After that it got serious. We headed off a 130 miles further north west to Nashville knowing very little about the lie of the urban land. On arrival, after a murderous drive around the hugely confusing interstate, highway network and downtown, we settled on a Holiday Inn Express in 'Opry Land' opposite the site of the new 'Grand Ole Opry' complex.

It resembles the NEC parking lot these days having migrated from the original Opry in Downtown Ryman Auditorium in more recent times. Driving around Nashville it's easy to see why. If you don't know where you're going in Nashville you get very annoyed and grumpy driving.

Back at the hotel we couldn't believe our luck in the evening when we strolled across the parking lot of the Holiday Inn. A place called 'Nashville Palace' beckoned with neon signs. Unwittingly we had stumbled across one of Nashville's top live music venues. In here was live country music 7 nights a week from around 7pm until 2am in the morning.

Johnny England & the Western Swingers were in residence and took live performance beyond a level I've not witnessed in a bar for a very long time. They also excelled at relentless passing of the 'tip jar' making sure we all paid up – at least twice! (Lesson learned here. Look out for me with my bigger collection jar than the black trilby when you next attend the 'Room 4 the Blues'!)

After a magical couple of days taking in all the historic attractions of Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame, a Ryman Auditorium tour – plus a mandatory visit to BB King's Club for lunch and another session of live music - we set off on the 212 mile drive to Memphis.

An overnight stop was necessary – this was a long haul down highways rather than the interstate. We made a stop along the way to visit the schoolhouse where Tina Turner learned 'reading 'riting & 'rithmetic' plus the shack of a house where 'Sleepy John Estes' lived.