Exploring Music City

Nightlife

While in Nashville, you must go to the Grand Ole Opry and listen to the broadcast of the famous radio show. This is a great place to have a taster of Country music as you'll hear a mix of country legends and contemporary chart-toppers, interspersed with announcements and adverts from the sponsors in a traditional, old-time radio show format.

If you visit in the winter months, the show may be broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium, from where the Grand Ole Opry was originally broadcast. This beautiful old tabernacle has oak pews which are reported to help the acoustics of the place.

It was lovingly restored in 1994, by which time the Grand Ole Opry had moved to the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center nearby. You can listen to the performances live over the internet on www.gactv.com

Another place for live music is the Bluebird Cafe where you'll hear songwriters singing original material, often accompanying themselves on guitar. The performers sit together and do a 'songwriters in the round', taking turns to tell an anecdote and sing a song.

There's quite a reverential atmosphere, so expect to be shushed in you chat during the performances. The cafe is in a strip of car-showroom type shops and looks unassuming, but it's a good idea to book a table here as it fills up with locals and tourists alike.

Don't be put off by this as the musicians are good. Garth Brooks and Faith Hill both started here! The early evening shows are free, but there's a charge for the second show and you're expected to spend at least $7 on food or drink.

You should also make time to go to the honky-tonk bars on Broadway. These spit-and-sawdust type bars play live music and are usually quite raucous in a friendly way. Tootsies Orchid Lounge and Legends are famous and worth a look.

Need to know
From March 2008, foreign visitors to the US will be required to give all ten fingerprints on arrival, which will then be stored on a biometrics database. Since 2004, the Homeland Security Department has been collecting index fingerprints from foreign visitors aged from 14 to 79 and now has 90 million sets of prints on record. It is hoped collecting additional fingerprints will improve security and make it harder for people to travel on forged passports.

Find out more about travelling to the United States at www.discoveramerica.com