![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seabird78So let's pick up where last left off, shall we? I was walking along Broadway between 2nd and 5th Avenue, wanting to get a feel for the main drag, and the first place I stopped was Hatch Show Print.
Like I've already said, I first got acquainted with this company by way of Seattle's Experience Music Project, where I got to check out a traveling exhibition that was a retrospective of Hatch's work from its early days up to the present. A little history: Hatch Show Print is America's oldest working poster print shop, and they made their name by using a letterpress technique (which involves selecting, or in some case, hand carving woodblocks, setting up wood and/or metal type, and then inking and pressing these elements to form an image) to create brightly colored posters meant to advertise and promote southern entertainment, everything from vaudeville to Grand Old Opry performers. Lots of famous folks, including my personal favorite Johnny Cash hired the Hatch brothers for their beautiful work, and I think it's really awesome that they are still employing the methods they've always used for their most current designs.
Visiting this place, which is a workshop/gift shop/historical landmark, was my way of paying respect to an institution that has been so important to the music industry, and I really geeked out over some of the classic designs they had displayed. There was a very famous Johnny Cash poster, there was some work promoting Pasty Cline, and even though the public wasn't allowed to get near the printing equipment I could still admire it and their shelves upon shelves of hand-carved woodblocks from afar, appreciating the sheer amount of work and artistry that had helped get millions of people excited about so many different kinds of shows. Having worked closely with graphic designers for both personal and professional projects, I really appreciate people who know how to combine text and image into a piece that not only conveys a clear message about an event, but is a thing of beauty in and of itself.
So anyway, I poked around and let my lungs fill with the scent of dust and ink. I also met one of Hatch's in-house celebrities -- one of three Hatch Show Print resident cats. He was asleep in a chair and clearly not up for being a gracious host, but he let me pet him for a minute and I contemplated buying a letterpress poster featuring him and his two other feline companions as a memento. Ultimately I bought myself a different print, because I figured I could just come back with my camera and take a photo of him later. It was an unexpected treat to meet the kitty though, and added that much more to my music geek experience.
With that finished, it was time to see other sights along Broadway. All of the bars had their doors wide open, all the better for me to hear the live acts playing inside, and feel enticed to enter and listen more closely. It was like they were competing with each other for customers, which I know they were, and it made me feel as if I was walking a street flowing with music. I stopped at the openings of a couple places, but no one musician or band was gripping enough to pull me in. A few of the more well-known joint's namely Robert's Western World and Tootsie's were jam-packed with people even though it was still pretty early in the day. I'd read that both of them were tourist traps, and so when I reached their doors I moved along, wanting to find an experience a little more authentic. Boy was I happy when I finally reached Layla's and saw that it wasn't as crowded as most of the other bars. I wasn't sure if that would stick when I was there later to see Hillbilly Casino, but I was hopeful that I'd at least have enough room to breathe.
Broadway was teeming with tourists, mostly families, so once I'd found my evening destination I decided I had enough and would head back to the hotel to relax. I started walking down fifth avenue, and found myself approaching a building that seemed to be a small museum. A sign out front proclaimed, "New Johnny Cash and June Carter exhibit inside!" This totally caught my attention, and so I followed a sign pointing me to the entrance on the other side of the building, and learned that I was standing before the famous Ryman Auditorium. This is the concert hall that played home to the Grand Old Opry until the the mid-70's, and is also the place where Johnny Cash and June Carter first met. Unbeknownst to me, Ryman still plays hosts to musical acts, and is open for a tour during the day. I hadn't even considered checking this place out, since the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was the only museum I'd read about in my research. But it seemed like an important place to make a pilgrammage, so I approached the ticket booth to inquire about prices. At only 13 bucks for admission, it seemed worth my while to venture in and learn more, and so I did.
Admittedly, there's not all that much to the tour. You get to see an eight-minute film covering the history of the building, where a bunch of famous performers comment on the venue and what it means to them. This is screened in the lower level seating area, and from there the rest is a self-guided tour where you can walk around and look at stuff in display cases. Each of the display cases is from a particular era of the Grand Old Opry, and of course, Johnny and June get there very own display case with clothing and lyric sheets and other cool stuff. I could have breezed through in about 15 minutes, but as you all know I switch into nerd mode any time I'm in a museum setting. I studied every little object and read every text plaque, wanting to make sure I left no stone unturned and got the most bang for my buck.
Another cool thing you can do on this tour is approach the stage where so many historical music moments happened. They'll let you pose up their with an instrument for five bucks, but I wasn't really interested in a cheesy Polaroid of myself. I did stand down there and stare up in awe for a few minutes, and at the risk of sounding weird, I swear I felt the spirits of the musicians who had passed through Ryman's hallowed halls. I wish I could describe that feeling, but words can't do it justice. It just had a power and a majesty that left me momentarily breathless, and it was without a doubt the most moving and extraordinary thing that happened to me on this whole trip.
After peering at the stage up close I made my way up into the balcony to check out the remaining exhibits. And I passed a recording booth where for a fee you can made a CD of yourself singing a song. Like with the photo, I passed on this, but I thought of how cool it would be to try this some other time. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and admit that I think recording a duet of "Jackson" in the Ryman recording booth with a boy I really liked would be the most romantic thing ever.
Enough about that, though.
So like I said, I checked out the balcony, and that was pretty much it for the tour. I hit the gift shop after that but opted not to buy anything. Found a t-shirt I really liked but I wanted to wait before I splurged because it was kind of expensive and I thought it was important to comparison shop in case I found a better one elsewhere.
I left Ryman after that and took a long, roundabout way back to the Doubletree, so as to see as much of the city as I could. When I finally reached the lobby my check-in was quick and painless and included a warm chocolate chip cookie with walnuts. It was thick and gooey and absolutely deadly, but I savored every morsel.
The desk clerk had a bellman bring my checked bags up for me, and then it was time for a much needed epic nap!
Alright, this recap is almost done. Hopefully be back later today with more!!!!
Like I've already said, I first got acquainted with this company by way of Seattle's Experience Music Project, where I got to check out a traveling exhibition that was a retrospective of Hatch's work from its early days up to the present. A little history: Hatch Show Print is America's oldest working poster print shop, and they made their name by using a letterpress technique (which involves selecting, or in some case, hand carving woodblocks, setting up wood and/or metal type, and then inking and pressing these elements to form an image) to create brightly colored posters meant to advertise and promote southern entertainment, everything from vaudeville to Grand Old Opry performers. Lots of famous folks, including my personal favorite Johnny Cash hired the Hatch brothers for their beautiful work, and I think it's really awesome that they are still employing the methods they've always used for their most current designs.
Visiting this place, which is a workshop/gift shop/historical landmark, was my way of paying respect to an institution that has been so important to the music industry, and I really geeked out over some of the classic designs they had displayed. There was a very famous Johnny Cash poster, there was some work promoting Pasty Cline, and even though the public wasn't allowed to get near the printing equipment I could still admire it and their shelves upon shelves of hand-carved woodblocks from afar, appreciating the sheer amount of work and artistry that had helped get millions of people excited about so many different kinds of shows. Having worked closely with graphic designers for both personal and professional projects, I really appreciate people who know how to combine text and image into a piece that not only conveys a clear message about an event, but is a thing of beauty in and of itself.
So anyway, I poked around and let my lungs fill with the scent of dust and ink. I also met one of Hatch's in-house celebrities -- one of three Hatch Show Print resident cats. He was asleep in a chair and clearly not up for being a gracious host, but he let me pet him for a minute and I contemplated buying a letterpress poster featuring him and his two other feline companions as a memento. Ultimately I bought myself a different print, because I figured I could just come back with my camera and take a photo of him later. It was an unexpected treat to meet the kitty though, and added that much more to my music geek experience.
With that finished, it was time to see other sights along Broadway. All of the bars had their doors wide open, all the better for me to hear the live acts playing inside, and feel enticed to enter and listen more closely. It was like they were competing with each other for customers, which I know they were, and it made me feel as if I was walking a street flowing with music. I stopped at the openings of a couple places, but no one musician or band was gripping enough to pull me in. A few of the more well-known joint's namely Robert's Western World and Tootsie's were jam-packed with people even though it was still pretty early in the day. I'd read that both of them were tourist traps, and so when I reached their doors I moved along, wanting to find an experience a little more authentic. Boy was I happy when I finally reached Layla's and saw that it wasn't as crowded as most of the other bars. I wasn't sure if that would stick when I was there later to see Hillbilly Casino, but I was hopeful that I'd at least have enough room to breathe.
Broadway was teeming with tourists, mostly families, so once I'd found my evening destination I decided I had enough and would head back to the hotel to relax. I started walking down fifth avenue, and found myself approaching a building that seemed to be a small museum. A sign out front proclaimed, "New Johnny Cash and June Carter exhibit inside!" This totally caught my attention, and so I followed a sign pointing me to the entrance on the other side of the building, and learned that I was standing before the famous Ryman Auditorium. This is the concert hall that played home to the Grand Old Opry until the the mid-70's, and is also the place where Johnny Cash and June Carter first met. Unbeknownst to me, Ryman still plays hosts to musical acts, and is open for a tour during the day. I hadn't even considered checking this place out, since the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was the only museum I'd read about in my research. But it seemed like an important place to make a pilgrammage, so I approached the ticket booth to inquire about prices. At only 13 bucks for admission, it seemed worth my while to venture in and learn more, and so I did.
Admittedly, there's not all that much to the tour. You get to see an eight-minute film covering the history of the building, where a bunch of famous performers comment on the venue and what it means to them. This is screened in the lower level seating area, and from there the rest is a self-guided tour where you can walk around and look at stuff in display cases. Each of the display cases is from a particular era of the Grand Old Opry, and of course, Johnny and June get there very own display case with clothing and lyric sheets and other cool stuff. I could have breezed through in about 15 minutes, but as you all know I switch into nerd mode any time I'm in a museum setting. I studied every little object and read every text plaque, wanting to make sure I left no stone unturned and got the most bang for my buck.
Another cool thing you can do on this tour is approach the stage where so many historical music moments happened. They'll let you pose up their with an instrument for five bucks, but I wasn't really interested in a cheesy Polaroid of myself. I did stand down there and stare up in awe for a few minutes, and at the risk of sounding weird, I swear I felt the spirits of the musicians who had passed through Ryman's hallowed halls. I wish I could describe that feeling, but words can't do it justice. It just had a power and a majesty that left me momentarily breathless, and it was without a doubt the most moving and extraordinary thing that happened to me on this whole trip.
After peering at the stage up close I made my way up into the balcony to check out the remaining exhibits. And I passed a recording booth where for a fee you can made a CD of yourself singing a song. Like with the photo, I passed on this, but I thought of how cool it would be to try this some other time. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and admit that I think recording a duet of "Jackson" in the Ryman recording booth with a boy I really liked would be the most romantic thing ever.
Enough about that, though.
So like I said, I checked out the balcony, and that was pretty much it for the tour. I hit the gift shop after that but opted not to buy anything. Found a t-shirt I really liked but I wanted to wait before I splurged because it was kind of expensive and I thought it was important to comparison shop in case I found a better one elsewhere.
I left Ryman after that and took a long, roundabout way back to the Doubletree, so as to see as much of the city as I could. When I finally reached the lobby my check-in was quick and painless and included a warm chocolate chip cookie with walnuts. It was thick and gooey and absolutely deadly, but I savored every morsel.
The desk clerk had a bellman bring my checked bags up for me, and then it was time for a much needed epic nap!
Alright, this recap is almost done. Hopefully be back later today with more!!!!
