Nashville – My City of Broken Dreams
I am fortunate enough to have a job that involves some travel. Some of the places I go are interesting, others, not so much. A recent trip to Nashville took me on a jaded trip down memory lane to a town I have dubbed my city of broken dreams.
Things had changed since my last trip there ten years ago when I left small town Ohio with my acoustic guitar resting in the passenger seat for a summer internship with Arista Records. I don’t think the changes are for the better either. Maybe that is just my poor memory though. I headed to Broadway in downtown Nashville for a night on town. It was a street I remember being the place where the future country stars of America went to make it. I remember showcases almost every night from future superstars, intimate experiences with aspiring songwriters, talent oozing onto the sidewalks from the bars and cafes. Maybe I have these romantic memories because I wasn’t quite yet 21 and couldn’t get into many places with my fake ID unless it was an Arista sponsored event. And let’s face it; we are all a bit naive at that age.
Can you Count the Convention Goers in Business Blues?
What I found was talent and music coming from the bars and cafes that lacked, well, talent. Maybe I just picked the wrong places or the wrong night. There was Tootsie’s where I ordered a beer and couldn’t wait to get the hell out. It was terrible. A talentless band screeching out crowd pleasing favorites like Sweet Home Alabama. I watched as men in business blues interrupted their talks of negotiations, break-out sessions, and key note speakers to raise their water-downed light beers and chant along to “Roll Tide Roll.” It was pathetic. Nashville had gone corporate.
Home of Some Authentic Country Music
The talent at Robert’s Western World was better. They avoided the mainstream, corporate bullshit garbage and played traditional country music from the likes of Hank Williams, Sr., Hank Snow, Gene Autry, and Ernest Tubb. While I appreciated their patronage to the classics they lacked the originality I was looking for. This is no knock on their abilities, but they simply filled the gap to please the tourists looking for an old time, authentic county music experience. I started to ponder where the original talent had gone. What was I missing? Where were the next stars? Had they all left to win it big on reality TV shows? Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough. Maybe it was the kids on the corner of 5th and Broadway playing a song about getting stoned and talking to cops. Or was it somebody in the crowd taking the night off? The guy at the bar sporting the modern western button down and Dierks Bentley hair or the woman with the Patsy Cline look on the dance floors?
Finally - Something Original
Beaten-up and tired of Budweiser, I headed for my hotel only to be stopped by some rockabilly sounds spilling from Full Moon Saloon. I was enticed. The Bryan Wayne Band managed to play traditional rockabilly songs with their own flair. I found my seat for a few more beers and enjoyed something original. I wasn’t the only one either. The talent from Robert’s stumbled by later in the night.
The City of Country Music Dreams
I think back to the eight hour drive from Niles to Nashville so many years ago. I was hopeful back then, but only to have my dreams shattered. Napster and digital pirating rocked the music world just as a graduated from college ready to make it in Nashville helping to find the next big starts. Those dreams died. But I’m okay with that. I found my real strengths and dreamt new dreams. As for me, I’m pretty good at writing (or so I’m told). Maybe someday I can publish an article or a short story? Maybe I’ll even achieve that dream of publishing a novel. Or maybe, just maybe, I will write me that country and western song. As for Nashville, my hope is that I did just miss the real talent. Perhaps it moved to a new district somewhere else within the city limits. That it continues to be a city of dreams.
