Meet me in St Louis

Riverboats on the Mississippi at St Louis

Well I think that at my age, I need to “come out” and admit that I like Country Music. Nashville lives up to its reputation as the Music Capital of the US and it’s the Mecca for anyone who wants to make it as any type of music. Broadway was on fire last night and we heard some great acts.

Broadway, Nashville at night

We listened to a great country band with a versatile female vocalist early in the evening. Sadly we didn’t get back to find their name or buy one of their CDs because we came across on of the treasures of our trip.

The Country Band that we didn't get back to see more of

After a few beers we moved next door to Leila’s Bluegrass Club and we didn’t move on for another 3 hours. The Chris Casello trio played everything including Rock & Roll, Country, Jazz, Rock, Rockabilly and the rest. The boys were blown away with Chris Casello’s guitar virtuosity. At times you couldn’t keep up with his finger movements. Hugh says that he is the best guitarist that he has ever heard, saying “Joe Bonamassa and Alert Lee can lay down their guitars when it comes to this guy”.

To our utter amazement Chris swung effortlessly between music genres. He would play his steel slide guitar at the same time that he was playing his Fender Telecaster. The sound coming out of this 3-piece band, which includes bassist Mark Winchester and drummer Jimmy Lester was electric. The pace of the action was almost impossible to keep up with. Mark Winchester was such a great bass player, his Johnny Cash was as good as the master during their rendition of “Orange Blossom Special” and “I walk the Line” This was what live music is all about. It’s the interaction between musician and audience that makes it impossible to convey the ecstatic performance that we listened to. We saw 3 people playing at 200% performance. This is high-octane fuelled stuff.

The Great Chris Cosello Trio at Leila's Bluegrass Club in Nashville

Chris Cosello playing guitar and pedal steel guitar at the same time

Most of the conversation this morning still revolves around last night’s gig. I advise everyone reading this blog to look him up on http://www.chriscasello.com/ Where do all these excellent musicians come from in Nashville? Is coming to Nashville the same as aspiring actors going to Hollywood in search of that elusive recording contract. For many, doing a weekly slot on Broadway, Nashville is success. This is Music City USA and I love it!

Elvis is alive and well!

The road between Nashville and St Louis initially cuts through scenic woodland and crosses the wide Columbia, Tennessee and Ohio Rivers. These wide rivers flow into the Mississippi River System and acts as a vast highway system for America’s Mid West industries. Gradually, the woodland gives way to flat agricultural land and I expect that this will accompany us all the way to Chicago and the Great Lakes. How did those blues men see it as the streamed out of the Mississippi Delta looking for work and a livelihood? This is the Blues Road and one of America’s Mother Roads.

St Louis sits on the Mississippi just within Missouri. The city built a huge stainless steel arch in 1965 to celebrate Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of vast tracks of land from France in 1803 for 15 million dollars. Probably one of the best real estate deals in history. This doubled the size of the new nation overnight and opened the West up for exploration and settlement. We took the tramcar up to the top of the monument, which gives a great view of the city.

Driving into St Louis

St Louis is was also home to Scott Joplin during a very productive time in his artistic career where he wrote such important compositions as the Entertainer, Ragtime Dance and Easy Winners.

Scott Joplin's House

St Louis has a vibrant Jazz and Blues scene. Blues and Jazzmen called in and some decided to stay on the great migration to Chicago. All the Blues bars are found in one area on South Broadway and we called in at the Oyster Bar to see Alvin Jett and the Phatouise. Good band playing a Jazz/blues fusion with excellent lead guitar and sax.

Alvin Jett and The Phatouise at the Oyster Bar. Good band!

Relaxing at the Oyster Bar

Our stop over in St Louis is sadly short as we head off to follow the likes of Muddy Waters and Howling Wolfe to the big windy city tomorrow.

The Chris Casello trio at Leila's Bluegrass Club

Some virtuoso guitar work from Chris Casello (sorry about the poor video)

More You-Tube videos of Chris Casello:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTSAQVbSZCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiOu5oeNM_Q&feature=related

Driving into St Louis

Playing Scott Joplin on the Pianola at the Museum