Nashville Losing Focus

In order to make way for trendy clothing store Urban Outfitters, one of Nashville's live music venues must close. As reported by the Nashville Business Journal on Tuesday, City Hall Entertainment Space, located in the Gulch, will close in mid-September to make room for retail space.

As most of you know, based on my previous posts, I'm all for bringing nationally recognized clothing stores to Nashville, but way before Nashville became a shopping destination, Nashville was named Music City.

I'm sure Urban Outfitters could find another space, maybe even on the ground floor of one of the new high rise buildings in the Gulch, to open their store.

I vote to keep City Hall open!

No Longer a Rumor!!!

The premier shopping destination, Nordstrom, has signed a letter of intent to open a store in Green Hills in 2010. A new building will be built over a ground level service parking lot on Abbott Martin Road next to a current five-level parking lot near Dillards, according to Scott McClure, a spokesman for the mall.

The three-level, 149,000-square-foot store is scheduled to open in fall 2010. It will be the first store for the luxury specialty retailer in the state.

"We are thrilled to make our debut in Tennessee at this extraordinary location," said Erik Nordstrom, president of stores for Nordstrom. "The Mall at Green Hills is a premier shopping destination and we look forward to serving our customers in Nashville and in surrounding areas."

The Mall at Green Hills has seen an increase in luxury stores including Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Juicy Couture, in addition to many boutique stores throughout the city. This puts Nashville on the shopping map and we can now compete with Atlanta and Charlotte for the best shopping in the Southeast.

Bye Bye Pacman

Pacman Jones keeping Terrell Owens from catching a pass in the end zone during a game at LP Field

Nashville has had to endure the antics of Pacman Jones in the media for the past few years. Nightclub after nightclub, girl after girl, it was not surprising to see Pacman on the 10 p.m. nightly news.

Both the Dallas Cowboys and the Tennessee Titans announced yesterday that Pacman will now be a Cowboy. In return, Tennessee now gets a 4th round draft pick in this Sunday's NFL draft.

I'm very interested to see the team dynamic in Dallas. They have Terrell Owens, former trouble maker until he started getting more playing time and receiving more passes, and now Pacman Jones. Both players are great additions to the football team when they are playing well and not getting in trouble, but the Cowboys franchise could get in a lot of trouble if Pacman starts going to nightclubs and TO gets upset with Quarterback Tony Romo.

I'm sure many of the Titans coaches and players are relieved of the headache caused by Pacman in the past few years, but will the Titans regret sending Pacman on his way? In the end, this should allow the Titans to move on to being a well respected franchise and a team that players want to be a part of. Girls will no longer have to be afraid of getting spit on in Murfreesboro, they will have to go to Dallas for that.

Unfortunately, the Titans and Cowboys do not play each other this year. Could the Dallas Cowboys now be a Superbowl contending team with superstars such as Tony Romo, Terrell Owens and Pacman Jones? I think that there will be too much emotion (i.e. Jessica Simpson, Las Vegas nightclubs, lawyers, etc.) on the shoulders of all 3 players for them to contend for the title.

Karg Boys at Sambuca

Cell phone camera didn't help out too much this time!

Well, it turns out I was old enough to get into Sambuca in the Gulch on Saturday night, although I did go with my 35-year-old friend Scott. The occasion was to see some great old friends play some music.

I was pleasantly surprised with the scene. Usually I feel like it is a little too meathead-ish for me, but this time it was very cool. Not too crowded, no body builders with tattoos, good music, good friends and we could hear ourselves talk. It seems like the perfect place for a dinner date or after dinner dessert or drink. Its great in the summer too because of the rooftop patio.

I don't follow the local music scene too much, but there is one band, The Karg Boys, who I do follow. I have seen The Karg Boys at Bluebird Cafe, 2 Doors Down, 3rd and Lindsley, Sambuca and a few other places. They play a great mix of Country/Rock. This time they didn't let down. They played from 7-12 on Friday and Saturday nights with only a few breaks. Every time they got a break they made sure to talk to everyone in the crowd and make them feel welcome.

Sambuca is located in the up-and-coming Gulch, which will soon turn out to be a very trendy residential and commercial area of the city. If there was one place in Nashville where I think they should host The Real World, it would be in the Gulch. The residential buildings are almost complete, and before they sell out, they could rent some space to MTV. I'm sure they could get a penthouse with a rooftop patio and view of the city. The Gulch is walking distance to Music Row (where they could do one of their service projects) and Demumbreun and Gulch nightlife.

I didn't think I would be saying this, but I will definitely go back!

The Purple Carpet

The Purple Carpet

Tim McGraw getting out of his ride...

Dierks Bentley signing autographs outside the Curb Event Center at Belmont University

The greatest thing about Nashville is taking advantage of what it has to offer. Last night, my roommate and I drove down Belmont Blvd (mentioned many times in my blog) and watched the CMT stars enter the Curb Event Center at Belmont University. After just 20 minutes of standing in the crowd, we saw Miley Cyrus, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Dierks Bentley and many others. Unfortunately, we did not get to see our favorite, Carrie Underwood. But did you see her perform during the award show last night? WOW!

Then, we watched the Nashville Predators defeat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 in game 3 of the first round of the NHL playoffs.

After the game, we decided to stalk the stars again so we stood outside the Curb Center to watch them walking out, but they used a back door. We went to a few of the honky tonk bars downtown, but it turns out the after party was at John Rich's (of Big and Rich) bar downtown and we weren't invited.

Overall, a great Monday night in the city of Nashville.

And then I found 5 dollars...

Today, I ate lunch at the Cool Springs Galleria food court. It was your typical Thursday afternoon filled with moms with babies. There were not many tables available, and one guy, who was sitting at a table across from me, turned around and seemed really excited for some reason. He started talking with the person behind me about where he goes to church and who he goes to church with (really common here in the Bible belt).

Turns out, the person behind me was Albert Haynesworth, all-pro defensive tackle for the Tennessee Titans. That's about the entire story, but I'll go ahead and give you some background on the famous person sighting of the day. (Big Al, standing at 6 foot 6 and 320 pounds, is standing in front of the Japanese place getting the free piece of teriyaki chicken. Sorry, my phone camera could not zoom anymore!)

Albert Haynesworth became famous in 2006 after stepping on the face of an opposing teams player with metal cleats. He was suspended for 5 games and became well respected for owning up to his mistake in front of the media. (I'm glad he didn't step on my face today)

A little lesser known fact about Big Al is that he owns a travel agency. He and his wife started a internet travel business (haynesworthtravel.com). Customers can purchase airline tickets, hotels, cruises and rental cars on the website.

Congratulations to Williamson County for providing an inviting mall food court for Albert Haynesworth to visit.

Trader Joes Comes to Nashville!

Check this out -

traderjoesnashville.blogspot.com

The question remains, will Nashville allow Trader Joe's to sell its signature 2 Buck Chuck wine in the stores? It just so happens that there are talks going on right now to allow wine to be sold in all grocery stores in Nashville!

You Heard it Here First

The Nashville Chamber of Commerce and Partnership 2020 have successfully bid on the world's largest sporting event. That's right, the Olympic torch will be carried all over the country until it lands right here in Nashville, Tennessee.

A lot of questions are currently left unanswered.

The entertainment will no doubt be American. But will Nashville's music industry rise to the occasion and put on a show never to be forgotten?

Two of world's largest brands are headquartered in and around Nashville. Nissan North America and Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey will be the headlining sponsors, but will the buzz of the Olympics bring even more business to Nashville?

The games and locations will take place throughout the Nashville metropolitan area. All finals competition will take place in LP Field, but the majority of the games will revive the Parthenon and it's front lawn. Centennial Park as we know it will be transformed into the Olympic Village. Will this help the current homeless people surrounding the park find temporary jobs and housing?

Tony Giarratana will continue his downtown rebuilding campaign in order to satisfy the millions of visitors. As for housing for the athletes, Nashville's unique Southern Hospitality will come into play. Residents of Belmont Boulevard will be asked to rent out their houses as a bed and breakfast for the month. Many of these houses are traditionally American with unique southern style, but will this be the perfect situation for housing the world's most incredible athletes?

Again, I am proud of Music City. Let the games begin!