Well, the trip to Nashville is over. Four days down south to celebrate my friends Ray’s 50th. This shot is from the last night there, and the bar is the Wild Beaver Saloon. Ray is belting a song on the Karaoke Stage in the back and not sure who the victim of the mechanical bull was, but he did not last long. Excellent dive bar might be my favorite of the countless ones we visited.

Though I have constantly been posting photos from bars on this page, you might find it hard to believe I do not drink. I enjoy the company of my friends, I like to people watch, and well bars can make incredible photo spots too, especially when musicians are involved. Another thing you might not believe is over the course of the trip, and I was kicked out (removed) from one of the bars we hit. There was even a mention of having me arrested.

At the time, we were a group of 14-16 people. Nothing unusual on Broadway in Nashville. Seems to be a group destination—the first night there out exploring. We hit one of the “must-sees” on the strip. Like most, it was a small, overcrowded, loud establishment with a roof patio overlooking the street. Up to three flights of stairs we made our way through the sea of people. My group all gets drinks I walk solo towards the patio and I am stopped by some kid looking like Barney Fife’s grandson. His shirt and earpiece tell me he works there. I couldn’t hear a damn thing he was saying over the noise, and I was not even sure he was talking to me. When his hand is on my arm and I finally make out, “you’ve gotta leave. You can’t have that here!” I figure I need to stop.

A back and forth takes place, and the camera is the issue. I did not even travel with the professional camera, just a small one. I been walking around with it all day since it is a tourist destination and all. I was told I should not have made it in the door. Well, it was quite visible when I came in, the doorman saw it for sure when he was carding me – but I get it, they don’t want photos, so I won’t take any. More back and forth, offering not to take any was not an option, no reasoning at all. Giving him the battery, the camera card, standing in sight of him, offering to let him hold it while I stand with my group, none of these logical ideas were going to work – which I had expected.

Really all I wanted to do was avoid leaving my group and making my way back through the sea of people. “Fine, I need to tell my group I am leaving” – “NOPE, you are leaving now.” Keep in mind I am 100% sober, and I am not saying drinkers should be treated differently, but he was really going at me as if I were belligerent. It was cute, really, and I am sure his Mommy was proud of him when he told her as she picked him up from his shift. I bring the loud bar to a silent halt when I yell for my group, who is far away, to tell them I need to leave.

Escorted, as close as he could be behind me without touching me, we shared words as I made my way down three flights and out to the street. I was offering more suggestions on how this could have been handled. During our “words,” I triggered him and he threatened to have me arrested. I am not going to lie, my first thought was – ‘now that is a fantastic Nashville story.’ Build up the photographer street cred a bit, but I behaved – because my wife was as close to him as he was to me, and I was more afraid of her than him. Out I go, he warns the police on the street and the bouncer (who had let me in in the first place) about the threat I was, and that ended that.

Really, I get it, the no photo thing was not the issue. Dumb on the bars part for advertising, but still… The handling of the situation is the annoyance, but I can put myself in his shoes, dealing with drunks all the time, probably paid crap, told see a camera remove a camera, but when you realize the overcrowded, far over the capacity building is full of what? 1000+ cell phone cameras, what battle are you fighting? I even went over and spoke with the door guy since I had time – who was awesome – and he blamed it more on the power-hungry kid than the policy, then said, “sorry, whatcha gonna do?”

Now here is the thing, I did take a photo. On the way up the stairs from the first floor, in sight of many people who work there, I turned and got what might be my favorite shot from Nashville. Band on stage, the crowd having a blast, you can see the street out the window, the neon sign of the bar in the background, it is terrific. I even considered making it today’s dailypic to accompany this story. After looking at their website and Facebook page, which is full of really crappy photos (not aggerating out of spite, they are bad photos), I do not want to ever post my photo and help them in any way – unless they want to pay for it, of course, I can always be bought. The interwebs are full of reviews with similar stories of camera harassment, so I give points for being consistent.

I wish them luck. The business of separating people from their money in exchange for overpriced alcohol will never go out of style on Broadway, so they will be okay without my pic. And no, I won’t tell you the name of the bar, I do believe in karma so no need to trash a business. In the end, the kid was doing what he was told. Just one of those rules for the masses because of a few. Overall, Nashville was a blast, and the trip was perfect. I still think a Nashville Mugshot would have been a great souvenir, the story will have to do.

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Some photos from last night, today is the travel home day. This Broadway is a cool place – you never know who you will see either, check out the last photo. I am ready to go back to Nashville, next time with my friends, a tripod, and the “real camera’ – though the pocket camera served me quite well this trip. I would love to do a photo crawl, one photo of each band playing on that strip, in one night. Time to plan that trip.

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I can’t help but take photos of musicians, even if I only have the pocket camera. I really was more interested in the street musicians, than the ones in the bars. Going in the bars to take photos, when you are alone and don’t drink can be awkward. Besides, the guys on the street have better stories. These two were good guys, played/sang a tune for me while I took the photo. Got to talk to them for a bit, guy with the guitar is from VA, the second guy is from PA. This is it, they travel around and make money playing music on the street. The drummer I did not get to talk to, but he was insane on the kit… as everyone just walked by. Then for our conference party we saw Jerry Don Oneal at the Tequila Cowboy, awesome room, great music.

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Walked to the other side of town for diner at Peg Leg Porker’s tonight, some of the best pulled pork I ever had. After, headed across the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge on the Cumberland River.

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In Nashville for a few days. Had some time to walk around the city before an event tonight. Stopped at the Hatch Show Print exhibit, then just roamed the area. Music everywhere.

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