ON THE ROAD PART VIII: NASHVILLE

All I had really heard about Nashville were the typical stereotypes, everyone wears cowboy hats and boots, there is a small stage in each bar where aspiring country artists hope to get discovered, people saying things like fixin' to and ya'll in the thickest accent imaginable, cowboy gear shops on every corner and so on. This is pretty much all I had imagined and hoped for when I had decided it was a must see in Tennessee. To my excitement, arriving in the center of the city I found all of my stereotypes about Nashville confirmed and actually surpassed! I like to think my reaction was similar to how I imagine the 1960s US TV audiences reacted at the first glimpse of Porter Wagoner and his heavily bedazzled country suits (and later Dolly's wigs) on his show... amazed, pleasantly surprised, but a little shell shocked.