A Rich Perspective - Filed under 'Nashville'

Nashville Flood Overshadowed

Floods in Tennessee

On May 2, 2010 the Cumberland River overflowed its banks. It rose 13 feet above flood stage, causing the deaths of 13 people and possibly more than $1 billion in damage. Not much news was seen about this tragic event. The Times Square Bomb and the Oil Rig Explosion in New Orleans both warranted more attention. Yet, it is estimated that this flood may be one of the most expensive natural disasters in United States history.

Video Recounts

With that in mind, I am sharing a few videos of the event. The first is from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. I have stayed in this facility numerous times. It is heart-wrenching to see the condition of the hotel in this video. Many of the seats shown are seats that I have sat in to have a meal or to discuss conference details or to share and network with others in my field of work.

Here's an interesting view and perspective from NashvilleMusicSpace.com. Note the damage and flooding around Titan Stadium:

The Tennessean has a page dedicated to "Five Days of Flood Photos".

The American Red Cross has a Flickr gallery dedicated to the floods, as well. Here's video of their status and progress in Tennessee:

Here is Red Cross stats as of May 6, 2010:

The following information shows our total service delivery across Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee since the beginning of the severe weather events in April:

Shelters opened: 43
Shelter Overnight Stays: 2,207
Bulk items : 10,463
Comfort kits: 1,386
Meals served: 42,676
Snacks served: 41,889
Emergency Response Vehicles on the ground: 40
Mental Health Consultations: 2,004
Health Services Consultations: 1,236

Filed under // Nashville flood tennessee

view comments

NIOA Members At Lunch

Many of us gathered at the grille downstairs to have lunch today.

(download)

Filed under // conference nashville nioa

view comments

Jonas Brothers Infestation

The crowds are converging on the Sonnet Center in Nashville. They have a trailer, semi and their tour bus wher people can draw their own graffiti.

(download)

Filed under // Jonas Brothers Nashville concert

view comments

On the Titans Field

(download)

Don MacLachlan, Executive Vice President of Administration and
Facilities, gave us a personal tour of Titans Stadium. We were able to
visit the locker room, the press/interview room and we walked out onto
the field. We got drenched by the sprinklers while were out on the
field!

Filed under // NIOA conference Nashville Titans Stadium tour

view comments

Titans Stadium

(download)

Just had dinner at Titans Stadium. Will be touring the locker room and field in a few minutes.

Filed under // NIOA conference Nashville Titans stadium tour

view comments

Country Music Hall of Fame

Studio B was most certainly the highlight of this experience, but it was very nice to see some of the history of country music in the actual museum. I was actually surprised that I know more about the origins and early performers than I do about current performers and those of the last decade.

I find that some of my earliest memories of music involve many of the artists that I saw depicted at this museum. There are a few pictures of Chet Atkins' guitars. Atkins is one of the people that influenced me to even pick up a guitar in the first place (George Harrison is the reason I continued to play and Paul McCartney is the reason I fell in love with the bass). I never realized that Chet Atkins was more than a performer. He managed RCA Studios and was key in finding many yet undiscovered artists (The Everly Brothers, for example). Atkins, with Owen Bradley, was responsible for the smoother "Nashville Sound." I did not realize his credits as a producer. Turns out he produced many of the tracks that I've liked from the past.

(download)

Filed under // Chet Atkins Nashville country music hall of fame

view comments

RCA Studio B - Nashville

I will admit, this was a fantastic moment for me. To stand in the studio where many of both country and rock's earliest pioneers recorded was amazing. And, of course, Elvis recorded over 250 songs in this same room. The piano here is a 1942 Steinway. Much of the room is unchanged since they closed the room for recording sessions on August 17, 1977. There are still tape marks on the floor for amp and musician placement and mic positioning.

The walls in the corner are at the place where the vocalists would stand to record the main track. You can see the old Hammond B3 and the Leslie cabinet, as well.

One thing that was remarkable to me was how well "tuned" the room is. There was a fairly large tour group talking in the room, but the sound did not bounce or echo at all. The room doesn't have all the new foam partitions and wall coverings. It doesn't have the bass traps in the corners. It simply has a tile floor and the plain white acoustic tile that you might see in a department store or school of the same era. The walls are not flat, though, they have slight angles throughout the space. There are a few portable baffles in the corner that they used to isolate certain players, but overall the room is just well tuned with very simple methods.

There are few images of the control booth and equipment. I can't imagine how sophisticated it must have seemed back then. To think that many of these very well made recordings were done with tape, splicing and only four tracks is mind-boggling.

I regret that I didn't have a better camera to capture these images.