From Dolly Parton to Luke Combs via Johnny Cash and Jelly Roll you cannot help but get caught up in the country music vibe of Nashville but it was the amateur musicians playing from 10 am til 3pm in the honkytonk bars along Broadway that got my feet tapping.
Entry is free but you are expected to buy a drink and to tip the band. Going from one to the next past hen and stag groups, couples and gatherings of friends makes for a great night out.
The thing that surprised me most about the town known in those parts as Music City is how small it is. Like Vegas it’s all about the strip – only this one is shorter, seedier and decidedly more Hicksville. It’s also oozing with Honkytonk fun.
We stayed at Holston House, a midpriced Art Deco hotel far enough from the sounds and lights of Broadway to afford us a good night’s sleep, yet close enough that we could walk everywhere. It also offers a pretty decent breakfast and a rooftop pool. Our room was spacious and well-appointed with a large bathroom. The hotel pays heed to the town it’s in with musical artefacts such as vintage speakers hanging on the wall, art made from vinyl records and black and white photographs of Broadway’s bars.
To get our bearings we boarded the hop-on-hop-off Old Town Trolley Bus Tour. It was hard to believe our eyes as we rode past the city’s very own Parthenon, a replica of the Athens showpiece, which gives Nashville its nickname “The Athens of the South”. We stopped off at Marathon Village, a former motor works that is a haven of motoring memorabilia, craft shops and a distillery.
Whiskey Row on Broadway in Nashville
The Country Music Hall of Fame is as good an introduction to the sounds of the area as any, charting the evolution of country music and its influence on soul, R&B and rock. We visited the famous RCA Studio B, Nashville’s oldest recording studio where Elvis recorded many of his singles and where the Steinway piano he played is still in situ. The Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, is still home to concerts and we learned all about the Fisk Jubilee singers who went to the UK and played for Queen Victoria. She remarked: “You must come from a music city,” which is how Nashville coined its moniker.
Fried Chicken at Hattie B’s
Music, yes… healthy eating, no, unless you head to the gentrified Gulch area, where Biscuit Love offers up decent salads. Back on Broadway it’s all about fried chicken and the queues outside Hattie B’s attest to this. Possibly the tastiest meal I’ve had in my life!
Nashville
It’s also a shopping ‘no’ unless you want cowboy boots, a Stetson or sunglasses and it rather surprised me to be served by a Hasidic man in the Rayban shop. He told us there is a small Jewish community and a few synagogues and it’s even possible to buy kosher food.
After a 200-mile drive to Memphis we checked into Canopy by Hilton Memphis Downtown, a lovely bright modern hotel with large sunny bedrooms, an incredibly comfortable bed, terrific lighting in the bathroom and a great vibe every time you walk in the building. The location is superb, right across the road from the landmark Peabody Hotel, home to Lansky brothers, the Jewish-owned store where Elvis used to get his clothes made.
Sun Studio, the birthplace of Rock and Roll
First stop was Sun Studio, the former auto repair shop that became the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll. This is where an 18-year-old boy named Elvis Presley made a recording for his mum’s birthday and changed the music world. BB King, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis all recorded here too and put Memphis on the map. The locals say it best: “Blues and gospel had an affair and gave birth to rock and roll.”
On the Memphis Mojo Tour bus we learned the history of “the world’s largest small town” from a musician on board with his guitar, who strummed, sang and imbibed us with stories and anecdotes. He took us past the unassuming block of flats where Elvis lived as a boy and pointed out his bedroom window.
National Civil Rights Museum
Memphis is very much an ode to Elvis, with sculptures and memorabilia scattered all across town, but there is much else to see. The National Civil Rights presents a very well curated outline of the history of the movement, ending with a visit to the very room where Martin Luther King was shot. At the landmark Peabody Hotel the resident ducks take to the red carpet in the lobby every day at 5pm – Memphis madness but seriously cute!
There’s also a great food scene. By The Brewery is a rustic breakfast/lunch place in a cool redeveloped area while Hive Bagel has the largest range I’ve seen outside of New York.
At Lobbyist at Chisca we feasted on sharing plates with punchy flavours and lots of veggie dishes and Flight is a novel concept where the food comes in flights as well as the wine – they describe them as ‘mini’ plates but this being America they are all very substantial. I still found room for chocolate pecan pie!
Graceland
All of this this is just a forerunner to the behemoth that is Graceland, which is so much more than just a house. There is a vast complex of museums charting Elvis’ life, his clothes, his cars, his artefacts and you can even board his very own full-sized plane.
There is something profoundly moving about entering Graceland. It’s every inch a real home, untouched since Elvis’ death and fully furnished with personal possessions. While it’s a lovely big family house (Elvis bought it for his parents and lived there with them, his wife and his daughter) it is somehow not ostentatious. It has sizeable but not gargantuan rooms, lovely but not sprawling grounds and a relatively simple home office in the garden, from where his father managed his affairs.
Duck march at The Peabody Memphis
There is also a small but poignant museum on site filled with family photos and documents – even the deeds of the house. It was here that we learned that Elvis had a twin brother who died at birth.
Graceland is a real insight into the man himself, who is buried in the grounds together with his family. His mother’s headstone with a Magen David is in situ. For a Jewish Elvis fan it feels like coming home.
Louisa’s trip was organised by Tennessee Tourism (tnvacation.com) and Deep South USA (deep-south-usa.com), with accommodation at Holston House (hyatt.com) and Canopy by Hilton Memphis Downtown (hilton.com). For tours and special offers: visitmusiccity.com
