The Steel Guitar Forum

Well Myron,there's your problem. You didn't call me,to act as your tour guide. If you're in doubt,ask Joe Casey,Leigh Howell,or Joey Baer. I would've given you the "50¢ tour" for free. Showed you all of the little "secret hangouts" of the "stars", etc. Kept you outta the "tourist traps". When will you guys ever learn??

------------------
<font face="monospace" size="3"><pre> ~ ~
©¿© It don't mean a thang,
mm if it ain't got that twang.
www.ntsga.com</pre></font>

.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Steve Hinson on 23 February 2003 at 07:09 AM.]</p></FONT>

Myron,
Thanks for the insight into the inner sanctum of the guys that drive around in RVs.

One thing I keep an eye out for is places to get decent food off the interstate. Is there something besides Cracker Barrel out there ? Do you RV road warriors have a restaurant guide or do you just go to Shoney's when the Cracker Barrel lot is full ?

I've sworn off Waffle House except for one time only on each road trip. Subway is good for lunch.

Bob

<SMALL>"They are not very good are they" "Not as good as the Pubs we went to".</SMALL>

Myron, your friends from across the water aren't alone in their observations. Yes, there are some old Opry stars who aren't in peak form anymore. (And, there are some new ones who never were.) Be that as it may, the live Opry show isn't all about featuring the "latest and greatest", it's about history, too. It gives people a chance to see and hear the roots of the stuff that's selling today...the stuff their mother and father may have listened to.

Those who go to the live Opry show expecting to see something like a modern music concert <u>will</u> be disappointed. There's no stars swinging on ropes or running all around, no singers riding motorcycles onto the stage, none of those silly "computerized dancing spotlights", no big laser-light show, and (thank God), no blazing pyrotechnics. You see, it's not about the "show", it's about the <u>music</u>, and those who made it famous.

The televised portion is carefully arranged to expose little of the past, and focuses more on the newer music styles. In music, as in so many other things...that which is "authentic" is not necessarily "the best".

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Fred Shannon on 06 December 2004 at 12:59 AM.]</p></FONT>

I venture to guess that the singers in the "pubs" you visited were younger people singing the kind of commercial modern pop country music they have to to survive in those venues and that gives them a chance to "get discovered" in modern pop country Nashville. In addition to that stuff, the Opry serves up tradition and history, in the form of what could be called commercial has-beens. People who have followed country music all their lives love that. I can see how a visitor without that background wouldn't.

If you take someone who never drinks beer to a beer tasting they will always prefer the one with the blandest taste. Experienced beer drinkers will prefer the ones with character.

My father told me this story years ago. The Delmore brothers who performed regularly on the Opry were encouraged to sing louder because the Opry audience could not hear them that well. There was only one microphone. They replied, "We're interested in the radio audience, not the Opry audience". They wanted to sound their best for the hundreds of thousands that were listening to their radios, not the hundred and fifty that were the live audience. The Opry is a radio show not a concert. Most miss this fact.

I hope to visit the GOO sometime, but I really waant to hit the "out of the way' spots.

___________________________________________
"I venture to guess that the singers in the "pubs" you visited were younger people singing the kind of commercial modern pop country music they have to to survive in those venues and that gives them a chance to "get discovered" in modern pop country Nashville."
____________________________________________

There's plenty of young bands, songwriters who are not caught up in the CMT pop crap, almost a back to the roots 'movement' For example Porter Hall TN, Thad Cockrell & Jubel Foster who shed the slick over produced sound of pop country. I dont think you'll ever hear them on the GOO stage, but in the bars & music rooms, where you can see them sweat. No make up, no fancy productions, great honest music. Ill go see them & buy their music... http://www.porterhall.com/ http://www.phillee1.com/ http://www.thadcockrell.com/

Just my 2 cents...