Musical City

This is my third SEC tournament in Nashville and I’ve already been reminded why I like it best when it’s played here.

People think of Nashville as a country music town and there is certainly plenty of that. But it’s a great city for all kinds of music. You walk down Broadway near the Bridgestone Arena and it pours out into the street.

On Tuesday night, I got my fill. I ended up spending most of the night in a place that was serving pitchers of Natty Lite for $6 (I passed). The reason I wandered in was the first few chords of “Last Dance with Mary Jane.”  The cool thing about watching bands in Nashville is that they are made with interchangeable parts. This band played three songs and then another drummer from the crowd sat in for a few. Then another guy took over on rhythm guitar.

As I walked out of the bar, I stopped and told the lead singer he had a good band.

“Where are you from?” he said.

Gainesville, Florida.

“So am I. Actually Newberry. Went to UF for a couple of years,” he said.

Small world, eh?

But I’m here for hoops and already there is controversy. The Golden Flakes rep went nuts when he saw Lays potato chips in the media room. He had them removed. Golden Flakes is an official sponsor of the SEC. So there are no chips on the table.

Stay tuned.