LeftyBassist.com

The missus and I are celebrating our 11th(!) wedding anniversary with a 3 day trip to Nashville. (Anniversary was on 11/06 and, amazingly, slipped both our minds so I got away with it. ). First time to Nashville for us. I've already informed my wife that I intend to do some musical window shopping, which will have to result in her doing some of her own. Any suggestions on some good music stores to hit? How about clubs, restaurants, etc?

Gruhn's on Broadway. Not much in the way of southpaw stuff. If you're a drinker, hit up the Beer Sellar, a block up from Broadway. If you like Sushi, check out Samurai on Elliston. Stay away from the tourist-trappy joints on Broadway. Bad music.

I just saw the 1988 documentary "Depeche Mode 101" and the scenes of the band cassette and guitar shopping in Nashville are some of the best in the movie. In particular, Martin Gore fingerpicking the song that would become "Personal Jesus" on a Rickenbacker 381 at some guitar shop.

I spent a week in Nashville over the summer for a big show we were exhibiting at. It was my first time, and I loved it. Don't judge the place by the drunken tourists on the weekend. Dig a little deeper and you'll find that you can't throw a rock without hitting someone who's got talent. It's like Austin TX, but with more denim. It was July, hotter than hell, and all of the guys were still wearing boots, blue jeans and the mandatory stetson...

I went to Gruhn's (as Matt suggests) - they have some cool retro T-shirts, and I noted some cool basses (inc two Ampeg Dan Armstrong's), but all were righty.

I'm not really a country/western guy, but it's easy to appreciate the good playing you'll find in most of the bars. If you need an apres-beer Karaoke fix, Lonnies is a fun late night dive-bar (cash only) that's worth a quick visit:

http://www.lonnieswesternroom.com/

There was a young blonde girl running the Karaoke who had the most amazing voice.. she was tiny but her voice could blow the doors off an F150. The place next door in Printers Alley, the Fiddle and Steel:

http://www.fiddleandsteel.com/

is a cool place to kick-back and watch a few bands. Very low-key, but the owner is super-cool, and a buddy of a friend of mine was the opening act one night during my time there. Beware that many bars have a cover on the weekend. At some places it's up to $10. I don't mind paying a few bucks, but $10 is getting into serious beer money. If you need a break from the C&W, there's a hard rock cafe...it's the typical set-up, but makes for a break in the routine, and the food is ok. Speaking of food, you need to go to Jacks:

http://jacksbarbque.com/

It can get a bit touristy, but the BBQ is great. It's cafeteria-style, and I ate there 3 times in a week. I was 5 pounds heavier when I got back (no word of a lie).

For other guitar stores, I wanted to check these guys out, but did not get time, and did not have a car:

http://www.worldmusicnashville.com/

Have fun!

Great suggestions, thanks!

I was never a C&W guy either, especially the dopey modern slick stuff, much preferring old school country music with some sincerity along the lines of Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, or even John Denver.
I like the rootsier, grittier "pure" sounds of country, so I'm hoping there's some of that to be found in Nashville. One man (or woman) + 1 guitar and a whole lotta hurtin' inside will do it for me.
But I'm also in awe of some of the musicianship, especially the guitarists. I've been trying to teach myself chickin' pickin' styles on my Tele ala Clarence White, Chet Atkins, etc.

As for the bass, well, you don't really here a lot of inventiveness in country music, though I may just be ignorant of what's out there.

Back from Nashville this evening and we had a fantastic (albeit brief) time. Caught a few bands but by far the best was The Don Kelley Band at Robert's Western World on Broadway, which featured an excellent guitarist by the name of JD Simo on Tele (who's built quite a reputation as one of the best if not THE best guitarist in Nashville) and a fantastic upright slap player as well who also sang lead on some tunes (who's name escapes me). Check it out:

The Auctioneer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez6PiPJeRf8

I'm not that familiar with upright styles, so I'm not sure if this is common or not, but he was pretty much only playing the bottom 3 strings repositioned up with a 4th "dummy" string where the E string would be to anchor his thumb as he slid up and down it. Is that common?

I never did get to any music stores. I peaked into Gruhn's and checked out their inventory online and decided it wasn't worth the bother. They do have a couple of pre-CBS lefty Teles and Strats on hand, but good luck playing one if you're not a serious buyer.

Really? That was not my experience at Gruhn's. They let me play anything I wanted to. Maybe it's my conservative look? I look more like an accountant than a musician LOL