There’s A Purple Haze In Nashville

The Nashville scene comprises a lot more than country music, and that fact was never so evident as this morning, when I encountered Barfly on Lower Broadway. His repertoire includes gems from the golden era of rock and roll and the likes of Chuck Berry and Little Richard, progressing to the Beatles, the Stones, and finally to Jimi Hendrix and even a bit of Prince. Heck, if asked the guy could probably play a John Denver tune or two. Taking a break, and in a nod to my hometown, Barfly mentioned that he had once appeared with the Grateful Dead. Apparently, Pigpen heard him jamming on harmonica outside an arena in Cincinnati, back in “Oh, maybe 73 or 4,” and called him up on stage to play “Little Red Rooster.” According to Barfly, it was rockin.’ I believe the man.

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