You've probably heard of Bluebird Cafe from ABC's Nashville (which is a great show, by the way). It features the Bluebird pretty prominently.
One thing you'd never guess by watching the show:
The Bluebird Cafe is nestled in a strip mall.
That's right, a strip mall, people.
It's flanked on either side by a baby boutique, home decor store, barber shop, and the AT&T store. Verrry glamorous. By daytime, it looks dingy and unassuming, but once you're inside and the show's starting, it's an entirely different place.
 |
| source |
It's always been pretty hard to get tickets to Bluebird, since it's a pretty small place. It's gotten even more difficult now that it's become so publicized, and I felt lucky when we were able to get tickets right during Christmastime. The tickets went on sale at 8 AM Monday morning, and were completely sold out by 8:05.
It's a small, cramped place, and you definitely don't go for the food. I mean, it's okay...but not anything life-changing.
Bluebird is mostly for singer/songwriters, so you're mostly listening to the people behind the hit songs. I can't tell you what a cool experience it is to hear a song that you grew up singing along to, sung by the person who wrote it. Growing up in Idaho, I've listened to my fair share of country, and I've heard so many songs sung at Bluebird that I've heard over and over on the radio.
Even if you don't listen to or like country music, it's still an awesome place to go. Every time I've gone, it's been more of an acoustic session anyway, so it doesn't sound too countrified. And I've heard plenty of songs that weren't country.
It so cramped, you can hardly tell where the singers are, but the sound is good from everywhere. These guys were so amazing! They all went around the circle, taking turns to sing their next song, but in between there was plenty of banter and wit.
(look, here is a picture of the front of her head!)
(well, really the side...but it still counts.)
Anyway, she was so sweet. I got a hug and a thank you and, because she liked me so much (b/c who wouldn't), she told me to go to the merch table and tell them Annie's your friend and she said to give you a free CD.
!!!!!!
She was the sweetest.
Even if you don't listen to or like country music, it's still an awesome place to go. Every time I've gone, it's been more of an acoustic session anyway, so it doesn't sound too countrified. And I've heard plenty of songs that weren't country.
It so cramped, you can hardly tell where the singers are, but the sound is good from everywhere. These guys were so amazing! They all went around the circle, taking turns to sing their next song, but in between there was plenty of banter and wit.
And now, for some (crappy) video from my iPhone! You may not have the patience to watch all of these, but trust me--they're worth the watch.
First of all, Tony Arata, who has written for pretty much all the country greats, sung a song recorded by my girl Patty Loveless, "Here I Am":
Aaaand my favorite singer of the night, Annie Mosher. She was the perfect mix of quirky and dark and funny and all around awesome. Plus, she had some of the best lyrics of the night. Seriously, can you just listen to this whole song:
(also, my apologies for the video being of the back of her head)
Here's another song from Annie, with a long (and funny) intro story.
Annie was by far and away my favorite of the night. Best thing about Bluebird: you can go straight up and talk to the singers after the show. (Even if they did want to escape, there's pretty much no where for them to go...they're surrounded on all sides. Ha.) We congratulated Tony on his awesome singing, and I even got to go up to Annie and gush about how much I liked her music.
(well, really the side...but it still counts.)
Anyway, she was so sweet. I got a hug and a thank you and, because she liked me so much (b/c who wouldn't), she told me to go to the merch table and tell them Annie's your friend and she said to give you a free CD.
!!!!!!
She was the sweetest.
Anyway, if you come to visit us in Nashville, like, EVER, I will take you to Bluebird. And you will have an awesome time.