The Season for Giving

The holiday season has begun! What do you like most about this time of year? For some, it is the time spent with family. For others, it is a season of giving. For the Second Harvest Food Bank, the giving lasts year round. Last year alone they distributed 19,400,293 pounds of food to individuals and families in need. I would like to extend a challenge to all of you. I want to see how much food we can collect this season for Second Harvest Food Bank. We have a donation box in the office to make it easier for you. All you have to do is bring your nonperishable food items to the office and put them in the box. With your help, Second Harvest can feed even more Tennesseans in need. If you would rather make a monetary donation, go to http://secondharvestmidtn.org/ to make a donation online. For every dollar donated, $0.96 goes directly to their programs to feed people. Come by the office and help us fill this box!

Nashville: Rockin & Rollin

The other day I was talking to someone on the phone. She was working on some sort of call center not located in Nashville. When she noticed that I was calling from Nashville, she said, “Oh, you’re from Nashville the country music capital!” Anyone who knows of Nashville also knows that our city is known for country music. What they don’t know is that our city is not limited to country music, not by a long shot. Rolling Stone Magazine named Nashville “Best Music Scene 2011” and for good reason. Nashville is has one of the most eclectic collections of music venues. We all know the Ryman has acoustics that are out of this world! Seriously, there’s not a bad seat in the house. You can watch up and coming songwriters at The Bluebird Café, Café Coco, The Basement, or The Broken Spoke; Blues at Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar or BB King’s; Jazz at F. Scott’s Jazz Bar; or any other genre of live band at the many venues in Nashville. There is no shortage of live shows on any given night of the week in this city. You don’t have to shell out a ton of money on concert tickets either. Ticket prices at Mercy Lounge run anywhere from $5-$25. Even the free shows rock! We just finished the annual run of Live on The Green, and it was amazing. I sincerely hope you got to see Alabama Shakes when they played Live on the Green this year. That may have been the last time you get away with seeing them for free. Musician’s Corner is another great option for free shows. They have free shows in May, June, September, and October at Centennial Park. The options are almost endless when it comes to seeing a show in here. “I think I had the same notion most people have, which is it’s simply a town that percolates around country music. Though country-music history is deep and richly steeped throughout the city, this is a place that’s been expanding musically and culturally…People coming from Europe and Canada-there are all kinds of different cultures and different music being represented here. It continues to blossom.” -Joy Williams of the Civil Wars I think Joy Williams sums it up pretty well.

Nashville: More Than Just Music City

The longer I live in Nashville, the more I learn about this town. There is so much to do here! Everyone knows about the music scene, but that is only part of it. Take a tour of Nashville and get to know the history of this amazing place! Did you know this town is haunted? If you want to educate yourself on the spooky history of Nashville, book one of the Nashville Ghost Tours. They have three options to choose from: The Haunted Downtown Nashville Tour, The Haunted Tavern Tour and The Haunted Hearse Tour. Go to http://www.nashvilleghosttours.com/ for more information and to book your tour. Another interesting walking tour is Music City Bites and Sites. On this two mile tour you try samples from several Nashville area restaurants and specialty food stores. You also get a good dose of Nashville history while you fill your belly. Go to http://www.musiccitybitesandsites.com/ for more information. If you want to keep you history and food separated, try Echoes of Nashville. You will get some country music history as well as Nashville’s role in the Civil War. www.echoesofnashville.com

If history is not your thing, no worries! There are two comedy tours in town that have you covered. Nashville Comedy Tour offers a walking tour and a pub crawl. Go to www.nashvillecomedytour.com for information. There is also NashTrash tours. They offer a murder mystery tour and the original NashTrash tour. Go to www.nashtrash.com for more information.