Silvertone Files: Nashville - again

This morning I made my way back to Nashville, where I'm going to hanging out for the next couple days - before I head to St. Louis to get ready for the show there on this coming Saturday. I hit some rain as I drove down the Kentucky highway - and by the time I got to the house I was ready for some rest. The last several days have been really busy - and fun - so I'm glad I have a few days of down time - hopefully I can catch up on my rest.
Chicago was awesome - I love that town - well visiting it anyway - I don't know if I could handle the winter there. It has a unique feel to it - a busy kind of feeling, but also relaxed and friendly. I like the old buildings and the different parts of town - and just the general history that's there - not like Los Angeles where it's mostly new in comparison.
Before I headed out of town I stopped by Jackson Park which is south of the city and where the Museum Of Science and Industry is located. I wanted to see the building since I'm a fan of the book, The Devil In The White City, which is about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair - and the museum is the only remaining building left - since the other ones built were only temporary and ended up burning down. I was truly impressed seeing it up close - and it's a grand building, but I do wish I could have seen all the buildings as they were - the others were massive and I can only imagine what it all must have been like.
I walked from there to the shore of Lake Michigan - it was a little hazy out but warm and a bit humid - and the beach was busy - the park too - people were running and cyclist cruising around - and people just hanging out in the park. I know if I lived up there I would do my best to be out there all the time. Then I realized it was getting late and I needed to get down the road to Cincinnati - and then I remembered that I had to cross into the Eastern time zone and it would be an hour later - so I really knew I had to get moving. I made my way to highway and headed for the Indiana border.
The ride was smooth and I was glad to see the gas prices drop as I left the city - where they had been around $4.29 - and in Indiana the price had dropped to around $3.49 - even cheaper down the road too. As the sun was setting I rolled over the river from downtown Cincinnati into Newport, Kentucky and to the Southgate House. There were people out on the town and I was looking forward to playing in venue again - the last time was in early April and it went well - a little smokey but a good feeling room.
I carried in my gear and set it up and got ready for the night of playing. It's in an old two story house and has 3 different rooms for performers. I saw that Dave Alvin was playing in the larger room, and a several others that I recognized. Like I said, the last show went well and I was ready and people starting coming in to the club.
I ended up making several new fans - people that had looked at the club website and decided to come down based on my bio, and then a few others who had seen some of the videos I have up on You Tube with Lauren - so I was very happy to see that I have some fans in the Cincinnati area. I will hopefully make it back there before the end of the year.
After the gig I hit a local late night diner for some early/pre-dawn breakfast and then moved down the road to the first rest stop and slept for a while. A storm came in and rain poured and the lightning flashed and the thunder roared. By about 7:30 I got up and started the drive back to Nashville. The sky was dark and cloudy and rain fell for most of the way. I passed again through Louisville, and made a stop in Bowling Green, which is close to the border, then finished the drive - and I was so happy to stop - because then I knew I could lay down and take a nap - which is exactly what I did.
This evening I made dinner - hamburgers on Lauren's new propane grill - and cut up vegetables: yellow squash, zucchini, green beans, and red bell peppers. I used the side burner of the grill and cooked everything outside. The rain cooled the temperature down some and it was a nice mellow evening - and the food came out just like I had wanted it to.
On Thursday I reached the year mark of me not having a day job. It's been quite a wild year - full of ups and downs and I've been very fortunate to have so many people supporting what I do - especially my family. It would have been nice to win that Emmy - as sort of sign of the past year - and the years before too - but oh well - next time. I am looking forward to getting back eventually to LA - and then I'll be off the road for a while.
yours truly,
Jeremiah