We decided to take a 3 day trip to Nashville, Tennessee centered around ticket I purchased to see Herb Alpert and Lani Hall perform at the Nashville City Winery. Why not? We’ve never been to Nashville and Tony gets to see his childhood music hero.

Growing up, Tony always wanted a trumpet, but instead, his dad got him an accordion; the official instrument of many- a- Polish kids.

Saturday-Upon arrival, we went to Music City Bar and Grill- 5 minutes away from our Fairfield Marriott hotel for dinner and live music.It was located in a shopping mall venue. May of the signs and places were very tourist-y. It’s advertised as live music and pub grub. It was not a big menu. We ordered 2 bacon cheeseburgers $14 each $1 extra for bacon with fries. Tasty, but small- not worth 15 a pop. In addition we ordered 2 Guinness on tap. That’s always worth it 😊

We don’t go out too much, so the idea of creating a running tab and giving our debit card for them to hold was an uncomfortable experience. But it all worked out at the end. BTW- the live band was great.

We drove around a little and passed by Opryland and the Grand Ol’ Opry. We will put that on the list to visit another time. The city of Nashville itself was a booming downtown. Normally, we would find a place to park and walk the many streets and visit the shops. We managed to find a book store and a craft store.

Sunday- the concert is at 7:00pm

City Winery in Nashville is a great place. We had a good burger meal, a wonderful Cabernet and a great view of the stage and show. At 87, Herb is very sharp and funny; a great storyteller. Early on, he did a medley of Tijuana Brass songs followed by some fantastic renditions of jazz and standards such as” “Puttin in the Ritz” and “Fly Me to the Moon”. A talented back up group made up of a drummer, bass guitar and piano made the night terrific. Lani Hall did a medley of Brazil 66 songs and some Broadway tunes. As the show went on, there was a giant screen in the back that changed scenery. Most of the scenes were many of Herb’s paintings and sculptures.

Tony was thrilled to be able to see his childhood music hero. He feels it’s one of the best performances he’s seen.

UPDATE

Herb Alpert just celebrated his 88th birthday and is still touring the US and Canada. In fact, shortly after the Nashville show, he added an Atlanta show held at the Variety Playhouse.

As of this writing, the tour is taking place in Western Canada.