Country Music Hall of Fame

7 Jun 2013--Went downtown Nashville yesterday to see the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and to take a walking tour of an area of town they call "The District".  There seems to be a ton of new buildings downtown, like they have poured a lot of money in here just recently.  That tall building in the 2nd pic is the Visitor's Center...rather elaborate!



The Hall of Fame was a lot of fun.  Just looking at all the old pictures and costumes of the super stars was something.  Of course these pics only scratch the surface of what is here, but these are some of the favorite country personalities of all time.

 

Cathy and I were walking along and I had just finished saying to her "I wonder why country people ever started wearing all these crazy clothes?", when we came by the item in this 1st pic explaining that it was simply to stand out!  I would have to say "Mission Accomplished!" on that one!   haha



These boots belonged to Roy (1st pair) and Dale Evans (2nd).



The red and purple dresses belonged to Patsy Cline, while the suit coat was worn by Hank Williams and the blue dress was Reba's.



The pantsuit with hat and boots were Tammy Wynette's, while the pink dress was Dolly Parton's...I assume it was during her more sedate times on the Porter Wagner show.



I don't know who these guys were, but loved the coats!



Well, they don't look like that anymore (although I think it was more fun back then--haha)...This is Carrie Underwood of course, and Minnie Pearl she ain't!!!



At the end of the exhibits they even had pics and clothes worn by the people who play in one of my favorite TV shows, "Nashville".



This car is almost obscene!!!  haha  Look at the pistols as both the inside and outside door handles...too funny!



Gold-plated piano given to Elvis by Priscilla, some one's 3-headed guitar, and the silver one belonged to Taylor Swift.

 

Here are a couple of the videos they had playing throughout the museum.  Jeannie C Riley (do you remember her famous song?) and Patsy Cline.



The 1st pic shows all the gold and platinum albums of the honorees, while the 2nd and 3rd pics show the actual Hall of Famers themselves.



So this was interesting.  We were told that the purpose of the CMA Music Festival was to give all country music fans a chance to not only hear the big country stars but to actually meet them up close and personal, so there are stars appearing all over the area signing autographs, etc.  When we 1st entered the Hall of Fame I noticed a long line to our right and could see that in the gift shop ahead was Lee Greenwood, so I zoomed in and took a picture of him.



A couple hours later, when we were almost through seeing all the exhibits, we came upon this glass-encased exhibit featuring Lee Greenwood, and noticed all of the military-type memorabilia.  I asked Cathy if she knew if Lee was ever in the Air Force, and she was just saying that she saw him perform when she was stationed in Korea, but didn't know if he had ever actual been in the Air Force himself, when I heard a voice to my right, so I turned to see what was going on.

 

Sitting right there, doing an interview with no one else around, was Lee himself (thank God I didn't say anything nasty about him--haha).  He finished the interview, I asked if he would take a pic with me, and he happily complied.  (As a matter of fact, we couldn't get him to stop talking--haha.  After I asked him if he had been in the military -no-and Cathy told him she had seen him in Korea, he went on and on about all the different fighter jets he had flown in, how all pilots try to make you sick, etc, etc.)  I think he was lonely!  haha



So with this being CMA Music Festival week, there were massive crowds down in The District area, an area about 5 blocks long and 2-3 blocks wide filled with restaurants, bars and honkytonks...all featuring live music.  I think the live music is year round, probably all the people trying to break into country music, but the pop-up tents, etc., in the streets and the cops blocking off all traffic only happens during special events.

 


These girls are doing karaoke inside an open-air bar, while this guy is singing outside with an actual band that lets people come up with them and pick a song to sing.

 

This woman in the white shirt cracks me up.  At 1st I thought she was part of the band because she was the 1st one we saw...she was so into the song!



And here are me and Cathy rocking it out on banjo and steel guitar!!!  After a awhile we were really getting the moves down!



Some random shots as we walk along the streets.  In the one with the ice cream cone, Cathy is googling it for me to see if it is "hormone free ice cream"!  hahaha   NO!!!



Notice in these how I hold up the performance (2nd shot) to get the proper attire!



Ok...for Lynn and Breena...Here is your Jimmy Buffet fix!!!  Outside, inside and the food...look at those nachos!!!



No gathering would be complete without some hell fire and damnation!

 

"The District" goes all the way down to the Cumberland River, where they had another live show going on all day.  Directly across the river is the Tennessee Titans Football Stadium, where a lot of the night time events happen, and the really big stars play.  (People pay anywhere from $150 to $300 for access passes to these events for the 4 days.)  That red thing, which is to the right of the stadium, is not the beginnings of a roller coaster as we originally thought.  After asking half a dozen people what it was, a cop finally told me, "just art"!



Lots of hats and cowboy boots.  The guy in the 4th pic looked like a homeless person, but amazingly like Kevin Bacon!  What do we think of the boots with shorts and dresses?



This is the "Ryman", where Bluegrass began, and the Captain it was named after.



And this lady was probably the best street entertainment.  It was a pretty motley crew, and she didn't have any teeth (not kidding), but she played a mean pair of spoons!!!  See the video...it's cool!




So yeah, yeah, yeah!  I know it was another long one, but we had a great time, so wanted to try to share it!  Tonight we are going to the Grand Ole Opry...featuring Carrie Underwood and Josh Turner...can't wait!!!