Nashville/CMA Fest- Days 13-17 & Trip Conclusion

This week (June 11-15) was the second part of my trip outside of the festival week--the week after the festival. My purpose for staying this far after the festival was that I wanted to experience Nashville outside of the festival and see what it's like on a normal week. I also wanted to use it to accomplish some things with songwriting. Now being home and having experienced it, I'd say I accomplished both of those goals.

I don't know if this was a perfectly accurate example of a typical week in Nashville, but if it was, then Nashville is a pretty cool place to be. It's obviously not as busy as during the festival, and not all the bars are busy at all times on all the nights, but they were still pretty busy and stayed open til after 2am. There was still great music and good times and familiar faces. 

In terms of songwriting, I didn't accomplish a ton this week, but I was fine with that. What I did do was go to a one-on-one mentoring session at NSAI, and meet a few more songwriters and industry people and hand out a few more business cards. I was going to also go to the weekly workshop at NSAI, but I ended up deciding not to go. 

Now for the concluding remarks about my trip....

This was a wonderful trip. I had lots of fun and got to experience lots of great things and see and hear some great music. There were some points, just like I normally experience in my life, where I got a bit down or unhappy. This was (and usually is) mostly because I was lonely and not receiving the attention and affection that I desire from girls, or because I like a girl and feel (based somewhat on assumption) that she is not interested in me as more than a friend. This negativity and loneliness gets fueled a lot with the kind of lifestyle I live (on this trip and at home) where I'm at bars all the time and seeing all these attractive girls, some of whom I'm friends with, and seeing them giving affection to other guys, leaving me wishing I was them [the guys] and feeling like I have no chance with them [the girls].

Ok, back to the positive. This trip really was predominantly positive. And the biggest reason for this is the amazing people I met and became friends with. I've talked about it extensively, and it really was the headline of my trip. I was so fortunate to meet Bob, Wendy, Caitlin and Todd a couple nights into my trip, and from there be invited and continually introduced to more people in their group of friends. There's a lot of them, and every one of them was so nice, inviting, friendly, and welcoming to me. From what I've heard, it sounds like they really like me and enjoyed meeting me. They were so generous and took care of me and really showed it. Was their kindness at all motivated by pity, sympathy or charity (motives I always worry about when people are extraordinarily nice to me and which I strongly dislike and hope against)? I don't know (and like with anyone else I feel like I can't blame them if they were, and I'm sure they had pure motives regardless). But I'm going to choose to assume this was not the case, and assume instead that they are just extraordinarily nice and kind people. Again, from what I've heard, they really liked me and felt that I was a really nice guy. So I'm going to go off of that. 

I'm very thankful for their kindness and friendship, and I plan on telling them so (and have done so a bit already). I really enjoyed hanging out with them literally almost every day, and look forward to doing so again in the future. They changed my trip and gave it a whole new shape and outcome. I spent much less time going to concerts and seeing all the live music during the festival than I originally planned, largely because I enjoyed hanging out with them and didn't want to leave them. It may sound a bit like a waste (financially at least), but the trip kinda ended up consisting less of me spending time involved in the festival, and more of me just hanging out and going out with these friends and drinking and stuff with them (albeit I'm sure more often than they usually go out). But like I said before about skipping most of the stadium concerts during the festival, I don't regret my decision and the way I spent my time. I'm sure I could and would have had fun on this trip if I had spent more time around the music or if I hadn't met them. But I think I had more fun with them. I would've been doing the music stuff largely by myself, and here, for one of the few times in my life recently, I (at least somewhat) realized and chose the companionship and fun of hanging out with people, instead of solitarily participating in interests I have. It may be worth noting that a significant part of my desire to hang out with these friends is that I view them as cool and popular and attractive (especially the girls), qualities that I tend to gravitate toward, perhaps because of my own insecurity and self-consciousness due to my appearance. But I don't want to knock them by saying this. Although I may have had somewhat self-serving motives for hanging out with them, they are all really nice and good and generous people, and treated me so well, for which I am so thankful. 

So in the end, my trip consisted less of a typical CMA Fest experience, and more just going out and hanging with and making friends, which I found to be very fun. We'll see, maybe next year I'll sell my tickets for the stadium show and the Fan Fair Hall (unless maybe I have someone coming with me) and just go to the free shows and hang out with my friends. But as far as this year's trip, it was amazing, and I'm so glad to have so many new friends.

Nashville/CMA Fest- Days 11 & 12

My final weekend in Nashville, as well as the last two days of the festival, were good. I didn't end up seeing all that much music (other than the bands in the bars) but I did hang out a bunch with my friends, which is what I wanted to do. As a matter of fact, out of the four nights of concerts at LP Field, I only went to one of them, the first one. The other three nights I did not go. This is despite the fact that I had a ticket, in a pretty good location, which I paid a lot of money for, and that the concerts featured lots of headline acts including some of my favorite artists (I even passed on going to see Carrie Underwood). Why did I do this? Because I felt that staying and hanging out with my friends would be more fun than going to the concerts. Because though I'm sure I would've enjoyed the music and seeing acts like Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan, I'd be doing it all by myself. I went the first night and it's a long walk (or I could take a cab or try to catch a free shuttle) and there weren't any people sitting around me that I had an interest in interacting with, so it was mostly a solo venture and experience. Add to that the fact that due to how late they start the show (8:00ish) and how many acts they include, each act only plays about six or seven songs, including the "headline" or closing act of the night. And by the time I get back into downtown after the show, it's 12:30 or 1am, which means I only have an hour or two to hang out in the bars, which is less than I'd like. So between all those factors, I chose to stay and hang out with my friends all night and literally waste the money I spent on my tickets, rather than go see the stadium shows the last three nights. But do I regret it? No. I had a good time hanging out with everyone and meeting some new people and listening to the bands play in the bars and doing a little dancing and a lot of drinking.
There's not really much else that I did this weekend other than hang out with my friends and drink. Yesterday one of them had a BBQ at his house and he and his roommates had a bunch of people over, many of whom I knew from throughout the week. It was a really good time. Really good food, good people, and good times. Tommy Barnes, the songwriter who I first met earlier in the week, was there and entertained us all with his storytelling and by even playing a few songs for us. He's a really good storyteller and really funny and entertaining, as well as a really nice and good guy.
Well, that was about it for my weekend (aside from the charity celebrity softball game on Saturday, but I mentioned that in my last post). For some people, yesterday was their last day in Nashville and they're now going home. My two closest friends out of the group are leaving tomorrow. Some live here in Nashville. As for myself, I'm still scheduled to be here until Friday morning. This means I have one more day with my aforementioned closest friends, and after that we'll see what I do. Maybe I'll hang out with some of the people in the group who live here, or maybe I'll try to connect and hang out with some other people I've met who live here, or maybe some of both. We'll see. But for today, it's one more day with this cool group of people (or those that are still here) that I've been so blessed to be included in for the last week and a half.

Nashville/CMA Fest- Days 5-10

Ok, so I got behind and missed five days. It's hard to find time to write, because I hardly spend any time in my room doing anything other than getting ready to leave or getting ready to sleep, and I haven't really tried write entries using my phone.
The last five days have been good. Maybe not every moment, but there have definitely been some good points. I've gotten to meet several artists and get some autographs and pictures. The Billboard Country Music Summit, which took place Monday and Tuesday, was a big part of that. It was a cool event overall, but as far as cool people that I got to meet and see there, I got to meet Luke Bryan, Thompson Square, Dwight Yoakam, Andy Gibson, Katie Armiger, and Rachele Lynae. I also got to meet some hit songwriters such as Bob DiPiero, Jim Beavers, and Victoria Shaw. I also go to see, but did not meet, Willie Nelson. Outside of the Summit, I got to meet Craig Morgan, Glen Templeton, Sarah Darling (second time I've met her), and Due West; I met all of them on Thursday at an event at a restaurant/bar called Tin Roof.
On Thursday I had a meeting with a friend of mine named Steve who works in the music business here. I met him initially through NSAI when he came to L.A. and did a workshop with NSAI's L.A. regional chapter. I then did a couple one-on-one sessions with him the next week while he was still in L.A., at which time he told me that when I came to Nashville he would try to take me to observe a demo session so I could see what it's like. Well, I followed him up on that offer and contacted him last Friday, and we later set a meeting time for Thursday. We went to a couple studios where I observed some work being done, one with recording a vocal and one with recording an instrument. He also pointed out several different places of interest around town as we were driving. But the highlight was the first place he took me, which was to the studio where Garth Brooks and several other artists have recorded. I saw Garth's CDs on the walls and got a tour of the studio, and even got to take pictures with the equipment, some of which was used to make Garth's albums. That was really cool. It was so nice of Steve to take two hours out of his day to take me and show me all these places and introduce me to the people there. He's a very nice man.
I've spent a lot of time over the past several days with my friends who I met here a couple nights into my trip. These are the same friends I mentioned in a previous post who I met at Tootsie's the second night I sang with Scott Collier, right after I got done singing. They are very nice people. They've continued to invite me to hang out with them all the time and they care about me and enjoy my company. I'm blessed to have met them, and they might be the best thing that's happened to me on this trip, because they've provided me with companionship and a group of people to hang out with, so I don't have to go around alone every day trying to meet new people. They are a little bit different than me perhaps. A little older, and more on the liberal side maybe, whereas I'm more conservative. But I'm willing to overlook those differences, and I do enjoy hanging out with them, and they are certainly very nice people. One cool thing I got to do with them was go to a private birthday party, last Sunday I think it was. The party was for a singer/songwriter named John Stone. This isn't the same Jon Stone I mentioned in a previous entry. That's the songwriter Jon Stone. Though as it turns out, the two of them, as well as Scott Collier, are friends. I've gotten to meet several people through these friends of mine, including some pretty important people. My friends seem to know a lot of people in this town, including a lot of very attractive female bartenders (and there are several other female bartenders that maybe they don't know who are also very attractive; there are a lot of attractive girls working in this town). But I've also met some new people on my own, such as Scott Collier, and a girl named Hannah who I met at Loser's (a bar I've mentioned previously) after she saw me dancing at Swingin' Doors (another previously mentioned bar). I've also ran into some people who remember me from being here last year. A few nights ago I ran into a group of guys who remembered me, but whom I unfortunately had no recollection of. And the night before that, I ran into a couple girls who I met last year while participating in a line dance competition for Gloriana's music video. These girls are really pretty, and they're from Macon, Georgia, which I love, because that's a southern state and it's Jason Aldean's hometown and I love referring to them (though not that they know of) as Georgia peaches (I like doing that mostly because of the Lauren Alaina song). I found out that one of them is married, as I met her husband when I ran into them. The other I do not know her relationship status, but I hope she's single. I exchanged numbers with her as a way to stay in touch with them during the week. I haven't met up with them again yet but I have texted with her a little bit. Hopefully I'll get to see them again before the end of the trip.
I've also gotten to see some good music these last several days. There have been some good bands at some of the bars I've been to, and now that the festival is in full gear, there are stages set up and live music going all day into the night, with acts on the daytime stages ranging from up and coming acts to well known level two touring acts (i.e., not headline acts but acts that open for or have the middle spot on three-band tours, e.g., David Nail), and headline acts at night in LP Field, the football stadium and home to the Tennessee Titans. I also went to a concert on Tuesday at the Grand Ole Opry, where I got to see Carrie Underwood and several other artists perform. Later in the week I found out that Luke Bryan is going to be playing there next Tuesday with Craig Morgan and others, so I went and bought a ticket for it, as well as a ticket for a backstage tour right before the show starts. That should all be a fun time.
Another cool thing I did just this morning, and which I did not do last year when I came, was go to the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge. It was cool. I got to see country stars like Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina, and Scotty McCreery play softball alongside other celerities, mostly consisting of country artists and some professional football players from the Tennessee Titans.
So now I'm about caught up. Hopefully I can somewhat stay on track with these for the rest of the trip.

Nashville/CMA Fest- Day 4

Today was a fun day. I woke up to a text message from one of my new friends. That was nice to see them follow through with their word that we would hang out today. They are very nice people, and I had a fun time with them today. I actually ended up spending the entire day with them.

I started by joining them at a beach bar called the Rusty Nail over in Hermitage, a city just outside of Nashville. We hung out there and talked and drank and ate some food. I had a pizza, which I was pleased to find was really good. One really big thing that happened to me while we were there was they introduced me to a guy named Tom (I forget his last name), who is a really big songwriter in Nashville. He's written songs recorded by Tim McGraw (and possibly other big artists, I don't know). I gave him my business card and he said he'd contact me later on. He was very nice.

After this we went over to Loser's, the bar I mentioned yesterday where I know a bartender (who they're friends with too) and where some country stars like to go. We stayed there for a little bit, and then ended up leaving so they could go home and get ready for the rest of the night. I think the initial plan may have been to come back to Loser's, but that didn't end up happening. One cool thing that happened while we were there, though, was they introduced me to another bartender they know there, whose name is Crystal. She's very nice, and I enjoyed meeting her.

After going back to the house and getting ready for the rest of the night, we went over to a bar called Buck Wild for a bit, I believe because they wanted to say hi to someone. We then went to Swingin' Doors  again, where Katie Jo was again working. We hung out there for a while. One funny note is that while we were here, the Kings game finished up, ending in overtime with the Kings winning. The part that's kinda funny, or maybe ironic or just a funny coincidence, is that three of the four main people I'm hanging out with, as well as a friend of theirs who joined us last night, are from New Jersey, which is the team that the Kings are playing in the Stanley Cup Final. So that was kinda fun to have that friendly competition between me and them.

After spending a few hours there, we went back over to Buck Wild, where we hung out a bit longer before most of them called it a night. I stayed at the bar, first with four of the other people, eventually reducing to just me and one of them. He and I went over to Sbarro's and had a slice of pizza, before he called it a night as well. My night was pretty much over at this point too, as all the bars were closing. Two more notes about tonight, one fortunate and one unfortunate. The unfortunate one is that when we were at Swingin' Doors, I was given a CD by a guy who I had met the night before and given my business card to, who is a songwriter and maybe also a singer. The unfortunate part is that I later lost his CD somewhere, as I had been carrying it in my pocket, and it must have fallen out. He said he's going to contact me later on so we can meet up and write together, which I hope we do, but that stinks that I lost his CD. The fortunate note is that also while we were at Swingin' Doors, we ran into a guy named John Stone (not the same one from the other night at Tootsie's, although this John Stone is also friends with Scott Collier and was at Tootsie's with him last night), who is a singer/songwriter. He's friends with at least some of my new friends, and invited me to his birthday party tomorrow night. That should hopefully be fun.

Nashville/CMA Fest- Day 3

Today was a nice day. A little less eventful maybe than I would like, but there were certainly some good parts. I started off by actually making it to breakfast this morning in the hotel. So that was nice. I later went into downtown where I visited my favorite boot store, Boot Country, as well as their sister store, Nashville Cowboy, and then I had lunch at the Wildhorse Saloon. After that I felt a little tired (and also a little sick--it seems I have a cold acting up again) and was kinda without anything to do (I had planned on walking around Centennial Park and visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, but I chose to go to the aforementioned other places instead, and it was past closing time at Hall of Fame by the time I was done), so I went back to my hotel room, where I took a nap and a little medicine.

I then got up and headed back into town for my first ever non-CMA-Fest-week Friday night in Nashville. My initial plan was to go to Tootsie's and then possibly go to Loser's (a bar where I know one of the bartenders and where some country stars like to go) depending on how things went. When I entered Tootsie's I was pleased to see Scott Collier (the singer who invited me on stage to sing a few times last night) performing. It turned out that he was toward the end of his performance set when I got there, but I saw him do a couple songs, and was very pleased and excited that he invited me back on stage (I was hoping he would) to do "Dirt Road Anthem" with him again, which was actually his last song of the night. That was of course very fun. While I was on stage I noticed some guitar picks in a mic stand, so after they finished I asked for one, which they gave me, and which I will be putting on my necklace.

Another cool thing that happened when I got to go onstage and perform with Scott tonight was that I ended up meeting a couple pretty ladies and their significant others. The ladies took a picture or two with me, and were very friendly. So much so that they invited me to hang out with them the rest of the night, and the rest of the trip. One of them is also very knowledgable in medicine and is actually familiar with my trach (pronounced "trake", short for tracheostomy tube, the white thing in my neck). So that was cool. As I said, these ladies and their significant others, were very nice and I enjoyed hanging out with them. They come to Nashville often (one of them lives here), and they know a lot of people, and introduced me to several. One of the people they know is the aforementioned bartender that I know at Loser's, Katie Jo. Funny story, we were actually on our way to go over to Loser's after Tootsie's, but we stopped at another bar called Swingin' Doors Saloon, I think because they wanted to say hi to someone, and it turned out that Katie Jo works there, and was working that night (I don't know if any of them knew that; I didn't)! So I got to see her and talk to her a bit, and that was great!

After spending a few hours there, my new friends left to go home, at which point I decided to leave the bar as well and go to some other bars. I went to a few, none of which were incredibly fun unfortunately, and then ended the night with a grilled cheese at Paradise Trailer Park (a restaurant and bar that serves food until late at night) and then went back to my hotel and went to bed. All in all, not a bad Friday night in Nashville, thanks to Mr. Scott Collier, my new friends that I met, and the pleasure of getting to see Katie Jo for the first time this trip.

Nashville/CMA Fest 2012- Day 2

Well today was my first full day in Nashville, and what a day it ended up being! I planned on getting up for breakfast, but I slept through both of my alarms. Guess those highly-marketed Hampton beds really are comfortable! 

When I eventually made it outside, I chose to go over to a cafe called Lucy’s Country Cafe for lunch. I heard about this place either on Headline Country or in Country Weekly. The reason I chose to go to it is because it’s owned by Bobby Pinson and his wife Lucy. Bobby is a hit songwriter, so, naturally, I wanted to go there to see if I could meet him. Neither he or Lucy were around, but I found out a good time to find him there, and plan on going back next week for that. The food was good. Southern dishes, with generous servings. The service was great too, very nice. By the time I left, I was stuffed. So much so actually that I went back to my hotel room to rest.

At about 5:30 I left my hotel for my first business-related activity of the trip (aside from trying to meet Bobby Pinson), which was going to an NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) weekly workshop. This workshop was part two of a workshop featuring a man named Ralph Murphy, who has a long and impressive resume in the industry. In part one he heard people play songs, then gave them recommendations for changes to make them more listener-friendly (which was the main lesson of the workshop). This week the people came back and played their songs again for him with the changes. I was obviously not present for last week’s meeting, so I just sat and observed this week’s meeting and only heard the songs with the changes in place. The meeting was very helpful for me though. Mr. Murphy talked a bit and gave a ten-lesson checklist for making sure songs are listener-friendly. This was very informative. I got to meet Mr. Murphy afterward, and also met some of the NSAI staff before the meeting, which was nice. I’ll be back there later in the trip.

Then came what would end up being the most interesting part of the day, and the trip so far. I went into downtown to go to some bars and try to have some fun. There was a thunderstorm going on at the time, which was interesting. Little bit of rain and some lightning. I probably went into eight or so bars, and had a drink in five of them. Three of my drinks got paid for by someone else, which was nice. I met a girl from Alabama who is friends with one of the bands I saw named the Chris Schrader Band (I also met Chris) and works at Tootsie’s, where I know another girl that works there. But the highlight of the night, and the trip so far, was when I happened to go to Tootsie’s later that night. I saw from outside that the guy performing was doing so from on top of the bar. I thought this was interesting, so I decided to go inside. I took a seat on the edge of the stage next to a couple pretty girls, and not long after, he took notice of me and my cowboy hat (he was also wearing one), and eventually invited me on stage to sing with him! The first song he played I had no idea what it was, so I couldn’t sing anything. But then I got them to play another one that I knew, which ended up being “Friends In Low Places”. That was fun, but it got even better. Upon tipping the band generously (for all the attention and obvious cool stuff they did for me), I was asked if I had any requests. I said I wanted some Jason Aldean and that I wanted to sing it with him. They were evidently ok with this, cause not long after I was called back up on stage to sing “Dirt Road Anthem”. The night finished with the artist (whose name is Scott Collier) inviting his friend onstage to sing a couple songs. His friend is hit songwriter Jon Stone. After singing his current number one hit “A Woman Like You” I got invited to sing one of his other number one hits with him “Me and My Gang”. I then met Jon when the bar was closing, and ended up joining him and a couple girls from Memphis across the street at Paradise Trailer Park for some food. What a night!

Nashville/CMA Fest 2012- Day 1

Today was the first day of my trip. I flew out of Burbank in the afternoon, and, after an hour and a half layover in Phoenix, arrived in Nashville at 10:30pm local time. The second flight was a little late in leaving and arriving, but both flights and the layover went well. I then took a taxi to the hotel, and after a couple phone calls and checking SportsCenter for the result of the Kings game, went downtown to check out Broadway. I went to a few bars, eventually closing down Legends, where I had my first two drinks of the trip and only two drinks of the night. I met the artist performing there--his name is Ryan Olson--he’s a cool guy. Legends closed at around 2:15 and I was disappointed to see all the other bars were closed too when I left Legends (bars don’t have to close until 3 here I think). I then hailed a cab (though somewhat reluctantly once I got in it, as I was thinking I maybe wanted to go to Paradise Trailer Park for some food and possible additional socializing) and went back to the hotel, where I am now going to bed. All in all, not a bad day or start to the trip. I’m glad to be back in Nashville; time to get up tomorrow and make it a great first full day here!