What’s next on the blogging agenda? Well, I am glad you asked. So, the previous post was all about Country Throwdown. . . but that was Indianapolis and THIS is Nashville. What’s been going on here? A lot. The most exciting thing? BirdSongs. What is BirdSongs? It’s basically a month long series of shows (June 1-July 3) that benefit The Bluebird Café. This series has been designed to help secure and ensure the future of The Bluebird Café. We want to make sure we are here for our songwriters and our community (that includes YOU) for many, many years to come. And all of the songwriters who are performing throughout the BirdSongs series have donated their time to come here and play, so that we can continue to be here for them and they can continue to play here for you. So, see, it all comes full circle and we all ultimately benefit. Huzzah!

So, let me tell you about the BirdSongs kick off show. And, spoiler alert, for those of you unable to attend, I am going to be bragging. Probably a lot. So read on if you are not easily jealous. Take a break, maybe get some coffee, take a walk and then come back if you turn green on a dime. 

The Scene: The Bluebird Café. June 1, 2010. 6:00pm.

The evening started off with a truly awesome round of Hall Of Fame Songwriters: Richard Leigh (Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue), Sonny Curtis (I Fought The Law - #177 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) and Jim Weatherly (Midnight Train To Georgia). They sang all of these songs and more for their repertoire of awesome: The Greatest Man I Never Knew, Somewhere In My Broken Heart, Cold Day In July, I’m No Stranger To The Rain, Love Is All Around, Walk Right Back, The Straight Life, Neither One Of Us Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye, The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me, A Lady Like You, Someone Else’s Star and so many more! It was pretty amazing to watch the soundtrack of my life play our right in front of me by the gents that are actually responsible for writing it.

The 6:00pm show rolled into the 9:00pm show. . .

The 9:00pm show featured Grammy winners Don “The Gambler” Schlitz, Vince Gill, Amy Grant and special guest Mary Chapin Carpenter. No. Your eyes do not deceive you. That was the actual line up. Pretty sweet, right?

These ladies and gents played for almost 3 HOURS! 3 hours. . . and on a school night, no less. It was all kinds of awesome. They, of course, played their many amazing songs all night long, but a big part of the evening was the between song interactions, the witty banter, the silly jokes, the stories about when they all met, how they met, writing together, etc, etc. . . it went from funny to poignant and back again so many times, it was like riding an emotional roller coaster – but one that I was happy to be on (for once). I enjoyed the ride. I coulda sat there all night. Soaring with the highs and crying during the lows. . .

The funniest parts were probably listing to Chapin and Schlitz bicker about writing together back in the day, etc, etc. You can tell they have been friends forever. Mr. Gill is also very good with the one-liners and who doesn’t appreciate a good one off?  No one, that’s who. Well, no one who actually has a sense of humor.

I think the most poignant and touching moment of the evening for me was when Chapin told the story behind her song “Grand Central Station.” Now, I am going to do my best to recount this tale, but I should warn you that I will certainly leave out something of importance, mix up a few details, but hopefully the gist will come across, as the subject matter of this story and the song it inspired is very near and dear to my crooked little heart (you have just been served a Tom Wait reference – just FYI), as I was living in NYC during September 11^th. I had just moved there from my little tiny Northern California town. I was 18. And when I would make my way to the downtown clubs that let my fake i.d. pass for real, I would transfer at Grand Central Station. . . 

Chapin was inspired to write the song “Grand Central Station” after hearing one of the onsite workers at Ground Zero describe his experiences of working at what was literally ground zero of what is, arguably, one of the biggest catastrophe’s our nation has had to endure on our own soil.

Basically, this worker – this hero (this word is being used with total and complete respect – no sarcasm, no irony) – would go to work in the days following 9/11. His place of work was the wreckage that was once the Twin Towers. He would spend his day digging through the rubble, hoping to, but not actually finding survivors – he found only ghosts.  . .

After a long, physically and emotionally exhausting day, he would make his way from the site, to the subway and eventually his train would make its way north to Grand Central Station. This man would then stand on the platform at Grand Central to await his transfer. He said it was there that he could feel the ghosts of those who had lost their lives in the World Trade Center leave him and make their way to a train that would then take them home. . .

At this point in the evening, I was crying, the people sitting next to me were crying and those that were not crying were probably doing so once Chapin started singing:

“Got my work clothes on for love, sweat and dirt.
All this Holy dust upon my face an' shirt.
Headin' uptown now, just as the shifts are changin',
To Grand Central Station.

I got my lunch box, got my hard hat in my hand.
I ain't no hero, mister, just a workin' man.
An' all these voices keep on askin' me to take them,
To Grand Central Station.
Grand Central Station.

I wanna stand beneath the clock just one more time.
Wanna wait on the platform for the Hudson line.
I guess you're never really all alone, or too far from the pull of home,
An' the stars upon that painted dome still shine.

I paid my way out on the 42nd Street.
I lit a cigarette an' stared down at my feet.
Imagined all the ones that ever stood here waitin',
At Grand Central Station.
Grand Central Station.

And now Hercules is starin' down at me.
Next to him's Minerva an' Mercury.
Well, I nod to them an' start my crawl, flyers coverin' every wall:
Faces of the missing are all I see.

Tomorrow, I'll be back there, workin' on the pile.
Going in, comin' out, single file.
Before my job is done, there's one more trip I'm makin',
To Grand Central Station.
Grand Central Station.

Grand Central Station.
Grand Central Station.”

The memory of this story, this song. . . it still gives me chills. In the days following 9/11, I made my way down to the site. Just the one time. . . I couldn’t manage to go again (and there were volunteer opportunities uptown that I talked myself into believing were just as important and helpful). I couldn’t totally figure out why at the time. Of course it was difficult. Of course it was sad. But it was more than that. You could FEEL it all hanging in the empty space around you. You could feel the difficult, the sad, the loss, the destruction. . . it was as palpable as the horrifying sights and smells. Looking back, I realize you could actually feel them. And while I was not strong enough to carry them home, I am glad the hero from the story and the subsequent song was up to the task.