Jolene

When we were in Nashville, we saw this great band called Jipsy. It was three girls and a guy. The guy looked like young Kris Kristofferson, and the girls were all cool-looking--one looked like Katy Perry, with shoulder-length black hair. The other two had short hair and boots--one had short platinum blonde hair and the other (the lead singer) had short black hair. The Katy Perry one smiled at me when we walked in.

Music seems to work differently here than in Seattle, in ways that I think are way more fun. In the Nashville bar, people just breezed in and out, with no one getting carded, and the music started early. Everyone sat comfortably at tables or at the bar. There was no cover charge, but the band occasionally walked around the room with their tip bucket, shamelessly soliciting tips, while chatting with people and taking requests.

They did covers of all kinds of great country songs, including an awesome cover of Dolly Parton's song "Jolene."

A short while later, some weirdo patron requested "Jolene" again; either he'd just walked in or he was too drunk to realize that they had just played it. The band sort of complained about it, but they sang it--I think the rule is, if you pay, they play. So we got to hear "Jolene" twice in one night, which I enjoyed, since I like repetition.

Last night in Memphis, we enjoyed a fun singer named Barbara Blue, accompanied by a piano player. She was much older than the Nashville band and had clearly been around the block a few times. She trolled for tips even more shamelessly, saying she "accepted all dead presidents" and calling herself "a professional musical whore." She also inventively offered this deal: if she was singing a song you didn't like, five dollars would stop it in its tracks.

She also endeared herself to Guy and me by remarking that she was glad she never had kids, but she had four rescue cats and four rescue dogs at home.

And she also sang "Jolene." That makes four times we've heard it on this trip (if you include listening to it in the car).