A Sad Song in Music City

Ya’ll know that I love Texas, but outside the great Lone Star State there is one other place that I consider my gypsy home: Nashville, TN.

My grandfather, the late W.B. Houchens, used to tune in to Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights, and taught me from childhood to love the sounds of a steel guitar and a great sad song. When I was in my late teens, our family would load the wagons at my grandfather’s behest, and take an annual trek north on the trail that led to Music City. It was his love for country music (especially LIVE country music), and it was his adventurous (some would call it “restless”) spirit that instilled in me the desires and values that I now summarize with the name Cowboy Gypsy. There’s no way to measure how much my life has been shaped by the music, the traditions, and the lifestyle he loved, that is exemplified in the culture of Nashville.

As you can imagine, I was saddened to hear about the recent flooding that destroyed numerous lives, homes, and businesses throughout Middle Tennessee. A sad song is being sung in Music City. In the last few weeks, a number of my friends that reside in and around Nashville have told me incredible stories of destruction, desperation, and daring rescue. It is very difficult to see the pictures and videos of all the familiar places that you know and love in that great city, now engulfed in water.

Next week, a couple of cowboys and I are going to take a little gypsy trip up to Nashville to witness firsthand not only the damage, but also to experience the strong and resilient spirit of these Tennesseans who have been through so much in these disastrous days.

One of my all time favorite cowhands, Chad Allen, and I made a visit to Nashville back in February (his first visit; as for me, I’ve lost count), and he was thoroughly impressed with the city and its hospitality. Which, if you’ve read earlier stories about C.A. then you know how un-impressed he can be about all things “not-Texas.” It was one of those trips that reminded me why I’ve so heartily embraced my travels as a necessary ingredient of life. I was able to introduce my South Texas partner to a number of old friends, and we were able to make a few new ones. We had a good visit with RCA recording artist, Chris Young, upstairs at Tootsie’s World Famous Orchid Lounge. We spent an hour or so chatting with Tuff Hedeman, one of the world’s all-time greatest cowboys, and also ran into a couple of other “famous” cowboy folk whose names would most likely mean absolutely nothing to you.

There’s several funny stories from that trip that I’ll share with you in the future, but for now just trust me when I tell you that it was action packed. I’m sure that next week’s adventure will be nothing short of the same.

I would like to encourage you to plan your own gypsy excursion to Nashville in the very near future. If you need a good tour guide, let me know, and we’ll go together (For that matter, load up and join us next week). I encourage you to visit the various shops and bars of Broadway and spend a little money. See the historical sites. Listen to great music by gifted musicians, and put a few dollars in their pickle jars. Boost the local economy. Donate, if you haven’t done so already. I’d appreciate it, and I’m sure Tennessee would too.