, lots of tourist music. The White Horse and Continental was where it was at.
I went to Nashville a few years back for a wedding. Wanted to go to the Hall of Fame but it was closed due to "inclement weather"
Well, AJ's Good Time Bar was open and serving beer at 10am, and they had a great band with a fantastic steel player. No idea what their names were, but they played a lot of classics and did it really well.
Their set ended at like 2pm and after that I couldn't find a band on the strip that I wanted to listen to...
Per my friend's recommendation, I went to the "hipster" bars on the East side of town the next night, where I saw a lot of original music, very talented players and great sound. (Does every guitarist in Nashville put on new strings for every show??)
Of course I am relatively young for this community and never experienced "the good ol days"
