The chicken I will never forget

It has certainly been a busy week this week. I have been joined for the last 7 days, out here on my journey of discovery, by my two friends Anna and Mark, and we've been on a musical marathon across the country; from the centre of American live music in Austin to the home of country music Nashville, and onto Memphis and Graceland, all while taking in the delights of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. Fading the white line has never been more appropriate!! (that's over 2000 miles).

Nashville has for a while been somewhere where I have desperately wanted to go and explore, ever since I discovered the greatest, most heartfelt and true music that there is; Country. Now I know that most of you will scoff and look down at me as visions of Dolly Parton, rhinestones and hillbillies in trucker caps flash across your mind, but that's like thinking all Americans are fat, stupid and shallow. Ok, bad example, (while driving across the southern states one woman had never heard of England and the other asked if we were from France!!), but I guaranty your prejudices of country music would change once you arrived in Nashville. The whole place is dedicated to it's musical charms with live music porting out of every bar and enough hats and boots to stock an army of cowboys.
But the jewel of the crown is the Grand Ole Opry.
This is a live weekly concert that has been broadcast on the radio without interruption for almost 60 years and has hosted the greatest names in the business and brings the country music community together like no other.

On Friday, the day of the show, sadly one of the true great legends passed away, George Jones, and the show that evening was both a fitting memorial and celebration of his life and work. Artists of all generations paid tribute including a surprise appearance by Brad Paisley at the end (that won't mean anything to you but it's a huge deal).
For Anna and Mark, both musicians, they found the evening inspiring and motivating more than anything they had experienced. Which made a change from the squabbling, bratish brother/sister act that they seemed to enjoy falling into whenever they got bored.

The other thing I will never forget about Nashville is Prince's Hot Chicken.
This is an institution. A tiny, grimy, old joint that dishes out fried chicken second to none.
This chicken is also hot enough to let you see through time!!! Now I'm a man that enjoys spicy food, I enjoy a vindaloo and a fiery chili with the best of them, but I have never experienced unadulterated pain like I did eating that chicken. I lost my voice after one bite. I went into shock and didn't know what to do. I desperately lunged for some fries to try and numb the pain and ease my torment, but whatever spices that had been mined from the depths of hell and seared onto the chicken (and now the insides of my mouth and throat), had also been liberally doused over these fried potatoes as well, resulting in an expression that I can only imagine looked like I had just swallowed a bee while watching The Queen doing an erotic dance.  Regrettably no photographic evidence of my reaction exists.

Going to Graceland was also a highlight. I'm not a big Elvis fan but I enjoy his music and respect what he managed to achieve in his life. He was The King. And he certainly lived like one. Graceland is an homage to bad 70s designer taste. With shag pile carpets, hideous color schemes and gold everywhere, it certainly hasn't dated very well. However it stands as a testament to a great performer, one the likes of which we will never see again.

Until next time...

This week I have been listening to...