Ahhh, Nashville!

So my trip here to Nashville is rapidly winding up.
I've been staying at the SOCAN Nashville House. It's a house that is graciously provided, free of charge to members of Socan, who successfully apply. This is an amazing tool to have at our disposal and my hat is off to both Socan and the house hosts, Lee Ann and Darrell Burgess.
This is a truly amazing town. Music is everywhere.
And if ever there were a great example of how lucrative a business the arts/music can be, it's here. And by no means does it mean that money usurps creativity. In fact if anything, they go hand in hand.
You can't help but feel inspired by the history of the place. The Ryman Auditorium (original home of the Grand Ol' Opry) is a beautiful old building. Brown's Diner is the great, seedy, greasy spoon where all the great writers through the town's history drank and commiserated.
There are plaques everywhere, each one explaining some historical event or another that took place in that spot.
I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with a friend who lives down here, Mike Plume.
Mike was just finishing up the polishing touches on his new record the first day I was in town and he was good enough to let me hang in the studio with he and his producer. I was even able to contribute a small, line change for Mike's tune "8:30 Newfoundland", a song you will all be hearing soon, as I'm sure it will be a hit.
The producer Mike was working with was a walking storybook. Brent Maher has worked with Elvis and Carl Perkins and pretty much every other successful musician Nashville has ever produced...
I managed to finish off 4 new songs and may still complete one more before I head home tomorrow.
We'll be starting to pre-produce the songs with the band as soon as I get home and we'll hit the studio shortly thereafter.