I think that was Tommy Shaw on the plane. You know, the blond guy from Damn Yankees and Styx. Would have been hard to believe just a few years ago, but rockers in music city? De rigueur!

And it is music city. My limo driver, who was not an Angeleno, as in this was his real job, DRIVING THE LIMO, not trying to make it as an entertainer…all the tourist sites he pointed out were music-related. Well, except for the ‘que palace. He said to drop in at Jack’s…and I’m gonna DO THAT!

It’s over eighty here. Which is hard to believe. Flying east from L.A., it’s always COLDER! And the land is flat. And there are clouds. Not quite like a Michelangelo painting, but the kind that set your imagination free anyway.

The tallest building in town is inhabited by Nissan. Albeit temporarily. Yup, they moved their HQ from Southern California. And while my driver wasn’t quite up on the city’s history, when I saw the bridge I knew Nashville was here because of the river. Which turned out to be the CUMBERLAND! Remember fifth grade social studies? When we moved slowly across the country? From my home in New England to the truck farms in Pennsylvania to the CUMBERLAND GAP?

There’s a stadium… The Titans moved here. Can they survive in a city of 650,000? Oh yeah, that’s right, the NFL has got revenue sharing. And giant TV contracts and now its own cable network. Turns out the music business shouldn’t be run by Doug Morris, but PAUL TAGLIABUE!

There’s a giant Gibson painted on a downtown wall. And tourists on Second Street, where a Hard Rock sits on the corner, where I’m thinking all the memorabilia is country. My driver told me everything was right here, in walking distance of the Hilton. Oh, they’d moved the Grand Ole Opry out to the sticks, by a shopping mall. And the Bluebird is fifteen minutes away. But the old Opry, and Ernest Tubbs’ record shop, are right here downtown.

And what a downtown… Kind of an eastern version of "Last Picture Show". There’s one main boulevard, with a rise in it. In New York City you see the pulse, as soon as you enter Manhattan. There is no pulse in L.A. It’s just like the suburbs you left. Nashville is old school. You can’t see the pulse, but you feel it. With the old-style buildings, the neon. It’s not bright and sunny. And I’m sure super-hot in the summer. But here’s where you go if you want to make it in the country music game.

The main drag’s not inviting. It’s broad, if not quite bleak. The city isn’t gonna make you… This is where you come with your self-confidence, your talent, to show the world what you’ve got. In L.A. it’s your looks. In New York it’s your money and who you know. In Nashville it’s strap on your guitar and show me what you’ve got. It’s not inviting, but if you’ve got the talent, the city is with you.

P.S.

I wanted to hit send on this about twenty minutes ago, but I had a connection problem. Well, first of all, the ethernet cable in the room was broken. And, they asked for so much credit card information on the login page, after I whipped out my own cable, which I don’t travel without, I figured I’d call up and see if I could have it charged to my room.

NO PROBLEM!

I forgot I was in the south. The people here have a mildly stronger accent than Al Gore. Which is just a fraction of the drawl of my old girlfriend from Tallahassee. And FRIENDLY! God, you wonder why there’s still a war between the north and the south. The southerners just can’t understand what all the huff and puff and rudeness is about.

The dude didn’t come up to connect me as quickly as he said, which had me burning in my seat, as I wanted to hit send, but when he knocked on my door and came in, it was like we were NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS! Like he’d dropped by with a cup of sugar, and since he was over might as well give me a couple of cake tips.

Anyway, he said many guests break the ethernet plug so it won’t pull the laptop off the table if it’s stretched by accident. I told him there’d be no accidents in my room. I’m the only one here!

God, I guess if I could be the one to have accidents, I wouldn’t have to go for psychotherapy! Then again, Elvis Costello sang that accidents will happen. And after that, didn’t he do an album "Almost Blue", all country tunes? Funny how the English have a fascination with country. And the Canadians too. Whereas we have a divide in the U.S. If you’re into hip-hop, you’re not going to listen to country, and vice versa. But just like hip-hop used to be the sound of the streets, of a generation, and some underground stuff still is, country is the sound of the American family. Of heartbreak, loneliness and perseverance. As well as some rowdy, liquored up good times. I guess our country will be whole when we can appreciate each other’s music. Then again, Big & Rich have a black rapper, Cowboy Troy!