Follow within the steps of Elvis Presley and Taylor Swift on a highway journey by way of Memphis and Nashville

My journey begins with a fried peanut butter-banana sandwich and ‘Burning Love’. The sandwich, served beside golden candy potato pancakes and strips of crisp bacon at The Arcade, Memphis’ oldest restaurant, was Elvis Presley’s favorite order right here. I sit at his sales space, drink a number of cups of black espresso, and soak within the sound of his voice, as easy as butter, with that particular vibrato that made hundreds of thousands of followers go weak within the knees.  

I’m on a music path by way of the gracious American South, travelling by highway from Memphis to Nashville, to find how soul music and the blues had an influence on rock and roll, nation music, and up to date pop. Many of America’s most influential musicians carried out and reduce albums right here. If you suppose that is simply the music your dad and mom hearken to, do not forget that Justin Timberlake, was born in Memphis, and Taylor Swift grew up, and was found in Nashville.  

Stax Museum for American Soul, Memphis   

Let me begin by admitting I knew little or no about American Soul. Fortunately the Stax Museum, which stands on the location the place the influential Stax recording studios ran is a good place to study concerning the ‘Memphis sound,’ formed by race, faith, and the Mississippi river.  

This music, loads of which was created at Stax, went on to affect the world by way of the creation of the blues, soul, and rock and roll, and took Stax recording from a tiny recording studio in 1957 to a multi-million greenback organisation. Performers right here included Oris Redding, The Staple Sisters, and Aretha Franklin. 

Raw and genuine, the vocals are emotion set to rhythm, jazz, and gospel. I stroll by way of displays that embrace classic recording tools, Tina Turner’s vibrant yellow sequinned gown and Isaac Hayes’ gold-plated, peacock blue 1972 Superfly Cadillac El Dorado. 

As an exhibit on the museum places it: “Soul music is a groove. And a groove that makes you progress… Soul stirs your insides and shakes your outsides.” 

In the night we stroll down scenic Beale Street, the neon lit ‘house of the blues’. Perched on bar stools at Itta Bena, we mop up bowls of steamy cajun shrimp with fluffy candy cornbread as a pianist and saxophonist fill the room with that signature Memphis sound.

Sun Studio  

Johnny Cash stood right here. I pause and take a look at a X marked into the linoleum flooring, together with a bunch of vacationers who examine it reverentially. BB King handed by way of these doorways. Also Ike Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and that younger man who famously got here in to chop a document for his mom: Elvis Presley.  

As we stroll by way of the compact studio, bustling with vacationers, a information explains why this area is taken into account the birthplace of rock and roll. In the 50s, the founder Sam Phillips, provided recording companies for professionals and amateurs, drawing an 18-year-old Elvis amongst different greats. 

Despite the classic tools, or maybe due to it, that is nonetheless a working studio, and artistes are available in at night time to chop albums as soon as the vacationers go house. They are all in search of inspiration, and that signature Sun Sound, genuine and only a bit uncooked, a world away from the airbrushed pictures and slickly engineered music of at this time. (Vocal recordings for 3 hours begin at $600) 

Weave rigorously between the guitars and classic piano, to seize a photograph op with the historic, studio-original Shure 55-series microphone, utilized by all of the greats. For a minute at the very least, you’ll be part of historical past. 

Graceland, Memphis

I didn’t count on Graceland to be so shifting. The sprawling property hosts about six lakh guests a yr, and from the appears of it, they’re all ardent followers. And if my mom, an Elvis Presley loyalist, is something to go by, they’re all singing ‘Hound Dog’ of their heads as they discover the 17,500 sq. foot mansion and its lush grounds, punctuated with horses.  

The interactive iPad tour, led by John Stamos (who chances are you’ll bear in mind because the hunky uncle in Full House) takes you thru the luxurious, quirky house, purchased by Elvis in 1957, when he was simply 22-years-old. He had eccentric style, and the cash to indulge all whims, so the interiors are a beguiling kaleidoscope of stained glass, joyfully vibrant wallpaper and sequinned cushions. I’m particularly fascinated by his Jungle Room, an unapologetically kitschy fever dream of inexperienced shag carpets, heavy curtains, and ornately carved furnishings.  

Beautiful images of Elvis, Priscilla, and their daughter Lisa Marie Presley adorn the partitions. Though the tour features a take a look at his flashy automobiles, together with a pink 1955 Cadillac, and planes, probably the most memorable half is the meditation backyard, the place guests stand in hushed silence on the graves. Lisa’s is piled with teddy bears, dolls, and flowers.  

Ryman Auditorium, Nashville 

This is taken into account the mom church of nation music, and it feels suitably hallowed. Home to the Grand Ole Opry between 1943 and 1974, a dwell country-music radio broadcast, the Ryman has hosted virtually all the most important nation music stars: From Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash previously, to Luke Combs, Keith Urban, and Miley Cyrus.  

The imposing constructing was first constructed to be a church, and opened because the Union Gospel Tabernaclein 1892. As a nod to its previous, stained glass home windows in blue and purple let in tinted daylight. There are additionally nonetheless lovingly maintained wood pews that fill the cavenerous room, together with a hardwood flooring that contributes to its nice acoustics.

Along the partitions, there are show home windows crammed with spangled vests and cowboy boots from previous performers, together with Don McLeans’s (Mumford and Sons) gold buttoned oxford shirt, Ringo Starr’s (Beatles) black T-shirt, studded with a metallic star and Taylor Swift’s black sequin-encrusted gown.  

To study extra, and see some very cool cowboy boots, head to The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, positioned in downtown Nashville, which options 3,50,000 sq. ft of archival storage and a efficiency area. Also take a look at the National Museum of African American Music,which explores the influence African American composers have had on music, from jazz to hip hop. 

Tour Historic RCA Studio B, Nashville 

You could bear in mind ‘I’ll Always Love You’ from Whitney Houston’s The Bodyguard, however Studio B is the place it was first sung by Dolly Parton in 1983. This was Elvis Presley’s favorite place to document, and he launched 240 songs from right here.  

Nicknamed the ‘house of a thousand hits,’ the recording console used for 1000’s of periods nonetheless stands on the studio: you will have heard a few of them, together with Jim Reeve’s ‘He’ll need to go’ and Roy Orbinson’s ‘Only The Lonely’. This is the place the Nashville sound, which gave a pop spin to nation music was born, making the town an internationally influential recording centre. 

There is a hushed silence because the friends “assemble right into a choir” following instructions of the energetic tour information, so we match into the studio. As we enter the room, dominated by a 1942 Steinway piano, reportedly beloved by Elvis, she dims the lights and performs considered one of his most memorable songs, created right here: ’Are you lonesome tonight.’ 

Broadway and The Bluebird Cafe, Nashville 

In the temper to celebration, we hit the Honky Tonk Highway: decrease Broadway, which is a heaving celebration of screaming guitars, neon lights, and vacationers in cowboy hats. Most of the bars supply dwell music, and we comply with the sound of a violin to seek out ourselves in Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge, the place performers in light denims and glossy, fringed cowboy boots sing to a packed viewers.

Next door a singer in an embroidered vest and leather-based pants belts out the Eagles’ ‘Take It Easy’, to an viewers dominated by a raucous bachelor celebration, which takes over the dance flooring flashing six packs and waving their broad rimmed hats. Meanwhile, a ‘pedal tavern’ celebration bike flashed previous, unsteady with fortunately drunk vacationers.       

Bluebird Cafe, a packed listening room, has a very totally different vibe. Do not be fooled by its unassuming look, folks await hours to get into this area, which has hosted important songwriters and artistes together with the late Kris Kristofferson, Garth Brooks and Keith Urban. Taylor Swift first carried out right here when she was 14, and was later additionally found at Bluebird Cafe.  

The cafe is packed, however intimate. Drew Holcomb is performing with Madeline Edwards, KS Rhoads and Josiah Leming, they usually settle in a circle within the centre of the room — there is no such thing as a stage right here. As servers take down orders for beers, nachos and cheesecake with fast effectivity, the performers begin singing in flip, between chatting with the responsive viewers. Singing “songs that come out of exhausting locations,” as Drew places it, they giggle, they cry, they speak about love and loss. It is an unexpectedly cathartic session of group remedy.

The author was in Memphis and Nashville on the invitation of Brand USA

Published – May 30, 2025 04:58 pm IST