From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, my husband lived and worked in Nashville. He eventually became a respected studio drummer, as well as a touring drummer for bands including James Brown and the Famous Flames and Wayne Jackson and the Memphis Horns.
He moved back to Kansas City around 1991 after his mother was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. She outlived the two years the doctors had estimated and passed away in 1998. In the meantime, he met and married me, we bought a house, established careers, and settled in the Kansas City area.
I know my husband has always considered Nashville his second home and wondered what might have happened if he'd moved back. We've traveled there a couple of times since we met, but it had been a while, so I wanted to give him a whole week to look up old friends and take the time to reminisce and, if the opportunity arose, sit in with their bands.
So that's what we did.
Most of his friends are still part of the music scene in some capacity. Some are quite well-known; others are still hitting the road every week to play wherever the money is decent. One has recently found new careers as a wood carver and occasional actor.
One of the best things about the trip was that my husband managed to reconnect some of his Nashville-area friends with each other.
At this late date, it seems unlikely that we'll ever relocate to Nashville, but I'm glad my husband had the opportunity to get in touch with his old friends again. They're now his friends on MySpace and Facebook, and there's a real possibility that some of them can actually send work his way, now that technology has made it possible for him to record tracks here and FTP them to Nashville.
Either way, my husband had a wonderful time and I enjoyed seeing him so happy.
I am glad you had fun on your trip! Roadcat and all. :-)
Posted by: cagey | May 06, 2009 at 08:23 AM
thats kool. sounds like a great trip!
Posted by: (jeff)isageek | May 06, 2009 at 09:16 AM