Keith Urban

Transcription

What do you love most about Tennessee?
What I love most about Tennessee is just the lifestyle, the fact that we can drive out our front gate and go to great restaurants, great parks. It's just a freedom like we don't really have anywhere else. People are friendly. It's just a great laid back pace and a great style of living.

 

What are the must-do things for people visiting Tennessee?
First, coming to Tennessee, for me, was coming to Nashville, so I saw a couple of the great songwriting places like the Bluebird Café. Also, I was a big Elvis fan, so a trip to Graceland is imperative. And the Smoky Mountains is a place we love to go as well. It's absolutely beautiful, especially in the fall.

 

Where do you like to listen to live music in Tennessee? Well, for me in Nashville, musically, I love going to the Station Inn and hearing some great bluegrass. Again, Bluebird Café is a great place to hear a lot of great songwriters. There's a lot of great live music places in Nashville. But also, you've got Beale Street in Memphis that's a fantastic venue for a lot of great blues.

 

What are your favorite restaurants in Tennessee?
Again, in Nashville, I'm a bit partial to a great burger and I think Brown's Diner is one of the best. Rotier’s, which has been here forever. There's a lot of great meat-and-threes. I think Arnold’s is probably one of the most classic down here on Music Row. You've gotta get some barbeque and meat-and-three.

 

What is your favorite Tennessee memory?
My earliest trips over here were coming over to songwrite. Since I was a kid I just wanted to be in Nashville. I remember being in my rental car driving on the freeway and I saw these signs saying "Nashville next exit." And I kept realizing, this is the real Nashville. It's not just a road sign to a place called that. It's the real place. And that stayed like that for years and years. Every time I would see that or a sign saying Memphis, all these names I grew up with, almost mythical names, it was surreal to see that and finally be in Tennessee.

 

What music would you select for a Tennessee road trip?
Oh well, if you’re gonna go on a road trip, I'd kick it off probably with "Running on Empty," Jackson Brown. Hopefully you won't be running on empty. That’s a good one. Then "Highway 40 Blues," Ricky Scaggs. That's a good one. "You Get What You Give," New Radicals, that's a pretty good group. "Drift Away," Dobie Gray, who is actually a Nashville resident. I'd probably round it out with "Rocky Top." Just crank it up and put the windows down.