I've biked around here before, so I've already seen the Country Music Hall Of Fame (lots of great outfits) and music row (a neighborhood where every home is a music publisher). I go for a run along a river path that quickly peters out and leaves me in an industrial zone.
I look for pants in the western wear stores to replace the ones that have gone missing. They don’t have them but I get distracted and end up buying a retro western shirt instead.
The show at the Ryman, the original Grand Ole Opry, is may be the most well-received of the whole tour. The audience goes nuts almost from the beginning. Although it doesn’t seem to be completely sold out, it’s pretty close, and the whole balcony is up and dancing. They're stomping their feet and slamming their hands on the stage. We were here on our last tour. At the time, they’d just begun to book shows in here again — it had been shut down for a while. Now the Ryman has sort of become the medium-sized alt. venue or choice.
Last time I was excited just to be playing here — on the same stage as Hank Williams, etc. It went pretty well, as I remember, but this reception was on a whole other level.
Afterwards, I said hi to Adrian Belew, who produces records here, and the folks from Lambchop, whose song we did as part of the set. I also did a couple of old country songs with Jamie, Graham, Paul, and Mauro as an encore, sort of pretending we are country of another era: "There Stands The Glass" and "Give Me The Flowers." Jamie was a top fiddler in Calgary, so he pulled out some perfect licks that don’t get much play with the Toscas.
Everyone in the rhythm section is wearing overalls — sort of our Homer and Jethro look, which inspires one of the venue folks to give us Hee-Haw t-shirts afterwards; they own the rights to that TV show.
