For the past two days I've been in Nashville, TN, shooting a segment for Driver's Seat TV at the Nissan Versa press launch.  You hear so much about Nashville and it's rich music heritage, so I was excited to check it out.  I must admit, car companies don't skimp when it comes to impressing the press.  We rolled up on Wednesday evening to the top digs in town - the 5-star Hermitage Hotel.  Walking into my hotel room, it was like walking into a room at the White House...or what I imagine the White House to be like.  Ornate crown molding, big plush bed, marble bathroom...cookies and water on the table.  The perks of this job are pretty cool.

The next day we woke up to a great breakfast, and a short presentation on the new Versa and the re-designed Quest.  I skipped this and went outside to shoot detail and interior shots of the cars.  I have a mental checklist of all the things I need to shoot on a car for the show – it has kind of turned into a formula, although I try and mix things up a bit so that each segment I shoot looks a different.  It goes something like this: exterior wides, exterior details, interior, dashboard, gauges, exhaust, engine bay, wheels, moving shots...  After the other journalists made their way outside, we paired up and set off on the drive event - heading cross-country to the town of Lynchburg.  If you're a drinker, you may recognize the name from bottles of Old No. 7 - Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey.  Passing through the gates of the distillery, we couldn't help but wonder if there were free samples at the end of the tour we were about to partake!  After a lovely, if not healthy, lunch of Southern Fried Chicken, we headed off with Ron, our tour guide.

There are several key things that make Jack Daniel's different (and arguably better) than other Whiskeys.  First off, they use iron-free water from a stream that runs behind the distillery.  Second, they create their own charcoal for the filtering process by burning "ricks" of wood - big stacks of Sugar Maple.  Thirdly, they only use their barrels once, selling them off to wineries and other Whiskey producers (mainly in Europe).  With each barrel costing them $109, it’s not a cheap decision, but they consider it an essential ‘secret’ to the process.  The JD then ages in the barrels for a minimum of four years, stacked seven stories high in one of 74 barrel houses around the Lynchburg area.  The distillery pumps out about 35,000 gallons of the smooth stuff a day.  All-in-all, it was pretty cool to see how it's all made, and I now have a greater appreciation for the process!  We didn’t get a free sample after the tour (we were on a drive event after all), but upon returning to our hotel room there was a gift from Nissan – a bottle of limited edition Gold Medal Jack Daniels!  Like I said…the perks…

Last night after dinner at the Capitol Grille, a few of us headed down the road to BB King's Blues Club, drank a few Jack-on-the-rocks to honour our afternoon tour, and enjoyed some live music.  I'd love to spend more time here checking out the music scene.  As they like to say here, every waiter has a demo tape in their pocket in this city!  The musical talent is so deep, and the options for live music are endless.  You can pretty much go into any club, on any day of the week, and you’ll enjoy the sounds of an established star or a rising talent. 

Today, I had the morning to kill, so I wandered around downtown Nashville to see what I could find.  The downtown area is fairly compact, so most of the attractions and landmarks are within easy walking distance.  I stopped in at Hatch Show Print, where they still print old-style concert posters on ancient presses.  I picked up a couple of cool Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash concert prints for my office.  Just up the road, I ducked into Gruhn Guitars, where the walls are lined with all sorts of drool-worthy Gretch's, Rickenbacher's, and of course, the legendary Gibson Guitars.  The price of some of the used Gibson Les Paul models was shocking.  They had some old acoustic guitar and mandolin gems from early 1900's too.  The great part was that you could ask to play any guitar in the shop, and there were many musicians plucking and strumming away.  Oh, how I want an old Rickenbacher or Epiphone Big Boy one day.

As you walk around Nashville, even at 11am, the sound of live music beckons from open bar doors, and the tasty aroma of down-south BBQ fills the air.  I soon stumbled upon The Arts Company Gallery on 5th Avenue, and inside was an exhibit by painter Jonathan Richter.  The exhibit consisted of about 60 small little humourous, interesting, and quirky paintings of people.  Some were cartoonish, and some were more realistic.  Apparently, he tucks himself into the corner of a bar and - working discretely with a limited palette, brushes, and lighting - he completes a couple of paintings each night.  Looking at them, you can tell they are spontaneous portraits, often focusing on one particular trait, with the character being developed around that observation.  I really wanted to buy one for the house, but at $175 USD, I have to wait till I’m a little wealthier before I start buying art!

As I returned to the hotel, a black SUV pulled up to the curb, and out stepped music producer and hip-hop media mogul, Russell Simmons.  He had an entourage with him, and it was entertaining to watch almost all of them with earpieces, wheelin’ and dealin’ with various people on the phone. 

Anyways, I’m on the plane now, after a delayed flight from Nashville to Dallas, and a mechanical delay on this flight to Vancouver.  We just passed through a monster thunderstorm, where the towering columns of cloud around us were flashing constantly with lightning.  As much as these trips are pretty cool, it’s always nice coming home to Vancouver (and Squamish).  I honestly think we live in the best city in the world.

Over and out from 35,000 feet!  [More Photos...]

Comments

[Gary Grant]

hey warwick,

any chance you could help me with a scoop on a shot or two of the versa launch? it would be great for the garage, but even more of a boost for my daily grind in a nissan store here in ontario!

thanks,

gary

[Warwick]

Here's the only pic I took of the Versa, and you can barely see it! http://www.flickr.com/photos/formulaphoto/140146737/

[gary]

thanks - that's better than nothing! i appreciate it.

G