Book Review: Night Train to Nashville

In another time and place, E. Gab Blackman and William Sousa "Sou" Bridgeforth might have been as close as brothers, but in 1950s Nashville they remained separated by the color of their skin. Gab, a visionary yet opportunistic radio executive, saw something no one else did: a vast and untapped market with the R&B scene exploding in Black clubs across the city. He defied his industry, culture, government, and even his own family to broadcast Black music to a national audience.

J.D. Shelburne - live and on CDs

Our final day of our Nashville trip rounded out with a stop at the Tequila Cowboy, a restaurant and bar on Broadway. It was there that we were treated to final hour of an afternoon acoustic set by J.D. Shelburne. He was joined on stage by acoustic cajon player Eric Carby.

Shelburne hails from Taylorsville, Kentucky. This hard-working musician has been playing gigs regularly since he graduated the University of Kentucky in 2007. He has even opened for such big name country acts as Kellie Pickler, Montgomery Gentry and Miranda Lambert.

The Ryman and the Hall of Fame

After our first night in Nashville and celebrating music (click here for yesterday's post), the rest of our weekend was going to continue to focus on the sounds of city.

Saturday morning was spent shopping, but by the afternoon my wife and I were hanging out downtown. We would stop in a variety of local establishments to listen to some musicians play for the bar and restaurant patrons. It was also a good time to people watch. There were quite a few bachelorette trips in town for the weekend - trust me, you could not miss these groups of rowdy ladies out for a weekend romp.

A Night at the Opry

This past weekend, we took a family trip down to Nashville, TN. Our son was playing in the Yu-Gi-Oh Nationals card tournament, so my wife and I decided to take in the tourist sites of the city. Top on the list was, of course, a visit to the Grand Ole Opry.