Dead Can Dance in Nashville

Last year I heard Dead Can Dance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_can_dance), one of my favorite groups, was putting together a world tour.   I told my lovely wife, who does not like the group, that I was going regardless of where they were playing.  This explains how we found ourselves at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville Tennessee last night waiting for Dead Can Dance to appear.

Natalie and I with Sheri Lynn and Brenda Kay

As we sat there waiting in our pew, 5 rows from the stage, we talked about our day.  The day where we spent 2 hours in the company of Brenday Kay and Sheri Lynn Jugg aboard a pink bus, doing the Nashtrash tour of Nashville(http://www.nashtrash.com/).  The tour was spent laughing so hard our sides still hurt.  Our guides showed us the seedier side of the city and discussed the demise of the butter Jesus in Ohio.  Natalie and I sat in the front of the bus and immediately got clocked as alternate lifestyle participants.  When they ask if we were girlfriends I held up my hand and pointed to my wedding ring.  The Juggs were tickled to death, and said to the bus, "Good for you, doesn't bother us, why should it bother anyone."  In other words great tour.  Also where else do you get to ride around in a bright pink bus?

Nashtrash Pink Bus

We ate at my favorite restaurant in Nashville, Noshville (http://www.noshville.com/).  I love this place.  Their reuben sandwich is about the best one I have ever had.  After lunch we went to yarn shops and then back to our very nice hotel suite to rest before dolling up for the concert. All in all a wonderful day about to be capped by the concert I have waited years to see.  I want to tell you my friends, it was Christmas, my birthday, and hitting a jackpot on a slot machine all rolled into one.

David Kuchermann on the handpans

The concert started on time with David Kuckhermann on the handpan drums.  These are odd, flying saucer-shaped, drums with an amazing sound resonating from them, like a steel drum only more ethereal.  He also managed to produce a song from a tambourine which was astounding.   He really set the tone for the evening.

Lisa Gerrard in the house

When the lights went down again and the band stepped on the stage, I forgot to breath.  Natalie gave my hand a squeeze and my dream of seeing Dead Can Dance came true.  I expected the concert to be good, but this exceeded anything I could have imagined.  The music was a combination of the older music and their new album, Anastasis.  Lisa Gerrard walked out looking like some regal other worldly creature dressed in a stunning dark velvet dress with a gold sash around her neck ready to play her dulcimers.  Brendan Perry haunting songs and vocals matched Gerrard's unique singing style.  Our seats were so close I could see the nuances of their interactions and presence. For me it was euphoric.  I transcended myself and was carried through the music to a place of metaphysical bliss.  Trust me on this point, (BIG SIGH) this night was magic for me.

Brendan Perry

The band did three encores and the crowd did not want to leave this sanctuary of music.  However, all things must come to an end, and as the light came up I knew it was time to return to the real world.  All I could do was look at my wife, who as I said does not really care for Dead Can Dance, swelling with love for this beautiful woman sitting next to me.  I am so lucky to have shared something I love so much with a person who just understands and loves me as I am. 

Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard

As we left the historic Ryman I ask my wife to give me just a little more time to snap a few photos highlighting the venue.   We even made a stop by the statue of Minnie Pearl to wrap her in my handknit vintage wrap(http://tempestinapot.blogspot.com/2012/02/dyeabolically-wrapped-or-i-talk-about.html) I was wearing.  Minnie looked beautiful in the colorful garment.

Minnie Pearl Statue at the Ryman

I am home in St Louis, and I need to go to bed for work tomorrow.  I just want to hold onto this feeling a little bit longer sharing my photos and prose.  I feel lucky.  Lucky to have realized the dream of seeing one of my favorite bands, lucky to have the income to travel to such a vibrant city, and so very lucky to have a wonder person in my life who did not my share my dream, but sat with me holding my hand while I fulfilled mine.

Southern Yarn Crawl: Tennessee

In the middle of July, I was off for vacation to Florida to see baby Kaelab. Taking advantage of the drive through a very lush southland by visiting the yarn stores. I sent little snipets of my trip as I went, but I want to gush some more about the crawl.

I visited 5 stores in four different states. Nashville Tennessee was the first one on the trip. With the Knitter's, Crocheters', Weavers', & Spinners' Travel Guide and my cellphone in hand I made my way to the first location.

Last October, beloved Cuz and I made a jaunt to Nashville and I blogged about the city then http://tempestinapot.blogspot.com/2008/10/nashville-part-deux.html ). I stand by my comments. Nashville is a city I would love to get to know better. There is a good vibe in the city, the knitters are very friendly, and the yarns shops very nice. Bliss Yarns (http://www.threadedblissyarns.com/ ) in Suburban Nashville was right off the highway and full of knitters clacking happily along. The shop was nicely organized and full of beautiful and tempting accessories, like project bags and needle cases. I found the book selection especially good. I was impressed by the friendly staff and the big comfy couches (notice the plural). The shop appeared to be a hub of knitter social activity with a large table for adults to sit at and a small table full of toys for future knitters.

The only negative thing I will say about the shop is I found the yarn selection not as varied as some of the other shops I visited. She had a nice selection of Cascade and sock yarns. I fell in love with this particularly yummy green and black colorway TY-DY sock yarn. I look forward to dropping by the shop the next time I am in the neighborhood.

I also took advantage of being in the same city with one of my favorite deli's, Noshville in Nashville ( http://www.noshville.com/ ) . I love the name, but the food is especially delicious. They even have a dill pickle bar! I also found out that Noshville actually has 3 locations throughout the area. Sadly, the deli has no dinner hours, breakfast and lunch only.

I even saw a guy in a kilt filming a commerical on my way out of town. I love Nashville.

Nashville, Part Deux

So last week in the life and times of the knitting obsessed, our two heroines took themselves to the land of Opry to bask in the presence of the Mason-Dixon Knits twosome. You heard the gushy, gush about how fabulous it was and how I was on their national blog, blah-blah stuff. So famous knitters aside. I had a great trip with my beloved Cuz. Above she is showing off her almost finished shawl to some super nice knitters from eastern Tennessee.
I can't remember this lady's name, but she was working on some socks. She scooted right over to make room for the us while we waited for the room set aside for our group.
The talented Tara (http://learningfromchavah.blogspot.com/) was also working on these socks for her husband. They are Seminole football fans and she wanted to knit her hubby some Nole socks. Okay that is not was is so astounding about these socks, cause I could care less about football. She dyed the socks herself and even mixed the dye from her own kool-aid recipe. These colors very vibrant and were striping up like a dream. It is funny beloved Cuz and I used the same yarn and kool-aid, we even followed the same directions. Trust me our yarn did not come out looking this good.
The equally talented Lindsey was working on this adorable duck-billed hat. She had already finished a pair of duck-footed booties to match the hat. Wish I could post a photo of them, those booties are just so damn cute. It amazes me the endless variety of things that people knit.
Not only was the knitting fabulous, but the food was equally as good. We stopped at a yarn store Angel Hair Yarn (http://www.angelhairyarn.com/) and after ohhhing and ahhhing over their shop, the lovely knit divas sent beloved Cuz and I over to the Noshvile Delicatessen(http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=noshville+delicatessen&fr=yfp-t-305-s&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8) for lunch. We did some serious eating here, I had a truly tasty rueben and beloved Cuz had some concoction that had her lips smacking for awhile. I wish I could find someplace that yummy in St Louis. On the way out of town we stopped at Jacks and had some seriously good bar-b-que served up by some of the nicest people I have ever met. If I had to use one word to describe the people I met in Nashville it would be welcoming. I can't wait until the next time I get to visit that fair city.

The only really negative thing that happened was the four hour traffic jam and the accident which slowed our egress out of town. But I can't blame the good people of Nashville for that one, we should have just stayed an extra night. The trip's timing though couldn't have been better, it was a much needed balm on my soul.