This month, I was lucky to be invited on a trip to Nashville by my best friend. He took me to the Bluebird Cafe as a pre-Christmas treat, where I had two Tennessee whiskies and a bowl of garlic fries to soak them up, but more importantly where we met Gordon Kennedy, one of the three men behind the song “Change the World”, along with a raft of new talent.
I recall the first time I heard the song, around a camp fire in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia circa 2000, where our tattooed guide sang to us bare-chested under the stars. I’d never known anything quite like it before.
A fully-dressed Gordon Kennedy encouraged the audience to live in the moment and enjoy his performance, so there’s no record of it, just the wonderful memory, but I’ve attached an earlier performance of Gordon singing at the Back Stage festival.
It had been a long time since I was last in Nashville. The neighbourhoods were a feast for the eyes, houses decorated with twinkly lights and there was a festive frost in the air. We stayed in a gorgeous cottage styled by Suzy Knapp of Hook and Hearth (http://www.hookandhearth.com), marvelled at the Parthenon in Centenniel Park, drove up to Franklin, past Red Thread Farm, visited the Belle Meade Mansion & Winery, where we tried red muscadine, and sweet blackberry wine, and explored southern foods paired with southern hospitality. There was so much warmth and friendliness, and we were welcomed wherever we went.
Whilst there’s quite a lot I’d like to change about the world, there’s not a single thing I’d have changed about this very special trip. Friendship and memories are the most blessed gift that anyone could wish for, and I will remember the sights, sounds, and scents that this expedition brought for a long time.
Wishing y’all a very Merry Christmas.
