Man, writing these things at 3 in the morning ain't easy....
So today was decent. It still lacked the excitement/stimulation/thrill that Monday had, but to be honest, that level is pretty hard to reach, or at least unlikely. Today consisted of live music all day at the festival Kickoff Concert featuring Sirius XM Highway Finds at the new Ascend Amphitheater, followed by a couple other shows downtown, and ended with me going out to a couple bars.
The highlights of the first part (kickoff concert) was seeing Kalie Shorr (an artist who I had recently discovered) for the first time in person, and having Clare Dunn appear to notice me in the crowd and wave to me. The highlight of the second part (downtown club/bar shows) was seeing and meeting Hailey Steele (another artist I had recently discovered) for the first time, and watching Craig Morgan and Adam Sanders in their show (as well as a couple special guests that Craig brought out). The highlight of the third part (going to bars) was meeting a couple girls, one of who recognized me from Whiskey Jam on Monday, as I had run into her there.
So that's about all I have to say about Wednesday. See you guys tomorrow...
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Nashville/CMA Fest 2016, Day 2
Well, overall, today wasn't quite as exciting as yesterday, at least from a social perspective. HOWEVER, there were still some noteworthy moments, certainly from a music perspective:
The first half of our day consisted of a lot of touring. First, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Next, RCA Studio B. And finally, the Grand Ole Opry. All three were fun and informative, and I enjoyed learning about some of the history of country music (though I had done some of those tours before, so it wasn't all new info and experience for me, whereas for my mom it was).
After that, we went to the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game. It was fun. We had pretty good seats, and it was fun to see the artists competing and interacting with each other.
After this, we had a bunch of dead time before we went to the Opry that night. We chose to kill it by going to Whiskey Jam at Losers, followed by dinner at The Row while watching Steel Blossoms (a female duo that I follow and had seen the previous night at the same place).
Then it was the Opry. Our seats were amazing--easily the best seats I've ever had there. We were in the 3rd row just left of center. The music didn't disappoint either. The lineup was Darius Rucker, Jeannie Sealy, Lindsay Ell, "Whisperin'" Bill Anderson, Charles Esten, Carrie Underwood, and Chris Janson. Everyone did great, but the ones who stood out the most to me were Charles and Chris. The reason was somewhat the same--I had not seen either of them before, and was surprised and impressed by their performance. With Charles, I knew of him, but never followed the show (Nashville). With Chris, I knew his songs from the radio, but was not particularly a fan of any of them. Both were very energetic and highly enthusiastic in their interaction with the audience. But both were also great singers. Chris stood out to me the most, and "won" the night, if I had to vote. But at the same time, Carrie was flawless, Bill was funny, and Lindsay impressed me with her guitar ability. Great show overall.
After the Opry, my mom and I took an uber back to the hotel, where we dropped her off, and I continued back to downtown to try to find some more fun to end my night. I didn't end up finding much. The most notable thing that happened was that I ran into John Stone, an artist who plays Tootsies sometimes, and happened to be playing tonight. I said hi to him after he finished, and he invited me to come back the next two nights.
One other highlight from today that I want to mention, has to do with the softball game. I took some pictures and video while at the game, and posted some of them on social media. Well, one of them was a video of Cassadee Pope getting a hit. She happened to see it, and decided to retweet it with a quote of her own. This was really cool, because she doesn't do a whole lot of that. In fact, of all the times I've tagged her, I believe this is the first that she has ever responded to me in any way (including a couple pictures I posted of her from the softball game). So that was really cool. I can use that as discussion material when I meet her later this week. Plus it caused my twitter notifications to blow up for the rest of the day, which was fun.
So now it's Wednesday (was too tired to finish this post last night). Should be another day filled with live music. I also have some friends who will be arriving or otherwise available to hang out today, so let's see if I can meet up with some of them. Cheers to another great day in Nashville!
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Nashville/CMA Fest 2016, Day 1
Wow....What. A. Day. This was our first day here in Music City, and what a day it turned out to be. This was my first time in Nashville in THREE YEARS, and my mom's first time ever. Needless to say, there was a lot of excitement for both of us. And man, did today live up to the hype. Forgive me for boasting, but I'm gonna give you a rundown of today's events. Can't believe it turned out so well...
We got into Nashville at about 3:30pm local time. From there we went to our hotel, checked in, and got situated. Then we went into downtown for the first time and met up with my friend Tiffany, who just moved here from California a couple months ago. We walked around for a bit, then got dinner at Puckett's. Dinner was great. I had BBQ, and there was live music, including a female singer who I took a liking to, and subsequently talked to after she finished. Her name is Nessa Survant.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to drop my mom off (she was tired after little sleep the night before), and then Tiffany and I headed to Loser's for Whiskey Jam. Whiskey Jam was awesome, as they always have a big show during CMA week (this year they have three). We didn't see the whole thing, but my favorite act was Adam Sanders. He performed some of his own songs, as well as at least one song he's written that have been recorded by other artists. The most notable, and my favorite, was "Ain't Worth the Whiskey", which he wrote with Cole Swindell and one other guy, and which Cole recorded and released as a single, and ended up going to #1. That was really cool to see.
Tiffany left after Adam finished, and I stayed a bit longer to finish my drink, and then headed to The Row to see a female duo I've been following, called Steel Blossoms. Cool story behind that....They followed me on Twitter a while back. I followed them back, and subsequently checked out their music. I took a moderate liking to them, and ended up communicating with them sporadically on Twitter. When I found out they would be performing during my time here, I messaged them and told them about it, and that eventually led to me going to see them tonight...They sounded great. The coolest part for me was the fact that they knew me by name. In fact, they said hi to me while performing on stage (in between songs) after I walked in. That was simply awesome. Then after they finished, they came up and talked to me for a bit, and ended up taking a picture with me with their own phone. I thrive off of interaction with artists, so to experience such personal interaction with these girls was thrilling. Sure, they may not be well known. But they're still professional musicians--and good ones at that--who pay enough attention to their fans/followers to know them by name, despite having never met me in person. That's awesome.
After that I went back to Loser's for a bit, because my friend Blake informed me of two friends of his--Heather and Kim--who now live in Nashville (but formerly lived in CA) and were working at Whiskey Jam tonight. I wasn't sure if they knew me or not, but as it turned out, once they saw me, they both got very excited and came over and greeted and talked to me. That was followed by a picture, and Heather asking me to two-step with her, which I did, to Jerrod Niemann, who was the final act of the event. After that, I met a guy named Rob, who recognized me from a recent concert I was at in CA. He works for a major artist (I'm gonna keep the details to myself), but he was super nice, and he and I exchanged info. Then after that I met a girl named Jordan, who was very nice, and turns out is also a singer songwriter. I may meet up with her, as well as Heather and Kim, and maybe even Rob, later in the week.
After all of this, I went over to downtown again, to Tootsie's, where my friend Scott was playing. As soon as I walk in and he sees me, he invites me up on stage with him, as is our tradition. Bear in mind, I am the last person who deserves to be up on that stage. Nevermind the fact that it is a legendary stage where so many great artists have stood and performed....I can't sing....So for me to be up there was definitely not something I deserve. On the contrary, Scott is an amazing guy; so kind, that despite my poor ability, he invites me up anyway, just to shine the spotlight on me a bit. We sang a few songs, and then I got a drink and walked around a bit (including checking out Tootsie's new third floor rooftop patio, which did not exist the last time I was here). Eventually I left and came back to my hotel, but not before Scott ended up inviting me on stage yet again to sing some more. I tell you, that guy is so generous,
So in closing, today was pretty epic, and far greater than I saw coming. If this trip continues like it did today, I might die from overstimulation haha. I guess this town loves me as much as I love it ;-)
We got into Nashville at about 3:30pm local time. From there we went to our hotel, checked in, and got situated. Then we went into downtown for the first time and met up with my friend Tiffany, who just moved here from California a couple months ago. We walked around for a bit, then got dinner at Puckett's. Dinner was great. I had BBQ, and there was live music, including a female singer who I took a liking to, and subsequently talked to after she finished. Her name is Nessa Survant.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to drop my mom off (she was tired after little sleep the night before), and then Tiffany and I headed to Loser's for Whiskey Jam. Whiskey Jam was awesome, as they always have a big show during CMA week (this year they have three). We didn't see the whole thing, but my favorite act was Adam Sanders. He performed some of his own songs, as well as at least one song he's written that have been recorded by other artists. The most notable, and my favorite, was "Ain't Worth the Whiskey", which he wrote with Cole Swindell and one other guy, and which Cole recorded and released as a single, and ended up going to #1. That was really cool to see.
Tiffany left after Adam finished, and I stayed a bit longer to finish my drink, and then headed to The Row to see a female duo I've been following, called Steel Blossoms. Cool story behind that....They followed me on Twitter a while back. I followed them back, and subsequently checked out their music. I took a moderate liking to them, and ended up communicating with them sporadically on Twitter. When I found out they would be performing during my time here, I messaged them and told them about it, and that eventually led to me going to see them tonight...They sounded great. The coolest part for me was the fact that they knew me by name. In fact, they said hi to me while performing on stage (in between songs) after I walked in. That was simply awesome. Then after they finished, they came up and talked to me for a bit, and ended up taking a picture with me with their own phone. I thrive off of interaction with artists, so to experience such personal interaction with these girls was thrilling. Sure, they may not be well known. But they're still professional musicians--and good ones at that--who pay enough attention to their fans/followers to know them by name, despite having never met me in person. That's awesome.
After that I went back to Loser's for a bit, because my friend Blake informed me of two friends of his--Heather and Kim--who now live in Nashville (but formerly lived in CA) and were working at Whiskey Jam tonight. I wasn't sure if they knew me or not, but as it turned out, once they saw me, they both got very excited and came over and greeted and talked to me. That was followed by a picture, and Heather asking me to two-step with her, which I did, to Jerrod Niemann, who was the final act of the event. After that, I met a guy named Rob, who recognized me from a recent concert I was at in CA. He works for a major artist (I'm gonna keep the details to myself), but he was super nice, and he and I exchanged info. Then after that I met a girl named Jordan, who was very nice, and turns out is also a singer songwriter. I may meet up with her, as well as Heather and Kim, and maybe even Rob, later in the week.
After all of this, I went over to downtown again, to Tootsie's, where my friend Scott was playing. As soon as I walk in and he sees me, he invites me up on stage with him, as is our tradition. Bear in mind, I am the last person who deserves to be up on that stage. Nevermind the fact that it is a legendary stage where so many great artists have stood and performed....I can't sing....So for me to be up there was definitely not something I deserve. On the contrary, Scott is an amazing guy; so kind, that despite my poor ability, he invites me up anyway, just to shine the spotlight on me a bit. We sang a few songs, and then I got a drink and walked around a bit (including checking out Tootsie's new third floor rooftop patio, which did not exist the last time I was here). Eventually I left and came back to my hotel, but not before Scott ended up inviting me on stage yet again to sing some more. I tell you, that guy is so generous,
So in closing, today was pretty epic, and far greater than I saw coming. If this trip continues like it did today, I might die from overstimulation haha. I guess this town loves me as much as I love it ;-)
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