thanks for asking. It was
such a fun trip. Nashville, it seems, is a city made for nothing but having fun, especially for the guitar player. We, of course, went to the downtown area and spent a lot of time there. We would walk in a bar/restaurant and there would be a band playing. It would be a really good band and without fail the guitar player would be awesome. We would spend some time listening to the band and then head down the street a few doors to the next bar. And Exactly The Same Thing! Great Band. Awesome Guitar Player.
And, of course, one would think, "a couple great guitar players!" But it is the same thing in every location. Every guitar player I saw in Nashville is hugely talented. Fun and depressing. Unfortunately I came to the realization of how far I have to go. (And the realization I'll probably never get there!) But that's ok. I just play for fun. Someone had told me about this fact. I think it was
Corey Congilio, an instructor at TrueFire, told me about how every guitar player one sees in Nashville it that good. It's true.
Speaking of learning, I started my learning with the
Gibson Learn and Master Guitar DVD course. Its instructor is Steve Krenz who lives in Nashville. While there, I took a face to face lesson with him and we have set up some Zoom lessons to follow up. So that was fun and helpful.
And we hit a lot of the predictable tourist spots, Ryman, Country Music HOF, etc. etc. And we had to hit the famous Guitar stores: Gruhn's, Carter Vintage, Rumble Seat. I have to report that my guitar shopping yielded a new guitar but not a PRS!
Driving the hours drive from Omaha to Nashville I thought a lot about it and came to the conclusion what is missing is the Tele sound. I found a Tele at Gruhn guitars that I really liked but delayed on it too much. It was an American Professional and it played great. I played it the first day we went to Gruhns, went back a second day, and decided to buy it as we headed out of town. I went there and it was gone! We went to Rumble Seat and he had a nice, cheaper one, and I settled on it.
The Clapton concert was, I think without exaggeration, the greatest musical experience of my life. As we walked out I looked at my wife and said, "Well. I can die now". She just answered, "Yep". We discussed it a lot before buying the tickets. The expense, both financial and time driving, etc. We are both glad we made the decision we did. But then you need to consider our dog is named Clapton. We may have been somewhat predisposed to a great review!
@Daryl Jones keep Nashville on your "must do list". I don't think you will regret it. In retirement we are trying to budget our trips and considering places we haven't seen. We are seriously thinking about revisiting Nashville before visiting a new place. That's how much we enjoyed it. I really could go on. But you need to do it.
