Musician's Widow

Is it over? Its over, right? Fan Fair. CMA Fest. Whatever you want to call it.

Oh don’t get me wrong.  I did have a lot of fun. And I didn’t mind making some extra money. And having two dear friends staying with us while attending the festival was so much fun. But… as someone else wrote on Twitter, I am glad it only comes once a year.

My “Fan Fair Recovery” consists of eating vegetables (instead of eating whatever on the fly), drinking more water (and fewer shots), and catching up on hours of lost sleep. It also means re-starting my blog here and getting photos edited and posted. (The only problem is I was too busy to take many photos!)

The long and short of it is that I’m just exhausted. I don’t know how the festival goers kept going for days on end! It was hot all week, and lots of walking was done by everyone. Perhaps its the rush of the event that keeps you going. I guess I’ve forgotten in the years since I attended as a fan.

On top of it all, I had a busy weekend before Fan Fair. I got to spend time with family… I captured this sunset as I was out visiting with my brother.

I got to catch one of my niece’s last softball games of the season… they lost by one point in sudden death over time. Sadness!

Then it was a fifteen hour drive to Nashville with friends… fifteen because we were stuck for two hours on I-40 outside Little Rock, AR due to an accident that forced a crazy detour. But, we found humor in the situation, and enjoyed just hanging out together.

Then I spent most of my days and nights in Printer’s Alley, working.

But, hey, even in the craziest moments of bartending, I had some of the best music I could ask for…

And within it all, not once did I not feel safe…

So, despite exhaustion, I look back on the week with a satisfied smile. I don’t regret being in the thick of it all. I only do regret not getting past the Alley and into some of the fun events. It always nets me the best photos, but I was just too darn busy (or tired!) to do it. Oh well…

Another Fan Fair in the books. Thanks to all the visitors who came and enjoyed my beloved city! And please, please, please don’t be offended by  my doing a happy dance over here to see this come to an end and things settle down. I need the next 12 months to recuperate to be ready to do it all over again in 2012!

(Weekly Winners — June 5 – 11)

This post is serving double duty as my Weekly Winners post for the week of June 5 – 11. Better late than never…

Weekly Winners is a fun little thing bloggers do to showcase some of their favorite photos from the previous week. It is brought to you, me and everyone by the lovely Lotus, aka Sarcastic Mom. Visit her site and find all the participants. See some amazing photos brought to you by bloggers around the world. Leave a little love when you do — its like food for the soul!

Photos taken using a Sony DSLR A230. View all of my photos on my Flickr stream.

I still call it Fan Fair. I stubbornly always will. Oh I’ll throw out the random “CMA Music Fest” when I feel like I have to for someone to know what I am talking about. But to me, it’ll always be Fan Fair.

Fan Fair is a yearly event where country music fans descend upon Nashville — where a vast majority of your country music artists call home — for concerts and the opportunity to meet their favorite artists face-to-face. It’s also the artists chance to say thank you to their fans for their loyalty. No other genre of music has an event quite like this one.

This is the 40th Fan Fair.

It started in 1972, with only 5,000 people attending at Nashville Municipal Auditorium. In 1982, the event moved to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, accommodating more fans and more events around the Fair.

Fan Fair called the Fairgrounds its home until 2000, which is when it moved to downtown. In 2004, it’s name was changed to CMA Music Festival… which, as I’ve stated, I refuse to use, eight years later. The 2010 boasted its best numbers to date, with more than 65,000 country music fans attending.

My very first trip to Nashville was in 1997 to attend Fan Fair. Who knew that I’d call Nashville home almost exactly 10 years later. I’ve attended events around Fan Fair in downtown since I moved here (especially after big chunks were made free of charge!), and the downtown employee is grateful for the added revenue the event brings to the bars, stores and restaurants. The long-time fan still thinks the Fairgrounds was an excellent location for Fan Fair, making everything much more centrally located. But… that’s just me. Vast majority of people will disagree with me.

So, as someone who has attended the event as a fan, and who has since poked around it as a fan AND local… I’d like to share my own little pieces of advice for those attending this year’s event:

• Wear comfortable shoes. Personally, I would NOT recommend flip flops (Though, lol, you’ll probably see me down there one afternoon wearing them.) if you plan to hit the photo lines and will be walking a lot. Wear shoes that will support your feet. They’ll let you rock it all the days of the event, versus wearing yourself out the first day.
• SUNSCREEN. This is not just some catchy line from a Baz Luhrmann song in 1998. No. WEAR SUNSCREEN. After Day 1, do you REALLY want to be laying in your hotel room, naked, radiating heat, cursing the fact that even the bedsheets hurt? Trust me. You’ll rock a suntan after that many days even WITH sunscreen. Do yourself a favor and USE IT.
• Hydrate. Welcome to Nashville where it is always ten degrees above normal the week of Fan Fair. We don’t want any heat-related deaths when all you have to do it DRINK WATER. Yeah, that beer looks good. I like a cold beer pretty much any time. But right now? You need water. At LEAST alternate beer with water. Kay?
• Please, please, please remember that people live here. This is our home. We have jobs to go to. Bills to pay. Lives to lead. We are not all here on vacation. PLEASE remember that. Have a heads up about traffic, etc. Don’t stop in the middle of the street to take pictures, oblivious of the six cars behind you late for work.
• Don’t fall all over any artists you see just out on the town. Most don’t mind pausing to take a picture or two (especially during Fan Fair — they know that’s why you are here), but don’t decide they are your best friend and you’re going to sit beside them all night. Nine times out of then, this will run the artist off. Grab your photo or autograph, say a few words, then move on and don’t stare. If you stay cool, they’ll probably hang out for awhile. Then you can “experience your favorite artist in their natural habitat.”
• Don’t wear a fanny pack. I would think this would be obvious, but every year there are one or two that show up. And it slays us all.
• Enjoy your stay. That’s what its all about. If you miss an autograph signing. If you can’t get right up to the stage to take a picture. Don’t let that ruin the experience. Shrug it off and continue to enjoy yourself.
• Tip the band in the bars. It’s not a joke. This really is how they make their living. Many rely on this week to “catch up” on late bills or to get a new piece of gear. They are there to bring you entertainment, and the least you can do it toss a buck in the tip jar (which will be split up among those on stage — so if its a 4 piece, each guy is getting a quarter). Thanks in advance.

I am sure I could write a few dozen more kernels of advice, but I’ll leave it at these. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!! And keep your eyes peeled… in the next few days, you might find my lens trained on you.

Fans watching the concerts at the Riverfront Stages in 2010

History of Fan Fair from the CMA Website.

Memorial Day weekend. The weekend that is considered the “kick off to summer.” Boats hit the late. Floaties hit the pool. The grills are fired up. Everyone drags out their swim wear. And stores hold huge sales. It’s ALLLLLLLL good.

But. Why do we have Memorial Day? Its not so the girls can jump into string bikinis. It’s not so stores can sell more clothes. It’s not all about the hot dog.

No. We have Memorial Day for this:

To remember the men and women who have given all to keep us all free. To remember their sacrifice. To remember the sacrifice of their families. To say thank you to them… to all our military. All the rest of that stuff? We probably wouldn’t even HAVE that if not for our soldiers.

From http://www.usmemorialday.org:

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

In 1971, Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act, stating that Memorial Day would be celebrated the last Monday of May.

Friday, I saw a report on the news about the flags being placed at Arlington National Cemetery, and I wondered where I could find something similar in Nashville. I asked my husband, and yesterday he took me to Nashville National Cemetery.

We were both deeply moved by what we found. All the flags, perfectly lined up beside the perfectly lined up headstones. The headstones seemed to stretch forever. We drove slowly, stopping periodically so I could snap photos. A few other people were doing the same. Some were there to put flowers on loved one’s graves. We were silenced. We were touched.

Headstones ranged from the 1800s to today. The ones that said things like, “Loving wife and mother” brought tears to my eyes. (Especially realizing some were MY age.) These people gave the ultimate sacrifice for all of us.

As we drove through an area of particularly old headstones, I asked my husband if he, too, thought some of these soldiers would be saddened by our world today. My husband said he felt they probably would. It made me want to do better. It made me want to earn the life they gave their own life for me and everyone around me to have. These people who helped change the course of history.

After our trip to the cemetery, we did swing out by the lake for awhile for supper. But we both had a different vibe from earlier in the day. We were more thoughtful. More reverent of the day/weekend.

If wherever you are, you have a chance to visit a soldier’s grave… please do. Take a moment to remember why we have this three day weekend. It’s not about bikinis and new shoes. It’s not about barbecue and beer. It’s about our military… the men and women who gave so much for our freedom. Let’s not take it for granted.

On a personal note… my grandpa was a WWII veteran. Tuesday would have been his 89th birthday. I was always proud to be his granddaughter… He had so many stories he would never share, and now never can again. Miss him.

God bless our soldiers… and all their loves one they’ve left behind.

I didn’t update yesterday, but I have a good excuse.

My husband and I went out on a date!

My favorite piece of advice to couples getting married is to, “never stop dating.” My husband and I go out on dates, just not as often as we would like. So last night, I said I wanted it to be date night… and it was.

What was so weird, as that we had no idea what to go and do. So we both got on our laptops, and we came up with EXACT SAME IDEA! Of all the things to go do in Nashville, how we both came up with the same idea still baffles us and gives us goosebumps.

After I got some projects done that I’d already been paid to do, I jumped in the shower and got dressed to go out.

Hubby said I should wear a new outfit, and I requested he cowboy up a little bit. (Wear his boots and Wranglers — my favorite!) We headed out to dinner first. We decided to just pick somewhere, and we ended up at Jackson’s Bar & Bistro.

I now have a new top-ten place to eat in Nashville. VERY cool vibe, and the food was incredible! Prices were spot-on, as well! (I had the Sonora Torrado and hubby had Beef Stroganoff). Practically had to roll us out of there!

We “rolled” ourselves across the street to the Belcourt Theatre. I’d only been there once before to see a documentary on Steinway Pianos, and I’d loved it then. Last night, we went to see a new Will Ferrell movie, Everything Must Go. Ironically, we picked it thinking it would be lighthearted and uplifting.

It wasn’t.

Oh don’t get me wrong! It was a good movie! Straight drama from start to finish. Changed my opinion of Will Ferrell, which was a HUGE plus. I was thoroughly impressed with him and his performance. However, we ended up leaving with heavy hearts and deep thoughts.

From there, we went and walked around downtown. Got our exercise!! We also ran into a lot of friends, too, which is ALWAYS nice. And we ended up in our favorite bar/home-away-from-home. LOL! It always happens, and there is comfort in that fact.

We came home and chilled on the couch until bedtime. It was WONDERFUL.

So, as you can see,I had a good excuse to not post yesterday. I was on a date with my husband… a date we needed to reconnect and recharge.

Yay!

Yesterday morning, I woke up to rain falling on my roof. I stretched and rolled over… snuggling down into my pillows for a few more hours of sleep. What a difference from a year ago.

Nashville Flood 2010

A year ago, my beloved Nashville flooded. Rain fell and seemed it would never stop. Tornado warnings added to the stress of the days of rain.

From my blog post about the flood: We had pillows and blankets in our guest bathroom tub, ready to take cover any second. To say I was beside myself scared would be an understatement. As we watched on TV, the interstate that we take into town every day turned into a lake. A portable classroom literally floated down the interstate, and LaVergne was declared a disaster area. We couldn’t have gotten out if we had to… all exits out of town were flooded. …

Sunday became almost a vigil, watching the waters rise.  Belle Meade has neighborhoods where the houses are up to their roofs with water. People taking boats and jet skis to help others. 185 cars got stranded on I-40 over night last night when the road flooded both directions. Opry Mills Mall was flooded. The Grand Ole Opry house got flooded — water up over the stage. …  Opryland Hotel has over 10 ft of water inside, and the 1500 guests there had to evacuate to a high school. Downtown flooded up to 2nd avenue. … Our Symphony Center lost a $2.5 M Organ and two Steinway pianos in flooding. And right now downtown is dark, as a transformer has blown…

Nashville Flood 2010

It is almost eery that our neighbors to the South are dealing with the aftermath of last weeks devastating tornadoes, almost a year to the day of our catastrophe. But just like us, they will come together and rebuild.

There are still plenty of signs the flood occurred. A big one being Opry Mills Mall has yet to reopen. Some people just chose not to rebuild, and there are homes that sit abandoned. But on a whole? We’ve come back… in most cases, better than before. (The backstage of the Opryhouse is AMAZING!)

We still cringe at a lot of rain. But we’ve been there together before… and we pulled through. We’re all stronger for it.

When I look back to the years before the flood, it’s sad to realize that when I would see news reports about flooding in other areas of the country, my thought process would be, “Oh no!” and then move on with my day. I never saw the bigger picture until I lived it myself. (Well, mostly. My husband and I were thankfully spared loss of property, etc. But we were here first hand to witness the devastation.) I guess on some level, I never realized how destructive a flood can be to a person, to a community.

Nashville Flood 2010

Today, when something happens, I am far more compassionate… much quicker to want to know how I can help, if at all. I see the faces behind the news coverage. I see the businesses lost. I want to hear the personal stories. I want to reach out. I find myself wondering about the rebuilding afterwards.

The flood was definitely a rough time for Nashville. But I think it left us all wiser, stronger and more compassionate. I hope that as we mark this one year point, we will continue on this positive path with one another. I hope none of us ever forget this bond, because it is truly something special.

I’ve been down in Texas working most of the last two months. In a week, I fly back to work another 3-4 weeks as we finish out the income tax filing season.

But for right now, I am home in Nashville, spending time with my husband. Tonight, I got to dip my toes back into our life with his playing the Grand Ole Opry and heading out on the road for a one-off to Florida. (One-off being the term for one-show in a run.)

First, I LOVE THE GRAND OLE OPRY. Its seriously one of the only places I would drop pretty much everything to go to work for… The people. The vibe. The history. Everything about it just feels like a great big hug to me when I walk through those doors of the Opry House.

As an added bonus tonight, one of my husband’s former employers was on the bill as well. So it was big hugs to old friends in that camp as well, most of which I literally haven’t seen in well over a year — if not almost two years!

Second, I absolutely love everyone my husband works with. I really do! Its such a cool hang, and everyone treats me as one of the group. I totally put my hair down around them and its just like a big family… one that runs down the road at 65 mph in a big tour bus.

And even though allergies are seriously kicking my butt, and today they really got me down, I left the Opry House tonight with a spring in my step.

Oh don’t get me wrong… I thoroughly enjoy the work I’m doing in Texas. And getting to spend so much quality time with my parents is priceless. But it was SO nice to be reminded that this crazy life my husband and I live is always there, always comfortable, and its always waiting for me with open arms when I get back home.