Tootsie's, music and more

My brain is so stuffed, I'm having trouble pulling out the words to tell you about what is going on.

Yesterday was a lazy, rainy day, and today is shaping up to be the same.

"Music is the ony reason I get up in the afternoon" could well be our motto. Except the coffee drags me out of bed long before noon most days.

We three girls wandered around downtown Nashville yesterday in the rain and the humidity. Joanne was on a mission for stickers, so we visited every tacky tourist shop we could find.

Lunch was ribs at Ribby's (how original). Apparently it's sacreligous to visit the south and not eat ribs. I really liked mine, but it was a little too spicy for Jo, so I helped eat hers too.

We ate some ice cream, wandered around to Hatch Show Printing and Gruhn Guitars. Before we headed out to that evening's venue, we had a beer in Tootsie's Lounge, a little hole in the wall on Broadway.

In the days when the Grand Ol' Opry graced the stage at the Ryman Theatre, Tootsie's was a hangout for members of the show. The walls are covered in browning, peeling signed pictures of stars. It's dark, dingy, and has live music playing as long as the doors are open.

Why did the stars go to Tootsie's? Well, the Opry was, and still is, a dry place. No alcohol allowed. Tootsie and her lounge are directly across the back alley from the back door of the Ryman.

Thirsty stars would leave the show, cross the alley, and drink themselves into oblivion.

Heading in that direction ourselves, we made our way to 12th & Porter, a bar in the grittier side of town. Alan Baker, Victoria Banks, Julie Roberts, and Rachel Proctor graced the stage, and we were once again blown away with powerful songwriting and striking vocals.

We attended the early show, so we were cut loose at 8:30 pm looking for a snack. On our way back to the condo, we pulled into the Music City Bar, whose sign promised live music and late nite menu. (original spelling intact for clarity)

We walked in and immediately realized that this was a local watering hole. This was made obvious by the fact we were the only females in the place. The entire time we were there, we were watched, vulture-like, as if we were a nicely rotted piece of roadkill.

So I drank some whiskey, we ate some greasy food, and planned to go back to the condo and write a song. All the others were supposed to be out at the late show, so we thought we'd have the place to ourselves.

Well, when we arrived, the three of them had worked their way through a large bottle of scotch and were lolling about languidly. It was amusing, so we cracked a bottle of wine and jumped in.

There is not much more satisfying in this world than sitting around with friends, music, and a good glass of wine. I wish y'all could have been here to enjoy it, too.