Before Breakfast: Music City Means MUSIC

Last year we did the tourist attractions. This year, it was about live music. Our trip to Nashville was sensational. I got to see some incredible mandolin playing, and it has fortified me to go back home and work even harder on learning the instrument. Here are some pictures from our various musical events.

Tuesday night was the Grand Ole Opry. We had floor seats this time, and the show was as enjoyable as ever.

The Henningsens

Bobby Osbourne

Jim Lauderdale

We also saw Maggie Rose, John Conlee, Mandy Barnett, Cadillac Three, and Mark Wills.

Here we are outside the Opry with guitars, no strings attached!

Me with the acoustic

Jim with the electric

Next up was the Bluegrass Thursday Night at the Ryman Auditorium. This was a bucket list item -- to see a show there. I was particularly taken with Jesse McReynolds, an 85-year-old mandolin player whose fingers flew on the keys. His sense of humor was hilarious. What a treasure he is to the world of music! I liked the headliner as well, the Sons of Leicester, a Flatt and Scruggs style band made up of some of the best in the business. Mandolin player Ricky Scaggs was in attendance, and sat a few rows ahead of us. We didn't fawn over him like many were doing, and did not take his picture.

Jesse McReynolds

Sons of Leicester

And finally, the highlight of the week. When we heard that Marty Stuart and his band would be performing at the Frist Center on Friday the 25th for just the admission price to the museum, we planned our entire trip around being there. It was a beautiful evening for an outdoor concert. We met a wonderful couple from Hot Springs, Arkansas -- Susan and Tom -- and spent a lot of time talking to them before the concert. (She is a first grade teacher, he a writer.) We got to briefly meet Marty after the show, get his autograph, and shake his hand. A memorable night in Nashville!