At the corner of Highway 431 (Lewisburg Pike) and Henpeck Lane sits a sweet Victorian house with a wrap-around porch and a row of gas pumps out in front of it.  

Henpeck Market is one of those establishments I’ve driven by for years but never stopped to see what was inside.  I assumed that, since it was a gas station, there would be a small convenience store inside and nothing more.  

Finally, a couple weeks ago while looking for property for some clients, I decided to pull into the parking lot.  It was noon, and there was literally nowhere to park… the place was packed!  So I found an empty space near the road and headed to the front door. 

As soon as I walked in, I was surprised to see that it was much more than just a little market! 

Don and Jackie Gregory own the place and, yes, there’s a gas station outside and the typical convenience store type merchandise inside, but did you know there is also a café and restaurant?  Oh, and a little gift shop and organic produce section, too?! 

There’s more… soon they’ll even have a post office inside.

I'll be watching Nashville Star 6 this season. But, oddly enough, I think I'm more interested in seeing the judges than some of the performers themselves!

I'm diggin' the fact that Jeffrey Steele is a judge. Finally... more Jeffrey Steele in the limelight!

You see, Jim and I have been following Jeff Steele for what seems like ages now, and we still can't get enough. He's a shining star in the Country Music industry. He's right up there with Craig Wiseman in our book -- as far as songwriters go anyways.

Okay, I'll just say it... If I had my way, I'd see to it that The Hitmen of Music Row produce, judge, promote, star in, and otherwise have their hands in just about anything that's Country Music related these days! All of these guys are among the top hit-makers in the biz. And they know how it works from the entry-level songwriting trials & tribulations to the mega-hits that can result. Best of all... they keep things FUN!

Now onto the other judges...

Jim and I have been to the Grand Ole Opry Show more times than I can count. And I'm not even that much of a fan of Country music. I like music in general, but very few CDs in my collection are of the Country genre. (Jim's collection is a whole 'nother story.) Sure, I like a lot of individual songs performed by various Country artists, but rarely enough to buy a whole CD of 'em.

That said, I also wasn't introduced to Bluegrass and Folk and other forms of music like that until I moved to Nashville with Jim 7 years ago.

So why in the world would I want to go to the Grand Ole Opry so much, you ask? And how do I justify spending upwards of $50 a ticket for the experience?

Here's the scoop...

You may have heard that Nashville Star is moving from USA Network to NBC for 2008. Yep, primetime on cable, baby!

This year, the competition is open to singing duos and trios. Auditions are open to anyone 16 and older. Nashville Star casting calls are held rain or shine.

Here's the scoop on the upcoming casting call in Nashville, TN...

Some business friends of ours were contemplating a visit to Nashville in the near future. They wanted to stay somewhere close to downtown and take in all the sights & sounds that Music City has to offer -- over the course of 2 or 3 days.

They asked for some advice. Here's what we recommended...

Got an email the other day from a visitor to this site. It read:

Just wanted to invite you to the HOTTEST reality show in Nashville TN August 18 at 8:00pm. We will have 5 more artists competing for prizes and you can be the judge. That's right the audience chooses the winner. We will have some great entertainment and it is all FREE. Come cheer for you favorite performer."
-- Scott Hunt
Creator/Producer, "15 Minutes of Fame"

...Sounds like fun!

To date, we've been to the Bluebird more times than we can count.

We are members of their "frequent visitor club". (For example, we used our "special privileges" once to score front row seats for Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Ashley Cleveland, Lari White, and Leslie Satcher on 11/13/2004.)

Open since June of 1982, The Bluebird Cafe features songwriters and acoustic music 7 nights a week, providing a stage for both the newest songwriters in town to play as well as for Nashville's most established writers. The Bluebird is known for helping start the careers of many country artists including Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood and Kathy Mattea. Source