December 20, 2011 – Monday 10 am – Atlanta, Georgia.
Tayaw and Chala just picked up Kilat, Liboo, Payew, and Agew from Atlanta's International airport. Just like what Tayaw planned, he had Liboo rent an 8 seater GMC Yukon SUV. Chala is sitting shotgun and Tayaw's family in the backseat. Although the SUV is rented under Liboo's name, it is Tayaw who is driving the car.
"I know every man in gas stations
I know their children, I know their names
Every waitress in every town
Who's open, who's not, I know who's around."
Tayaw and Liboo are currently singing along to the playlist prepared by Tayaw. Liboo, like the usual Nabla driver who spends their daily on winding roads, is a fan of country music as it is perfect to listen to while driving long days. It was only Tayaw who acquired Liboo's love for the music unlike the rest of the family.
Because Liboo has the great endurance of a driver, he's actually the only one who's still lively after a 16 hour flight. Kilat and Payew are asleep; and Agew is dazedly looking at the orange leaves of the trees they pass by. "Chala, Tayaw isn't making things hard for you, is he?" Liboo asked Chala. "Oh. Tayaw is a great kid. He's the one who might as well be taking care of me." Chala chuckled.
"That's great. NASHVILLE! Tayaw! How come of all places, you chose for us to go to Nashville first?" Liboo asked, actually excited to see the place. With all the country songs he's ever heard over the years, Liboo had obviously heard songs that either mentioned Nashville, or heard songs devoted to the place.
"Dad. I wanted to take a break, so Chala and I started a road trip. When I got to Nashville though, I could not stop myself from playing." Tayaw explained. "Oh? Where do you play?" Liboo asked in interest. "It's called Blackbird Café. A famous bar in Nashville." Tayaw answered. "Hm? Why a bar?" Liboo asked, conflicted about the idea of Tayaw playing at a bar.
"Dad, you know of Lee Baker, right? Or Annabelle Moore?" Tayaw asked. "Yes. 'The road won't wipe your tears. The roads don't need you here. The roads don't care where you go. But I do'" Liboo actually started singing Lee Baker's classic. "Of course I know them." Liboo said proudly.
"Yeah. They played on the bar before they got famous." Tayaw revealed. "OH? Are you that good?" Liboo asked in disbelief. "PUHHHAHAAAA!" Chala actually guffawed in surprise at Liboo's words. He was also surprised that Liboo actually does not know the full extent of Tayaw's skills as a musician. "I'm that good, dad." Tayaw replied.
"Come to think of it. Remember when you brought your brothers to Ouigab, December last year?" Liboo asked. "Yeah?" Tayaw replied, already having a suspicion that his brothers must have told on him. "Payew said that you brought them to a bar to watch you play. He says you're like a rockstar." Liboo said. Tayaw is relieved that Liboo does not look mad after finding out.
"Oh. Yeah. I used to play there when I was writing my first books. I still play there from time to time." Tayaw finally came clean. "Hmm. That's so? Well, it would be a waste if you didn't. You played for us a lot last year at home; it's a shame if other people don't see you." Liboo nodded.
"Why don't I bring you to the bar where I play on Friday? You'd love the place. I always play rock or folk in the bar in Ouigab, this time it's a country music bar." Tayaw said. "Oh. I'd like that very much!" Liboo replied in excitement. "HEY! CAN I COME TOO?" Agew, who they didn't know was listening in, yelled over from the back. "You have to ask mom." Tayaw said. Agew smiled, but didn't ask Kilat as she's deep asleep.
Liboo then opened the window beside him to look at the view of the Georgia's rural scenery under the bright sun. "Oh. Thanks for the sunglasses by the way, Chala." Liboo, who is wearing the spare sunglasses Chala lent him, suddenly said. "Hmm. I told you it looks good on you, I didn't say you can keep it." Chala said, suddenly feeling protective of the expensive pair of sunglasses.
"Oh, I think I'd look good on them forever." Liboo said playfully. "Hahahahaha!" Tayaw laughed. It seems like Chala is the newest victim of his father's playfulness. Chala just shook his head, not knowing whether Liboo is serious or not. Liboo then took off the sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. "Something wrong with your eyes, dad?" Tayaw asked when he saw this.
Liboo then put the glasses back on. "No. I just wanted to clear my eyes. MAN! How did I live in a world without these sunglasses?" Liboo said again, expressing his intention of keeping Chala's sunglasses for himself. That gave Tayaw, and the now awake Payew have another round of laughter. "Whoooahhh. The world looks so different through these sunglasses gifted to me by Chala." Liboo continued to tease Chala.
Chala, who just caught on to what Liboo is doing, also joined in the laughter. "Oh. I'm so happy that you like them. BUT, it won't take long before you take them off. I'm sure that Tayaw is thinking of buying you a better pair." Chala said which just so happens to guess Tayaw's plan on doing like he said.
Two hours later, the group finally arrived in Nashville. "Why does it feel like it's just a snowy Ouigab?" Kilat said as she watched through the car windows the view of Nashville. She also saw the scant amount of snow in the process of dissolving from the rays of the sun. "Just like what I told Tayaw." Chala said. "Hey. The terrain is similar, but the weather, the people, is what makes the difference." Tayaw defended why he chose to stay in Nashville.
-
The next few days are spent by the family looking around the famous spots of the city. The day they arrived in Nashville, the family had to adapt to the cold December weather of Nashville so they all stayed in their hotel rooms. After that, their energy is back and excitedly hopped from one spot to the next.
Tayaw finally entered Nashville's Parthenon for the first time, which he only looked from afar before. They visited next the Music Row, Nashville's version of the Hollywood walk of fame.
Liboo had a blast when they visited the Grand Country Opera, the Ryman Auditorium, and the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. As a country fan that only interacted with country music through mixtapes and CDs, Liboo immersed himself as he went through the music's history.
Kilat, on the other hand enjoyed General Jackson Showboat's tour along the Cumberland River. Kilat, while she spent a lot of time boating around Lake Tabila, she always wanted to ride on a cruise ship. 2.5 hours on General Jackson Showboat was a great experience for her first time on a cruise ship.
Payew's favorite was Traveler's Rest Plantation. Ignoring the history of the place when it came to slavery and war, Payew was interested in the farm of the plantation and how people lived there in the 1800s. His interest in the daily life of people in the olden times was even more piqued when the family visited Fort Nashborough's log cabins, fortified walls, and block houses that were based on the life of European pioneers in America.
Agew's favorites, which were a surprise to Tayaw, are the old buildings. Ryman Auditorium's gothic architecture, Belmont Mansion's Italian Villa inspired style, Presbytarian Church's Egyptian inspired architecture, and the Parthenon's Greek classical architecture. He was even more interested in the museums, especially the crafts displayed in it. Agew took very close looks to the ceramics, potteries, and the silverware.
The family on their third day of touring, made a visit to Red Abbey's Brewery where Tayaw taped his songs for Red Abbey Sessions. This was Chala's favorite place in the tour. While Chala is not a big drinker of beer, he was interested in anything alcohol-related.
"Guys, want to see something cool?" Tayaw said to the group as he led them to the exhibit area of the brewery. They all were surprised when they saw a framed photo of Tayaw, hanging alone on one wall of the room. In the photo, they saw a still picture of Tayaw wearing a three piece suit, a cowboy hat, and aviator glasses, hugging his guitar while leaning forward to a microphone. Tayaw's facial expression singing was also captured. The long line of beer on the conveyor belts in the background added a strange attractive effect.
"Hey. Why are you here?" Payew asked and looked at Tayaw with stars in his eyes, the rest of the group also having similar questions in their minds. The adults especially are curious as Red Abbey Lager is the only international beer that is famous in Teungeb, and they could not believe their eyes that Tayaw has his mark on the company. "I was the first musician invited to play for Red Brewery Sessions, the beer company��s side project." Tayaw replied as he pulled out his phone and opened the YouTube App.
The group then saw Tayaw's videos in the channel. "Son, I didn't think you could sing like this. You sound like the country legends in the 70s." Liboo said in appreciation. "Whose song are you playing?" Kilat also asked in interest, hearing the haunting but beautiful songs for the first time.
"I wrote these songs while I'm in America. The songs filmed in the wheat farm are the ones I wrote a few months ago." Tayaw replied. This surprised both Kilat and Liboo. "I don't know our son anymore." Kilat said as she smiled, almost tearing up. "Honey. He's still the Tayaw we know. I just didn't expect that he's made a lot of himself." Liboo hugged Kilat.
"Hey Tayaw, what is this song about?" Payew asked as he played 'Devil's suit and tie' again. Even though he felt the dark badassery of the song, he could not understand a lot of the lyrics because the song is in English. "It's about selling my soul to the devil." Tayaw replied. Payew and Agew felt goosebumps at Tayaw's words. "Did you really meet the devil?" Agew, with his young mind, naively asked. Payew, who Tayaw thought to know better, also looked at Tayaw in interest.
"Haha." Liboo, Kilat, and Chala were all amused at the question.
Tayaw also smiled. "Let me tell you the legend of Jesse Johnston. Eighty years ago in Mississipi, the young Jesse was just a beginner guitarist with bad skills and no bar would hire him to play. He would also annoy other musicians when he practices.
"One day, Jesse left Mississipi and disappeared for a year. Nobody knew where he went or what he was doing but when he came back, he was suddenly Blues music's best guitar player…"
The family's tour of Nashville ended by Tayaw telling his family the inspiration of his songs.