There will be visits to Graceland and Stax but any other tips, particularly for a blues lover like me?
I’m in Nashville
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Musings on the byways of popular culture
Musings on the byways of popular culture
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There will be visits to Graceland and Stax but any other tips, particularly for a blues lover like me?
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If you’re heading to Memphis for Graceland and Stax you need to see Sun Studios, the tour is excellent. Beale Street will give you the blues side of things, and the Civil Rights Museum is absolutely essential
We did Nashville/Memphis/New Orleans for my 60th, a stunning ten days
In Nashville itself the Country museum is fantastic (book for the RCA studio tour from there), loads of bars on Lower Broadway are more down to earth than you’d expect and the Ryman backstage tour is excellent
(Graceland can take longer than you think, we spent five hours there)
Enjoy – it’s impossible to
I’ve been to Graceland 3 times now (spanning 30 years) and I’m not even a massive Elvis fan! The most recent visit (this year) took much longer because they’ve massively expanded it. I would suggest taking lunch.
If you can only do Stax or Sun then Sun is the one as it’s still the original. Stax is a facsimile… but fascinating nonetheless. You can also do the Ardent Studios tour (which I haven’t done) but apparently sometimes Jody Stephens is the tour guide!
I would agree that the Civil Rights Museum is also a must see… try to get there as soon as it opens and expect to be on your feet for quite a while.
Exactly what Ian said. The Civil rights museum is spine tingling and when you step into the Lorraine Motel room and then step across the street to where the assassin shot MLK it is impossible not to be moved.
Sun studios too is superb.
Depending on your route I would recommend stopping off in Lafayette LA for some excellent Zydeco music and a swamp tour with Moonshine.
I loved the Hall of Fame and especially Studio B. I recently lost the last of my plectrums that I got there so I’ve you’re thinking of bring a few gifts back….
https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/experiences/studio-b
Also Gruen Guitars is worth a drool.
https://guitars.com/gruhn-guitars-story/
Assuming you are driving, take the Natchez Trace to Memphis.
It’s the most beautiful road I have driven along, with very little traffic because it has a 50 mph limit. It’s a pleasure rather than chore.
Access to it is just a mile or two from Nashville.
Good one, we did that too. Glorious.
I just now did it myself on Google Maps. Not quite as thrilling perhaps, but less expense and less hassle involved. I only saw one car the whole time I was there.
You can tell it’s not Italy, as there’s no litter lining the route.
When we drove the 200 odd miles from Nashville, we saw perhaps 50 cars on that journey.
As my wife and I were regularly making the 200 mile trips to see our mothers, we could only dream of having similar stress free trips in the UK.
If you’re still in the ‘ville, The Bluebird Cafe is pretty iconic, not least for being the venue where Taylor Swift was ‘discovered’ by Scott Borchetta.
Good one, I first saw Gretchen Peters there in 1996 right as “The Secret of Life” came out.
Worth watching the excellent “Nashville” series too. Trashy but in a good way.