Walter Hill‘s wonderful 1980 film The Long Riders told the story of the James Gang–the outlaws Frank and Jesse James and the Younger brothers–and their depradations in Missouri, Arkansas, Minnesota, Texas and other locales. Although we’re not going to Texas, we’re hitting all their other stomping grounds, and then some: a 13 day, 17 state car trip; hence, The Longer Riders.
Ginny and I set off on Monday the 14th, and met Cara in Lexington KY. On Tuesday, we headed south to Nashville. We kicked around downtown for a while, did some shopping, bought a Johnny Cash T-shirt, noted that in the Civil War tour, Nashville was called `an occupied city,’ then headed over to the Grand Old Opry.
The show was headlined by Craig Morgan (left), a rugged-looking fellow with a big baritone. He did a kickass version of the Justin Timberlake song called `Drink You Away'(I can’t drink you away, I’ve tried Jack, I’ve tried Jim, I’ve tried all of their friends, I can’t drink you away, All these rocks, I can’t swim out of this skin, I’m living in). Also on the bill was a big square-jawed, square-hatted, toothy-grinned heartthrob named Dustin Lynch (below left). Cara reports that she’s heard that “he’s a bit of a dick,” and he certainly fits the type. We also liked rising star 
Gwen Sebastian (left) and veteran Jeannie Seely (right), who blew me away with her version of “Ode to Billy Joe.”