The very wise Kid Rock!

November 14, 2009

SORRY I HAVEN’T WRITTEN IN A COUPLE WEEKS – MY BAD – WON’T HAPPEN AGAIN – EXPECT SOMETHING NEW EVERY WEDNESDAY!!!

Fun week here in Music City USA… in case you don’t know, Nashville is the Country Music Capital of the World.  And this week is just one of the weeks that prove it.  The super popular CMA (Country Music Assoc.) awards were this week.  I had a great time… here was my evening… didn’t actually go to the awards but had a lot of fun!

Drove to downtown Nashville – started at The Standard – great old house downtown that has been converted to a restaurant with a private club on the top two floors.  Senators, judges, executives, business owners, etc. are members.  There is a hefty fee for belonging to this very exclusive club where the maitre de knows you by name and the bartender knows you by drink… You need a code to get through the door but the atmosphere is very friendly – Northern sophistication meets good ‘ol southern hospitality. Why was I there, you ask?  I have friends.  Josh Smith, the owner, is a friend and great guy.  And I have brought him members. So I get to take advantage of the club at times – between baseball, softball, gymnastics, and basketball games and practices – that is.

So on this night I was with my buddy, Mike Bell, president of HobNobNashville – an online resource for everything going on in Nashville – he is a member of the The Standard…

Anyway… we stopped by there – arguably the nicest place in TN… Then we walked over to the Sommet Center – Nashville’s downtown arena and host of the awards. Mike used to work for the Sherriff’s Dept.  – so he knows a bunch of security guards and officers – thought we’d say hey to some of his buddies. Behind the arena were red carpets, tents, trailers, and lots of wires for lights, cameras, and all-day action. So.. we walked around the first corner to the back of the venue and before we saw anyone Mike knew, we ran into Kid Rock…literally… came around the corner talking and nearly ran him over… he had come out the back of the building with an entourage of folks who quickly wisked him away into a golf cart and off to who knows where. So the evening begins…

While The Standard is probably the nicest establishment in TN – when downtown, I like to eat at Paradise Park, one of the many hole-in-the-wall dumps in Nashville serving great food – we sat in the front of the restaraunt – right on Broadway, and ate the best club sandwiches on the planet with styro cups full of diet coke and sides of homemade greasy fries.  We watched the first half of the CMA awards (200 yards from where they were actually taking place) on the small TV with about 12 other people while listening to some female vocalist wail on covers of Carrie Underwood, Wynonna, Taylor Swift, etc. with the band in the bar next door. We finished up the food, wiped our mouths, and then headed back to The Standard.

We finished watching Taylor Swift kick some country music bootie, listened to Martina sing a Barbara Mandrell song better then Barbara herself, marveled at how Barbara looks exactly like she did in 1985 (good clean living or medical intervention?), and agreed we all wanted to be Darius Rucker when we grow up. It was all over but the drinking!

So, we left the Standard and walked over the the convention center for the CMA after party. WOW! More food than you have ever seen. Mounds of big peeled shrimp – my favorite! Sushi, hummus, lamb, chocolate, shrimp, bread, free booze, shrimp, and lots of really dressed up people who love country music! It was really wonderful. And so was the music. They had a house band who seemed to know every song on the planet. They had several guests come up and sing – Joe Nichols, Trent Tomlison, and others. We acted like we owned the place and went and stood backstage by the mix engineer. Nobody asked us to leave, so we stayed! Joe was super nice and Trent told me how he was just sitting at home watching the awards when his manager called and said ‘ hey, come on over and sing a couple songs’ and he did. Great guy. He is married with a 22 month old. He spoke highly of his wife and talked about how much he missed her and his daughter when out on the road. “Sucks to miss Halloween for a radio visit in Seattle…but “It’s what I do!” Enjoyed them both a ton.

Josh sent us a text saying a bunch of members were going to this dance club called MAI… said to meet him back at Paradise Park and a limo would pick us up. And so we did. Took a limo to this warehouse type place with guys hired to do the coolest “hip-hop, I’m a robot, watch me spin on my head” dancers you have ever seen. Very young, hip, cool crowd. Glad I was with a bunch of people I knew ’cause this crowd was not my scene. Not that I didn’t really like the place…I really did… but I honestly don’t think I’ve been that cool in a couple decades. Met and chatted with Tye Hernden (county artist) and Diana DeGarmo (American Idol 1st runner up) … nice people as well. OK..so now, it’s 2:15 am… yes, that’s right, I’m out until 2:15… but the fun is just starting.

Josh said to load up…we were going to The Spot – John Rich’s (from Big and Rich) private club. A couple guys in our ‘oh so cool’ entourage are members and can bring friends… so we did. This is the desired place to be on the Broadway strip. Doorman. Private entrances. Great band playing. And stars. So we hung out there for a couple hours and our evening ended (or morning started) with Kid Rock! Again. When we first arrived, Kid Rock was in an intense conversation (possible argument) with another famous guy whose name I can’t divulge…top secret country music stuff.. you know. So we waited. I can’t say I’m an enormous fan and I don’t consider him a role model for my three young children, but it is Kid Rock for goodness sake! Eventually he finished up that engagement and Mike and I cornered him at the bar. He could not have been nicer. He was with a beautiful girl and was very polite. Another guy sitting at the bar (a possible intruder into OUR conversation) asked him if he ever got tired of the cameras, autographs, surface conversations, etc. Mr. Rock said that he had actually had a conversation earlier this evening a guy who had recently lost his job in Detroit – real life stuff. He said that that happens more than you might think but a lot of his time out in public is spent with the other stuff… but he said “I signed up for that. I wanted to be the big star that everyone knows and listens to… so the cameras and other sh*& are just part of it. I can’t complain. It’s just part of it. It’s what I do!”

Now.. he didn’t say it exactly like that… I’m pretty certain I remember a few additional adjectives that I don’t need to repeat… but I liked what the heart of the answer was either way. It’s the whole – “be careful what you wish for” sort of thing.

I enjoyed our brief conversation. I really did want a picture for some reason… just didn’t seem like the place. My son would like it. But is it OK to ask? There were no other cameras. Maybe there is a rule. You know, what happens in THE SPOT stays in THE SPOT. I started thinking… I can’t get a picture.. it would make me look like a FAN – I’m NOT a fan. I’m a VIP at a really cool club who works in the music industry. I thought all the people there at this “really cool, everyone wants to get it” club would think I was a dork for getting my pic with Kid. NO ONE else was taking pictures. And then I started to change my mind. For a moment I thought… “I don’t care what all these people think of me! I want a pic! Who are these people anyway… I don’t care what they think! I’m a grown man… If I want a picture, I’m going to get one.”
And so I got my camera ready. Rehearsed the question in my head – “Can I get a pic? It’s for my son!” – and there we went… in a flash—-

We left… I didn’t get a picture… apparently, I really do care what all those people think. It’s just what I do!!!
Blessings!
Wally