Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/406441
W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 | g o i n g p l a c e s 51 P retty as the morning, Jenny Willis flashes a grin my way as I lean against the door of her dressing room, backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. At 18, she's already a virtuoso player of at least five instruments, including the mandolin she's tuning for a show tonight. I continue my backstage stroll to Jesse McReynolds' dressing room, where the veteran bluegrass picker is also warming up on a man- dolin. A lean and dapper George Hamilton IV is the master of ceremonies this evening, and he walks up to me to say, "Welcome to the Grand Ole Opry" before taking the stage to introduce players such as the great John Conlee. I'm free to come or go backstage as I please, and for a lifelong country music fan such as myself, this is sanctum sanctorum, the holiest of all places in the country canon. Here is where all the greats have relaxed, practised, dressed and, yes, even pounded down a few before taking the stage. I feel giddy from this immense privilege and quickly peck out a text to my buddy Dave in Saskatoon who is also a C&W disciple. "Hey Dave, I'm backstage at the Grand Ole Opry." Dave responds quickly. His words can't be printed here. So, that worked. e Grand Ole Opry is a non-negotiable for first-time visitors to Nashville. But artists from the far-ranging worlds of hip hop, blues, gospel, rock and even straight-up punk also gather here to play and record. Indeed, the sheer weight of all this talent has created a kind of tipping point – talent follows talent – that has spilled the creativity of other disci- plines beyond music into Nashv ille. For example, even foodies have a new region to explore with the creation of the Music City Food + Wine Festival. is two-day food sam- pling and education fete is the handiwork of Caleb and Nathan Followill of the American rock band Kings of Leon. I tuck into a plate of Tennessee-style dry ribs made by Carey Brin- gle of Nashville's Peg Leg Porkers. "Some res- taura nts do sauces f rom ever y reg ion," explains the chef. "We don't do that. Dry ribs are our specialty." I wash the ribs down with a bottle of locally brewed Yazoo ale before heading over to the new Johnny Cash Museum on Third where I encounter three women wearing white '50s-style dresses with black polka dots and saddle shoes. They're youngish, with plummy British accents and appear to be Eng- lish rockabillies. For them, Cash is iconic. "We just love the music," one says. Yeah, I guess we all do if we're in Nashville. It's just that now there's even more to love about the city than just the music. GP