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ALSO GOOD FOR

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Just down the road is the historic Ryman Auditorium, originally built as a church in 1892, though preaching nothing but the country music gospel these days. The Grand Ole Opry, the longest running radio show in the world, lived here from 1943 to 1974, but the venue fell into neglect when the Opry jumped ship to Music Valley. In 1994, a renovated and revitalized Ryman opened its doors and has never looked back. You can take a self-guided tour or, better yet, check out who’s playing and catch a show. It’s gonna be a long night, so you might want to fill up on a “Cheeseburger in Paradise” at Rotier’s, rumored to be the burger Jimmy Buffet was singing about, served here on French bread.

Nashville is home to countless live music venues, but two stand out. Garth Brooks and Kathy Mattea were discovered at the Bluebird Café, where aspiring songwriters, talent scouts, tourists and wannabe Tim McGraws all converge among tightly spaced tables and a whole lot of hootin’ and hollerin’. The musicians here perform right in your face. Early performances by aspiring musicians are often free and there is some real talent. The other spot to drown your sorrows in some tell-it-like-it-is sonic therapy is Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, where Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson found their careers nurtured by legendary owner Tootsie Bess, a den mother of country music who died in 1978. Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and Waylon Jennings have all been famously drunk here. Aspiring talents show up at 10am in hopes of discovery (and you thought Los Angeles was bad). It’s located on the stretch of Broadway known as the Honky Tonk Highway for its plethora of bars and live-music venues.

Trade in your Stetsons for Stratocasters and leave country in the dust on I-40 (west bound) to Memphis, the birthplace of rock and roll. When Elvis Presley walked into Memphis Recording Services, part of the now legendary Sun Studio, in 1954, he was little more than a truck driver for an electric company. When he walked out that July, with a $4 10-inch acetate carrying the songs, “I Love You Because,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” and “That’s all Right,” in hand, he was days from becoming the world’s first true rock and roll star, and is still its biggest.

They say timing is everything and nobody knows that better than Elvis. Though rock and roll had begun to take shape in the beginning of the decade, it lacked sex appeal and soul. Bill Haley & His Comets are most often credited with charting the first rock and roll song (“Rock Around the Clock”) in 1955, but it wasn’t exactly rough around the edges, nor sexy. It was right around that time that record producer Sam Phillips uttered the very un-PC, and now infamous, quote: “If I could only find a white boy who could sing like a Negro.” In walked Elvis. There’s so much history in that one simple room at Sun Studio, it has been known to bring grown men to tears, including this author. There’s a free shuttle between here and Graceland that runs every hour.

Don’t be shocked at the green shag carpet that lines the walls and ceiling in the Jungle Room; the 350 yards of multicolored fabric that covers nearly everything in the Pool Room; and the mirrored ceiling in the TV room – Graceland is star-studded grandiosity, and it’s obvious Queer Eye for the Straight Guy hasn’t been anywhere near it. Elvis Presley’s 1939 Colonial Revival–style mansion and 14-acre estate is a pilgrimage even a gay interior designer could love. You’ll want to spring for the Platinum Package tour, which also includes Elvis’ automobile museum and his two airplanes.

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When the Grand Ole Opry departed from its former home in Ryman Auditorium, it moved to the 4400-seat Grand Ole Opry House (www.opry.com) east of Nashville in Music Valley. This squarish modern building hosts the Opry Friday and Saturday from March to November. Guided backstage tours are offered daily by reservation. Out this way, you’ll want to hang your hat at the 2881-room Gaylord Opryland Hotel (www.gaylordhotels.com), a tourist