Nashville is experiencing a surge in popularity among tourists looking for a 24-hour, live music party. Photo / Thinkstock
Hardcore drinking and music await in Nashville, finds Leena Tailor.
I used to think Las Vegas was the place to party until one Friday night in Nashville. It started with a sunset pedal tavern tour singing along to Pharrell's Happy and ended with a 5am stumble home navigating burgers, horses and construction zones.
I also thought Los Angeles was the spot to catch live music anytime, anywhere, until being greeted by a stage-worthy busker after stepping off the plane, an acoustic lobby musician welcoming us to the Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown and an endless stream of blurring beats belting out from rock, pop and country acts along the city's famed Honky-Tonk strip.
The surprises didn't stop there.
New York or Beverly Hills might be go-tos for designer clothing, but the made-to-measure jeans at Imogene + Willie are a must amid the town's evolving fashion scene.
And, while all of the above are culinary meccas, 70-plus new restaurants opened in Nashville last year, attracting chefs from LA and New York.
Soon, torrential downpours sweep over me on the way to Nashville favourite Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant, a journey which has me dodging colossal raindrops, half in hysterics and half fearing lightning will strike my umbrella.
Almost as much oil drizzles from the fried green beans as water drips from my hair as we tuck into a southern staple, chicken and waffles and deliciously guilty pulled pork topped with mac-and-cheese. I'm already fearing what horrors the scales will unleash by day five.
On the walk home, we shelter at The Second Fiddle, where a country duo is drawing applause with lyrics like "Taylor Swift can't sing". A few doors down, a raging rock outfit has revellers spilling on to Broadway, where scantily clad girls are emerging ecstatically from a Miley Cyrus concert.
Thankfully, thunderstorms subside in time for our tour with Nashville Pedal Tavern, a 16-seater cycle doubling as a bar, which zaps tourists around town via local drinking spots.
"You all seem like nice, respectful women right now but, after two hours, that goes out the window and you start acting like women from West Virginia," says host Christopher, pouring the first round of BYO drinks.
Soon it's a full-on, 90s dance-party-on-a-bike as Christopher blares the Spice Girls, Madonna and the Backstreet Boys, the tunes gradually drowned out by the loudening, intoxicated excitement of two bachelorette parties on-board.
"Nashville is bachelorette central," muses a local.
"Go downtown and you'll find two in every building."
The Vegas of the South, I realise.
"You're only in Nashville once," insist the boozed brides, loading us up on "must-try" local shots like Fireball and Moonshine before we part pedalling ways.
We head to all-in-one restaurant/bar/music venue The Listening Room Cafe, where solo artists including Canadian songstress Victoria Banks, perform on rotation.
Nelson chef Bryan Firestone recently took over the culinary reins with a menu makeover focusing on tapas such as beer-battered portobello mushrooms and smoked barbecue chicken tenders, to combat the logistical nightmare of getting up to 250 mains out during a one-hour show.
Arriving in "Nashvegas" via Scotland and San Francisco, Bryan was unsure what to expect of life amid America's Bible Belt.
"There are so many people from other places here though, so it's probably a different vibe from what you might find in other Southern states.
"It's hardcore drinking culture and it's music city. It's cool how you can go anywhere, any night and listen to live music."
Firestone and his team insist there's still one Nashville must-try drink - Broadway Brewhouse's deceivingly milkshake-like, spirit/liqueur/creme-fuelled Bushwacker, two of which see my head happily whacking the pillow shortly after.
For a second I wonder if I'm still intoxicated the next morning, after walking into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum being greeted by the shrine-like Taylor Swift Education Centre. Behind glass doors lies a map of the singer's tour stops and a wall covered in fan notes carrying messages like "Holy ground".
I move on to the holier exhibit of Elvis Presley's solid-gold, 1960 Cadillac 75 limousine.
With the glistening sheen of 24-carat, gold-plate highlights and 40 coats of crushed diamonds mixed with fish scales, it sits parked next to the 24-carat, gold-leaf, Kimball grand piano that Priscilla gave him on their first anniversary.
Having seen luxuries worthy of heaven, we head to "the mother church of country music", Ryman Auditorium, former home of Nashville's famed Grand Ole Opry concert series.
What started in 1925 as a weekend "barn dance" broadcast on radio soon evolved into a Saturday night hotspot when countless fans visited Nashville and tuned into see and hear artists including Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff.
The show needed its own venue, prompting the opening of Grand Ole Opry House in 1974. In country music, there's no higher honour than being invited to join the Opry.
Fans can take backstage tours to witness where people such as Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood check for fan-mail or hang before a show.
Countried out, we venture to Third Man Records, a studio and record store owned by The White Stripes' frontman Jack White. It marks the city's burgeoning indie rock scene, much of which lies in East Nashville, a hip neighbourhood reminiscent of Auckland's Ponsonby.
The growing alternative music community shows there's more to Nashville's entertainment realm than country music. Matchbox Twenty's Kyle Cook has just launched diversified label Tennessee Recording Company with hip-hop artist Maurico and The Listening Room Cafe's owner, singer/songwriter Chris Blair, has witnessed a musical melting pot.
"Nashville has never been just country music but lately everyone from Sheryl Crow to rock bands are calling it home, so it's grown in the production and recording side and more alternative rock and indie music is coming here.
"Great musicians from all genres are coming together and simply writing music. It's not about a genre any more. Even with country, I call it 'country rogue' - country with rap or hip-hop. It's all blended together."
Kiwi and former Split Enz manager Barry Coburn knows all-too-well the changing musical landscape. From his second-floor office in the heart of Music Row, the Ten Ten Music Group co-president has seen everyone from Bon Jovi to the Spice Girls sneak into surrounding studios.
Another artist he often sees driving past is Whangarei-born Keith Urban, whose now-soaring career he helped develop. Everywhere showcases a piece of Urban - from the shiny plaque marking his membership backstage at Opry House to the shirt he wore to the 2005 Country Music Awards at the Hall of Fame.
Home for Urban is Franklin, 25 minutes from Nashville, which has enough celebrity residents to rival Hollywood.
"All the newer artists have something in Franklin," says Auckland-native Kirrit Bhikha, who has worked in Nashville for nearly 40 years.
"Between Cool Springs and Green Hills you'll see all kinds of stars."
We take the scenic route, stopping to admire $100,000+ instruments at Gruhn Guitars, cruising past Jack White's house, watching a blur of endless churches take us through Brentwood, then hitting rolling countryside lavishly sprinkled with spectacular mansions. Their values skyrocket as we inch closer to the tiny village of Leiper's Fork.
"Anyone who's anyone has a house in Franklin," reiterates our Franklin on Foot guide Rene Evans.
"[Celebrity website] TMZ has opened an office and everyone's furious. There's an unwritten rule that if celebs are at kids' sports games or getting groceries you leave them alone."
Starpower may be increasingly glittering over Franklin, but as we learn on our Segway tour, it was a dark and different story 150 years ago when downtown became the centre of the Battle of Franklin, the "five bloodiest hours of the Civil War". First shots were fired at 4pm and by sunrise there were 10,000 casualties.
Having gained our Segway legs, we continue cruising past Main Street's Victorian architecture, boutiques, galleries and restaurants, locals applauding us along the way.
"There's a thing called the Segway grin," says Rene.
"When you're riding a Segway, you can't help but sport a silly grin - and everyone around you can't help but grin back."
Much like a pedal tavern grin...
IF YOU GO
Stay
Hyatt Place Downtown Nashville: Just blocks from Broadway, the Hall of Fame and other tourist spots, The Hyatt offers spacious rooms, an impressive hot breakfast buffet and noon checkout - vital after too many Bushwackers on Broadway.
Eat
Two Bits: The only place you can play Mario Kart while devouring dragon wings, lamb neck tacos and beer cheese croquettes.
Rock Bottom: Settle into a window booth for people-watching on Broadway and enjoy tequila mojitos and a "brewery platter" of rock bottom wings and southwest egg rolls.
Grays on Main: The music venue's upscale Southern menu offers hot chicken (a local specialty served in varying spice levels) and cherry, wood-smoked lamb ribs. The food alone is worth the drive to Franklin.
Cascades: Set amid the wonderland-like lobby of the Gaylord Opryland Resort, Cascades overlooks fountains, waterfalls and fish-filled ponds while serving up a worldly mix of burgers, sushi and perigoes (Polish dumplings).
Slider House: A must for slider fans, the mid-town restaurant/bar makes beef, chicken, pork and even fried mac-and-cheese varieties.
Further information: See visitmusiccity.com and DiscoverAmerica.com for more on visiting Nashville.
The chef chats to Herald Travel about unforgettable foodie experiences in Aotearoa.