Carmel on the road: Nashville, Tennessee: Music city.

My drive from Franklin, North Carolina to Nashville, Tennessee was the first section of the road trip to really test this novice driver's mettle. At 290 miles (470km) this drive would take me through the top of North Carolina and into Tennessee, through the steep, windy roads of the Smoky Mountains, then curve round following a river on a road known as the 'Dragon's Tail' (with all the folklore that implies) to an overnight stop in a forest near Crossville and then the I-40 Highway straight into Nashville.

Low-lying mists as my journey begins

The first part of the drive was a revelation: now I know why the Smoky Mountains are thus called. Mist clung to the valleys and thick fog swooped in unannounced as I curved round tight, steep bends, completely obscuring my view. I pretty much stayed at a consistent 15-20 miles per hour as I navigated the windy, narrow road. The sky in the rear view mirror began to bruise and an ominous-looking storm followed me all the way. For much of the drive I followed the Tennessee River and signs of Spring were once again attempting to push through the dry brown wintry forest. Pleasant purple flowers made an appearance and cheered my way North. The advantage of a steep windy climb is always the rewarding view at the top, and this drive was no exception. Views up and downstream the Tennessee River were magnificent, made even more so by the dark skies.

The storm following me

Purple Spring flowers

After crossing the mountains I zipped along once again at water level, round the sharp, unpredictable turns of the 'Dragon's Tail' road, stopping only to eat the lunch I'd prepared and to occasionally admire the view. Finally I crossed the border into Tennessee and bid farewell to North Carolina, where I have spent such a pleasurable and memorable part of my journey.

Back down by the river

Despite a few scary moments on the road which tested my little Yaris as well as my nerve, in particular overtaking a large lorry on an uphill curve in the pouring rain and fog, I made it to Fairfield Glade in one piece, after almost 7 hours on the road. My home for the evening was with a lovely retired couple from Michigan who started letting the (many) spare rooms in their huge house because their daughter had inspired them by using Airbnb on her travels. I had an entire floor to myself which was kitted out better than a hotel, and collapsed, exhausted, in a sumptuous four-poster bed for the best sleep of my trip.

The conversation was lively and political over breakfast (it's hard being a liberal-minded retired couple in a conservative Tennessee town, apparently) and Linda drove me around to see some of the golf courses and incredible houses people have built here for their retirement. But this was only a brief stop, I still had to get to Nashville, so I bid Linda and Bill farewell and went on my way. I stopped off for another Tennessee hike on the way, at Fall Creek Falls State Park, where I walked another steep and rocky trail to see the highest waterfall East of the Rockies. Another great hike.

Blossom!

Waterfall rainbow

Down the valley

Over the suspension bridge

Looking down the waterfall

Tallest waterfall East of the Rockies

Selfie with waterfall!

Ah, Nashville. Being a big country music fan I guess I was always going to love this city. My time here was all too brief but I crammed in as much as I could. My host, Caroline, was lovely and made me feel so welcome (I arrived to Thai takeaway and more lively political banter with her and a friend, and then an episode of Twin Peaks. Immediately felt at home!). Her dog Chewie was equally welcoming, what a sweetie.

Nashville, Tennessee: honky tonk heaven

Strange sign!

Nashville architecture

Chewie

Some highlights of my time in Nashville include of course the Country Music Hall of Fame. A huge, comprehensive museum dedicated to all things Country, I spent hours with the audio tour learning all about the roots of country in hillbilly music, folk, gospel and Irish music, watching amazing early black and white footage of bare-footed kids dancing to fiddles on their porches in the early years of America's South. It was fascinating to me where the genre started, how influential travelling musicians were, what deep roots country has in gospel and religious music, how bluegrass music started, how many women were celebrated country musicians and how the songs were passed on, shared and sung by everyone in a spirit of communal ownership. In fact, 'ownership' is not the right word. They shared the music without a sense of ownership, encouraging others to sing their songs and pass on their music, which continued into the early days of recording, as evidenced by the number of different versions of so many of those early country songs.

1920s back porch hillbilly music video

Sewing machine used to put the first rhinestone-encrusted outfits together

Patsy Cline's outfit (WANT!)

Weird guitar

Elvis Presley's gold piano

Bill Monroe's guitar

Maybelle Carter's guitar

OMG Dolly's original Jolene lyric scribbles!

Ha ha Keith Urban display

Kitchenaid

Will the Circle be Unbroken

At SXSW I had seen The Winding Stream, a fantastic documentary about the Carter Family, some of the earliest country music stars of the recording era, and learnt how AP Carter had travelled round the South 'collecting' songs for them to record. All in the days before royalty payments of course.

And of course as the musuem moved forward in time, so many of my favourite musicians were featured. Johnny Cash, June Carter, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Bill Monroe, Emmylou Harris. It was magical seeing so much memorabilia and original artefacts, but my favourite thing about the museum was how much I learnt there. How many new (to me!) musicians I wrote in my 'to listen' list and whom I've now discovered thanks to Spotify. Seriously, I could go on forever about how awesome my musical journey has been through America's South but for now I'll move on to some of my other Nashville highlights.

I also visited the RCA studio B where so many incredible songs were recorded, including over half of Elvis' hits and Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' (before Whitney murdered it!). Also the Everly Brothers, Eddie Arnold, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson etc. You could feel the history in the walls, the spirits of the greats were there, and to play Elvis' favourite piano was a real treat.

Hammond Organ

Playing Elvis' piano!

I also spent an afternoon in the most authentic Honky Tonk on Nashville's famous Broadway strip, Robert's Western World. 'Rachel Hester and the Tennessee Walkers' were playing, and I simply couldn't tear myself away from their 4-hour set of country, bluegrass and folk songs. What a talented bunch Rachel has assembled to play with her, and what an amazing musician and singer she herself is. One of the joys of travelling is to be able to follow your nose, to not have a schedule or a time limit. I had nowhere else to be so could pleasantly while away four hours in a Nasvhille honkytonk listening to good music. How lucky I am.

Broadway honky tonks

Rachel Hester and the Tennessee Walkers

Robert's Western World

In the honky tonks the bands aren't paid, but, as with time-old tradition, they pass the bucket round the bar every hour, and split the proceeds. This band were no exception, and thoroughly deserved the tips they received as they entertained the patrons. I loved people-watching here, and observing the proprietess swapping one of her burgers for some barbecued brisket from the guy next door. Despite the fact that Nasvhille is a large city it still felt very 'old-timey' to me.

Of course a visit to Nashville is not complete without watching its most famous live radio show, the Grand Ole Opry. Again and again in the museums of the South I have read about how influential this show has been since its inception in 1925. Many families would huddle round their radio in the early years of the 20th century listening to its Saturday show. I journeyed out to the Opry to see whatever was on the bill this Saturday, excited to see a real part of music history. The Whites sang the song they had sung for the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, Keep on the Sunny Side; Elizabeth Cook did a fantastic country version of Lou Reed's Pale Blue Eyes; the Balsam Range bluegrass band sang an original song called Blue Mountain which moved me to tears; June Carter's daughter Carlene Carter sang a couple of songs and BJ Thomas sang Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head which he sang on the soundtrack to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The format was well-honed -- three sections to the evening, each with a 'host' who introduced each act (who in turn each got to play two songs), interspersed by radio ads for the show's sponsors, read by an old pro radio presenter with a deep southern voice.

At the centre of the Opry stage is a circle of wood which is lighter than the rest of the flooring. This was taken from the famous Ryman auditorium (the 'mother church' of country music) where the Opry began (and where June Carter and Johnny Cash first met and sang together!) and placed here when the Opry outgrew its humble beginnings and moved to a larger venue in the 70s. Every time I hear the song Will the Circle be Unbroken it will have a new meaning for me now. It was truly great to be present at such a historic radio show.

The Opry doors

Awesome old bluegrass band

Awesome new bluegrass band

I thought this dude looked a bit like Keith

ON AIR!

Keep on the Sunny Side

Carlene Carter on the Ryman circle

So apparently Nashville is known as 'The Athens of the South'... who knew?! For the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition a full-scale replica of the Parthenon was built, and housed art exhibitions from all over the world. The building was so popular that the temporary exposition structure was replaced with a permanent full-scale replica of the famous Greek Temple which opened in 1931. The basement is still used to house art exhibitions and I was lucky enough to see a fabulous collection of 19th and 20th century American art bequeathed by James M Cowan and a photographic exhibition of the ruins of the Parthenon from the early 20th century. Upstairs there is a 43-foot tall sculpture of the Goddess Athena, gilded with gold and featuring a 6' 4” goddess Nike in her hand. Pretty awesome. The American duo of sculpters had to guess when they were recreating the facades as there is little remaining evidence of the full shapes of these figurines and the Elgin marbles are so badly damaged. They took casts from the British Museum of the Elgin fragments, which are still on display here in the new Parthenon. They then pieced together as best they could what evidence they could find in order to create the full pediments for the facades on either end of the building. Later in my trip this year I'm planning to head to Athens to see the actual Parthenon, so it was a little surreal to be wandering round a full-scale, undamaged model of it. But also pretty cool. The building has been used in several movies including Robert Altman's Nashville and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

This little squirrel had made a big mistake

Clinging on for dear life!

Elgin marble casts and facade model

Athena

'The Parthenon'

Mold from titan's fork

Another fab place I visited was the Hatch Show Print workshop, where they still hand-screenprint and letterpress posters for bands, festivals and other events. Many of the original country music stars used this company for their posters, which were on display in the Country Music museum. It was fab to see their workshop and all the original letter blocks covered in ink. The tactile part of design and advertising!

Where the printing happens

Vintage Hatch posters

I chose this wine for its Hatch Show Print label!

I explored a whole lot more and enjoyed some other great aspects of Nashville, but in the interests of brevity here are some more photos and I'll leave it at that. Suffice to say I really loved my time here and would love to come back!