The Adventures of Fric and Frac: Adventure 291: Nashville, TN

Honky Tonking at 3rd and Lindsley

Those of you who know Judy may find it hard to believe that she slid herself up onto a bar stool at 10:30 AM, and even less likely that she would order a Bloody Mary. She did just that, and we were off Honky Tonking down Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee on a Monday morning. I mean how can you drink all day if you don't start early. The cliche, I believe, begins (Like a lot of old songs) "When in Rome...." we hit nearly every joint along music row, and like I started telling people. "We just became Country Music fans this morning." That's not quite true, but we were definitely caught up in the spirit. The spirit itself is a wonderful thing. People from all over come to Nashville hoping to realize the dream of stardom. There are pickers on the street playing for hat money, pickers in the bars playing for tips, and headliners who've made it playing the big venues. What's clear is that stardom may be the dream, but love is what drives the music. Take this little girl (Gabby), dressed in a frilly knee length dress wearing a curled up alligator skinned cowboy hat, standing on the bar tap next to a not too much older girl named Grace. They were pounding out some song about lonesome love as if they were headlining the Grand Old Opry. I watched Gabby after her "performance". She sang along with every song. She not only knew the words, she knew the breaks, the inflections, the nuance, and the music flowed from her like electric current from the Tennessee Valley Authority. Every joint we walked into had some version of Gabby, though most were old enough to know better. That's the best part of dreaming. Dreams know no bounds; they know no age. Later that night we listened to the Time Jumpers, a top drawer ten member group whose players are all well known to Country Music fans, and whose successful careers have them well up the success ladder. Our table mates, Larry and Brenda, were a father-daughter duo in town to celebrate Father's day. Larry, a seventy-five up beat self-described cowboy who knew every player by name, every word to every song, had a twinkle in his eye as bright as young Gabby's. He's been in love with the music for his entire life, and now he's cut a couple of CDs, but like he says, "I'm a nobody; anyone with cash can cut a record." He also said something I think says it all about the dream. "I just want to write songs that touch people". I spent the whole night (And most of the day) tapping my foot, slapping my knee, holding to the firm belief that music makes people happy; it brings them together, and speaks a language that crosses any barrier we normally put between us. Music allows us to feel. Not only were the dreamers in the Honky Tonks feeling, the fans were, too. More than one person mouthed the words to the song they were hearing. While waiting to get in to see the Time Jumpers, we talked with three ladies (Our age) from Texas, two lesbian gals (A little younger) from Asheville, NC, and a few other people, including one woman who says she comes every Monday night because "it's cheaper than a shrink". We were all standing in the hot afternoon sun for the same reason. We wanted that music to wash over us like Baptismal water. We wanted to feel whole. We wanted to be blessed by possibility. It affirms what I've said quite a bit lately. We live in a great country where it's not only OK to dream, it's expected. And what's more: Dreams come true. For all of you out there keep dreaming, for like Langston Hughes said, "When dreams die, life is a broken bird that cannot fly." Keep your dreams alive; keep flying, and keep believing that life is good, especially today.