Nashville: Ship off to the capital of country music
The Tennessee capital is also home to the Grand Ole Opry which, as well as being the world's longest running radio broadcast, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
The Opry has been held at its current location, Opry House, only since 1974.
This is about a 20-minute drive northeast of Downtown, where I started my Nashville explorations at the historic, iconic Ryman Auditorium ( ryman.com), where tour options allow you to venture backstage, learn more about its long connection with the Opry's past, or see a live performance on almost any night of the week.
Ryman Auditorium.
Naturally, live performance is something that Nashville does exceptionally well. Strolling 10 minutes from the Ryman, I found myself in the thick of the action: on Honky Tonk Highway, where bars such as Nudie's, Second Fiddle, Robert's, and The Bootlegger's Inn typically have bands playing from 10am until 3am.
By night, this strip becomes a dazzling confection of old-school neon signs — and entrance to every venue is free, with punters encouraged to place their money in the tip jar that circulates after each performance. Bar-hopping the entire four-block stretch would have required more stamina than I possess, but would be, I think, well worth the effort.
Live in The Listening Room, Nashville
Other, less rowdy, options exist for the enjoyment of live music in the city. Established in 2006, The Listening Room ( listeningroomcafe.com) has been in its current location since 2017 and is based simply on the idea that good music deserves to be heard without competing with the hubbub of revellers.
Singer/songwriters play acoustically, sharing the inspiration for their songs with the audience, creating an atmosphere of storytelling and true musicianship, accompanied by southern comfort food and a solid drinks menu.
A similar, music-first attitude prevails at The Station Inn ( stationinn.com) where bluegrass is played in an intimate setting, seven nights a week. There's even a free bluegrass jam, which allows those with any skill, on any bluegrass instrument, to 'pick' in a circle with other musicians.
The Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville
To put Nashville's musical importance into perspective, I set aside a good few hours to browse the exhibits at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum ( countrymusichalloffame.org) which tells the story of country music from its simple, folky roots to the glitz and glamour with which it is associated today.
I was as drawn, magpie-like, to Elvis Presley's 1960 gold Cadillac (its colour and size alone make it unmissable) as I was to the walls that gleam with gold records.
Stepping into the Rotunda, where the artists who have been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame are celebrated, felt almost like stepping into church, such was the atmosphere of reverence.
The record wall at Country Music Hall of Fame.
FROM HANK TO TAYLOR
Elsewhere, the guitars of musicians such as Hank Williams and Tom Petty are on display, as well as costumes worn by stars from Patsy Cline to Hank Thompson, and from Taylor Swift to Dolly Parton.
I'm only annoyed that I hadn't timed my visit for between now and September, as this is when a special exhibition, Journey of a Seeker, dedicated to the Jolene singer and country music legend, will be on show.
Tours to historic RCA Studio B leave from the foyer several times a day and, on the short bus ride, our guide provided colourful background notes.
Historic RCA Studio B. Pic: Donn Jones.
Known as The Home of 1,000 Hits, Studio B was Elvis's favourite recording studio, where he made around 240 songs. Of course I took my seat at the piano where he liked to warm up his voice, and stood on the floor's blue cross, which marks the acoustic 'sweet spot' for recording vocals.
Once delivered back to the museum, I headed to its Rep John Lewis Way entrance for a visit to Hatch Show Print ( hatchshowprint.com).
Hatch Show Print.
In Nashville since 1879, this operation's lively, distinctive block print style has heralded countless events in the city and beyond, and visitors to the workshop can book a tour to get up close with the vintage equipment or, as I did, simply watch the designer-printers at work on a range of posters, the likes of which can be purchased in the adjacent gift shop.
Hatch Show Print has, of course, designed many posters for the Grand Ole Opry over the years and, as you might have guessed, no visit to Nashville would be complete without a night at this Nashvillean stalwart, especially in this, its 100th year.
Grand Ole Opry House. Credit: Chris Hollo Nashville
A NIGHT AT THE OPRY
Taking my seat in the auditorium was a thrill enough, even before the performers — there are never any fewer than eight in a show, combining a mix of Opry members (established, inducted artists) and burgeoning talent — took to the stage, which comprises a circle of oak, cut from the show's previous Ryman home.
On a tour, there's not only the chance to stand on the famed circle yourself, but also to see the backstage dressing rooms and the Opry Mailboxes, to which fans can send letters to inducted artists.
Keith Urban had a few piling up, so I was hopeful that he might swing by during my visit, but no such luck.
Locals told me that he and wife Nicole Kidman are regular, low-key fixtures around town, and that no one bothers them; I'm not sure that I would have been so cool and collected (although… Kidman and I went to the same high school in Australia, so I would have had some kind of conversation opener).
And speaking of stars, it is almost impossible to be this close to Memphis, and so surrounded by reminders of the King of Rock 'n' Roll's career, without taking a trip south-west to visit the performer's legendary home, Graceland.
Currently, there's a special exhibition running until the end of 2025 to commemorate what would have been Presley's 90th birthday year.
It features 90 curated stories told through an immense collection of Graceland artefacts, including never seen before personal effects, such as an engraved nunchuck and a poem dedicated to Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie.
STAY SPARKLY
The best way to get there? On a day tour with Grayline ( graylinetn.com) which leaves from Nashville at 7am and takes in Sun Studios and Beale Street as well as granting VIP access to Graceland.
The experience of being immersed in Elvis' colourful life makes standing in the Garden of Meditation, where he is buried alongside his parents, grandmother, daughter, and grandson, incredibly poignant. I can't deny having welled up.
After seeing so many extravagant jumpsuits on display, how could I resist a spot of Nashville shopping?
Hip stores abounded, from Garage Sale Vintage to Boot Barn, but my favourite was undoubtedly Any Old Iron which screamed 'star quality' in everything from its cheeky slogan tees to its razzle-dazzle suits.
No wonder its creations have been worn by the likes of Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Elton John. 'Stay sparkly!' called the store attendant to me, as I left. Heading back down to the bright lights of Honky Tonk Highway, it was hard to feel anything but.
Sarah was a guest of Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp and Tennessee Department of Tourism
ESCAPE NOTES
Aer Lingus operates four direct flights per week from Dublin to Nashville. One-way fares from €299.99 each way, including taxes and charges. aerlingus.com
Learn more about Nashville at visitmusiccity.com
Learn about holidaying in Tennessee at tnvacation.com
WHERE TO EAT
There's a dizzying array of food options available in Nashville, and the portion sizes are no less impressive. My advice? Come hungry, and pace yourself. Nashville is all about the energy, so this is no place for a food coma.
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Irish Times
7 days ago
- Irish Times
‘Elvis was, in many circles, considered an idiot savant... I wanted to take him seriously as a creative artist'
Now a grandmaster of American letters, at the age of 81, Peter Guralnick remains unique among his generation of music writers. His contemporaries – Nick Tosches, Paul Williams, Greil Marcus – leant heavily on voice, idiosyncrasy and myth, but the Boston-born biographer and critic (or, more often, evangelist) always placed himself beneath the narrative. I first learned of his work through reading Lester Bangs's speaking-in-tongues notes on Lost Highway: Journeys and Arrivals of American Musicians, Guralnick's book from 1979. The two couldn't have been more different; Guralnick is closer to a portrait artist, best known for his towering Elvis Presley biography, the exultant, inspiring Last Train to Memphis, which was published in 1994. 'The Elvis book was an extreme example of rigorous self-suppression,' Guralnick says with a laugh. 'I was determined to keep out of it completely. I don't think that's as true of any of the other books. What I was also determined to do was, to the best of my ability, rescue him from the mythicisation, the whole process of creating someone who was either a superhero or, in the case of the Colonel' – aka Tom Parker, Presley's manager – 'the way people perceived him as a super villain.' A stray phrase can create a universe. In his introduction to Last Train to Memphis Guralnick described a eureka moment, driving down McLemore Avenue in South Memphis in 1983, past the old Stax studio, when his friend Rose Clayton, a native Memphian, pointed out a drugstore where Presley's cousin used to work. READ MORE 'Elvis used to hang out there, she said; he would sit at the soda fountain, drumming his fingers on the countertop. 'Poor baby,' said Rose, and something went off in my head. This wasn't 'Elvis Presley'; this was a kid hanging out at a soda fountain in South Memphis, someone who could be observed, just like you or me, daydreaming, listening to the jukebox, drinking a milkshake, waiting for his cousin to get off work. 'Just to be there on that street where the First Assembly of God church was,' Guralnick says, 'and there's a boarded-up drugstore, and Rose says, 'Poor baby.' It just galvanised me, caused me to recognise the possibilities of not writing in this theoretical way about Elvis, which I had up until that time. 'I had that same kind of revelation when we got into the archives of Graceland through the good graces of Jack Soden' – president of Elvis Presley Enterprises, who opened the singer's mansion to the public – 'way back, and we started reading these letters. Then to have the advantage of the Colonel's widow, Loanne – I was just going to do [a book of] the letters, because I thought they offered a window into an interior story, but she became so caught up in the idea [of a biography], determined to do justice to Colonel.' And so, after Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, which appeared in 1999, we come to the third instalment of Guralnick's trilogy, The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley and the Partnership That Rocked the World. Guralnick has a taste for stalking phantoms, whether in Searching for Robert Johnson or Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. In many ways 'Colonel' Tom Parker, born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in the Netherlands in 1909, was the archetypal American dream chaser, the self-created migrant, a man with no past, who might have fallen off the back of a truck like Frank Chambers in The Postman Always Rings Twice, before quickly establishing himself as a carny, then as a talent manager and promoter. Elvis Presley and manager Colonel Tom Parker in Miami. Photograph: NBC/Getty Images 'This is the ultimate American self-invention,' Guralnick concedes. 'And the way in which he invented himself is he used all of the aspects of his real self, his real background, his birth date, his interests, his love of animals, his love of the carnivals. He used all of them but transposed them to an America he sought out from the time he was 16 years old. 'Really, he wanted to be American before he could even speak English. He stowed away, got sent back at 16, came right back again. Here's what I wonder – you might have an angle on this, because Ireland has developed such a passion for country music, and for dressing up country and everything – but did he read comic books? Did he see movies? You know, I try to get in touch with him; I call him up many times in my dreams. I have yet to get an answer!' It must be a bizarre experience, I suggest, to immerse oneself so completely in a subject's life for years at a time. 'So much of that derives from [the biographer] Richard Holmes, from [his book] Footsteps, his framing of it, the way the person you're trying to write about, the character you're pursuing, you feel like you're gaining, you're gaining, you're gaining, and then he or she disappears around the corner: 'Where'd they go?' 'When I finished the Sam Phillips biography' – Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock'n'Roll , from 2015, about the founder of Sun Records – 'I said, 'That's it. No more!' I was thrilled with the Elvis book. I was thrilled with Sam Cooke; that was an immersion in a world that was so extraordinary and wide-ranging. 'Sam Phillips was more of a self-invented world, but there were no limits to it. It was without boundaries. I was convinced I didn't want to do anything further, because it involves such total immersion. What are the specifics? What was the colour of the sky on that day?' This is not a question of blame, but Elvis began to stumble in public Phillips 'became a great friend, but I would ask him these questions which really were of no relevance to him, and he would touch his head and say, 'You're making my brain hurt.' But he would make the effort. People really want to tell their own stories.' Tom Parker had long threatened to write his autobiography. (How Much Does It Cost if It's Free? was one his pet titles.) He never got there, but he was a prolific – some would say compulsive – letter writer, and many of his dispatches are collected in the new book. In some ways Guralnick, who knew the Colonel as an old man, has charged himself with fulfilling that vow. The character he reveals is far more complex, and more sympathetic, than the Machiavellian plotter of matinee biopics. For one thing, the Colonel steadfastly refused to interfere with Presley's creative process, always confining himself to business negotiations. Why did he get such a bad reputation? 'People like to mythologise. Elvis was, in many circles, considered sort of an idiot savant. I started writing about him when he put out those singles in 1967 and then the [1968 comeback] special and then From Elvis in Memphis, but I wanted to take him seriously as a creative artist. That was something that was more difficult for people to get their head around, just like Jerry Lee Lewis . 'Jerry Lee Lewis was a f**king genius. He was perceptive; he was insightful ... He was also, as he would be the first to admit, an idiot when it came to money, when it came to women, when it came to taking care of himself. But he was not a cartoon figure. 'Why did the Colonel get this reputation? One [reason] was nobody had any idea what he did. He was totally uninvolved in Elvis's creative process, but he was totally committed to furthering Elvis's creative process, and he signed on to doing that almost from the moment they met. Elvis Presley and his manager Colonel Tom Parker in Hawaii, March 1961. Photograph: Michael'Except for Sam Phillips, who didn't have the money to promote him, nobody else saw what Colonel saw, which was not necessarily the music that Elvis was doing but the vision that Elvis had. He saw Elvis as being entirely apart, and was prepared to set aside all the conventional success that he had achieved – which was the greatest success that anyone could achieve at that time within the world, with Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow – and he was prepared to walk away from that in a minute for this untried, untested, unproven kid that he saw unlimited potential in not for money but for artistic self-expression. 'I would say, until the mid-1960s, maybe even until Las Vegas, he was seen as the smartest manager in the business, somebody whose imperious sense of humour set him apart and above. I mean, who did Brian Epstein seek out when he wanted advice? Nobody ever questioned his integrity.' So how did this trailblazing character end up adrift, lost, purposeless, prey to a gambling addiction? 'This is not a question of blame, but Elvis began to stumble in public. After the glorious Las Vegas debut, descriptions of him in the New Yorker and New York Times as a God come down from heaven, his performances began to suffer, his abuse of prescription drugs became more and more evident. And the sense that he was stuck,' Guralnick says. 'All of a sudden, who is there to blame? Well, Colonel: 'He didn't give him the artistic opportunities. Colonel is stealing his money,' all this kind of thing. It's understandable in a sense. Colonel's perspective was the artist wears the white hat, the manager wears the black hat; the manager takes all the blame. 'The thing that came as a shock to me was the extent of the tragedy of the ending, on both Elvis's side and on Colonel's side. If you look at the portrait that I drew in Looking to Get Lost' – a collection of Guralnick's profiles – 'or in Careless Love, Colonel is a Falstaffian figure. I thought of him as a character who was untouched by any of this. And it's absolutely crystal clear from what Loanne told me, which comes straight out of her diary, her journal, how devastated Colonel was by his own addiction.' [ Priscilla Presley on marriage to Elvis: 'I knew what I was in for. I saw it from a very young age' Opens in new window ] In fact, The Colonel and the King contains a desperately sad photograph of Presley and Parker taken in Las Vegas in 1972. The singer looks completely out of it, and for the first time his manager appears fragile and frail. 'Isn't that awful? At first I said, 'I can't put that in the book.' And then I thought, it has to be in the book, because whatever was happening at that moment, it expressed so much of what you just described. It was like I thought Colonel was a lovable rapscallion, and as foolish as what he was doing was, he never overextended himself. He lost a lot of money, but he left Loanne with $1 million in the bank. He always had $1 million in the bank to cover both his and Elvis's potential losses. 'But, jeez, I mean, to be up three days in the casino and then just to go to bed, to be so overwhelmed, the devastation of the [final] tours – and again, this is not putting the blame on Elvis, but I think I may have used the words in Careless Love: it was like a folie a deux. Everybody was living in a fool's paradise. Everybody seemed to believe that Elvis could rise to the challenge. That was the crippling illusion that Colonel was under.' The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley and the Partnership That Rocked the World is published by White Rabbit on Tuesday, August 5th
The Irish Sun
22-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Moment pensioner is dragged out of immersive Elvis Presley show by burly security guards after he called it ‘b*****ks'
THIS is the moment a pensioner was dragged out of an immersive Elvis Presley show by security - after allegedly calling it 'b*****ks'. Shocking video shows the elderly man being carried out of the building by his arms and legs as onlookers pleaded with four burly guards to leave him alone. 4 The pensioner was pushed to the floor by security guards Credit: supplied 4 He was dragged out after criticising the show Credit: Supplied The backpack-clad fan is thought to have travelled to the Elvis Evolution at Excel London with a coach trip on Sunday afternoon. Witnesses say he was asked to leave when he criticised the experience but refused - prompting security to throw him out. Laura Cadden, 42, who filmed the incident, told The Sun: 'People were talking and basically everybody was saying 'this is a load of rubbish'. 'The elderly gentleman then said 'this is b*****ks' - at which point they turned all the lights up and got the security from the Excel to come in. Read More "They asked him to leave, he said 'I'm not going anywhere at the moment, I'll leave in my good time'. 'So they pushed him onto his knees and four of them each took an arm or leg and dragged him out… 'He was just expressing his opinion about the show, which was absolutely valid, because it was dreadful.' Laura, who had travelled down from Most read in The Sun Guests were asked to leave and the subsequent shows were cancelled. They were told to contact organisers Layered Reality for a refund. It is the latest blow for the 'high-tech' performance, which promised a dazzling journey through the King of Rock and Roll's life when it opened earlier this month. Some attendees had been expecting cutting-edge holograms to rival the smash hit But furious audiences, who paid up to £300 each for VIP tickets, They compared it to last year's Elvis Evolution said its plans for a hologram concert announced in early 2024 were dropped during development - but insisted this was 'made clear when tickets went on sale'. Organisers said the elderly man was removed on Sunday for being 'verbally aggressive' towards staff. A spokesperson for Elvis Evolution said: 'A guest attending the event on Sunday night became verbally aggressive towards our staff. "Despite being politely asked to stop, the behaviour escalated, with the guest explicitly stating his intention to continue making threats towards our staff and performers. 'The on-site management team engaged promptly and professionally, requesting that the individual leave the venue. When he refused to comply, the security team were called to assist, and the individual was subsequently removed from the premises. 'While we regret any disruption caused to other guests, the safety and wellbeing of our staff, cast and visitors is our highest priority.' Excel London was approached for comment. 4 Organisers said the elderly man was removed on Sunday for being 'verbally aggressive' towards staff Credit: Supplied 4 Guests were asked to leave and the subsequent shows were cancelled Credit: Supplied
The Irish Sun
20-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
‘High-tech' Elvis show SLAMMED by furious fans as they compare it to flop Willy Wonka experience
A 'HIGH-tech' Elvis Presley show has been blasted by fans who say it involved grainy video clips while an impersonator danced on stage. Some attendees were expecting cutting-edge holograms to rival the smash hit Advertisement 2 Elvis Evolution promised a dazzling journey through the King of Rock and Roll's life when it opened at the ExCel in East London this month 2 The King of Rock and Roll on stage in 1973 Credit: Getty But it has since been compared to Elvis Evolution promised a dazzling journey through the King of Rock and Roll's life when it opened at the ExCel in East London this month. However, disappointed punters who paid up to £300 for VIP tickets claim there was no 3D avatar — just an actor dancing in front of video clips of the icon. Chas Johnson, 48, said: 'The whole thing is lamentable. Advertisement Read More on Showbiz "But where it goes really wrong is where there was meant to be something akin to Abba Voyage with a hologram of Elvis, the focal point, that's completely missing.' Another attendee said: 'People were looking around and thinking, 'Is this it?'.' Others compared it to An Elvis Evolution spokesman said plans for a hologram concert announced in early 2024 were dropped during development. Advertisement Most read in Celebrity Live Blog But they insisted this was 'made clear when tickets went on sale' and the show has been 'praised by fans and newcomers'. Jan Shepard dead at 96: Actress starred opposite Elvis
