Well, my first exposure to the American stage at the Tannehill Opry has been survived...It went off fairly well, I think, although I didn't play nearly my best. The Opry is an extraordinary experience in itself - an industrial shed in the backwoods, absolutely spit-and-sawdust, with metal chairs in rows and large signs proclaiming 'NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED'. Various generations of listeners drop by (it's free entry) to eat hotdogs and listen to the bands, ranging from us (by far the youngest outfit) to dubious gospel bands and ancient old men playing old-time bluegrass and country with wonderful crooning voices, picking fantastical breaks with absolutely stone expressions. Children run around being endlessly petted and fed sweets by the old ladies with gravity-defying bouffants. All rather utterly wonderful, seeming unchanged in all it's strangeness from circa 1955.

The audience are all regulars and hugely appreciative, so it was a great warm-up for our other gigs in the spring. My foreign nationality was quite a novelty, of course! Sadly my camera died so I have no photos until I steal some from my fellow Kudzus, but I'm sure I will be returning to jam/play there again soon...