What happens when ABC makes a TV show about your city

I’m sure many of you have tuned in to see ABC’s recent addition to the fall lineup, “Nashville.”

Like the rest of the residents of Music City U.S.A., I set my DVR to record the show and tend to tune in for parts of most episodes. But if you’ve paid attention to the locales in the show, you know that “Nashville” is filming in Nashville a lot. That fact, combined with the fact that ABC’s whole show revolves around the city of Nashville, has led to some interesting occurrences. Here are a few, in no particular order.

1. People you know show up in the background of the show. Because the show is filming in Nashville, they need extras. There’s an agency that’s coordinating that and tons of people have signed up to be a part of the filming. So it’s kind of hilarious to be watching the show and see someone you know or know of in the background!

2. People get interested in your city. I love Nashville. I’m so thankful that God let me live out my childhood dream of living here. Because Nashville really is a great city, kind of like a big city with a small town feel. Music is a big part of culture, but it’s also just a cool, laid-back kind of place. It makes me happy that people who have misconceptions about what Nashville is like are getting to see it on the show, even if the show isn’t doing much to fight the idea of Nashville as a kind of rich city filled with country music star’s mansions.

3. People think Nashville is ONLY country music. Because the show focuses solely on country music, it perpetuates the idea that the Nashville music scene only revolves around country music and writing. While country is a big deal here and always will be, Nashville really isn’t a one-genre musical town. It’s a haven for singer/songwriters/indie folks, rock and roll is alive and well, and basically on any night you could probably find someone playing whatever genre of music is your favorite.

4. People think we talk like that. Probably my biggest issue with the show is the accents. (Well, that’s my issue with most southern-themed shows.) While we do say ya’ll and some of us drawl, we don’t sound like Scarlett on “Nashville.” Maybe a few people do, but not everyone. The accents on the show sound more Texas than Tennessee and some are so fake they lose their authenticity. If you really want to make the show sound Nashville, have someone talk about a “hosepipe,” which is Nashvillian for “water hose.”

5. People take over your favorite places. The Bluebird Cafe is one of the major plot locations of the show “Nashville.” While they’ve set up a replica on a soundstage somewhere, the real location is one of my favorite places in town. I love the listening room atmosphere, the history, the small size, and the camaraderie my friend Buddy and I have with our favorite waitress, Vonda, because we’ve gone so often. You have to reserve seats at the Bluebird about a week before the show and lately, as we’ve been trying to pay for them, they’ve been snatched up by other music lovers. In the past two months, Buddy and I have missed at least 3 shows we wanted to go to because we couldn’t get a seat. Last Saturday, we planned to see a friend play and missed out on reserving our seats, so we thought we’d do the first-come, first-serve wait in line thing. When Buddy arrived at 5:10 p.m. for a 6:30 p.m. show, the line was so long there was no way we were getting in. So, my special little secret—the Bluebird Cafe—is out, and I blame “Nashville.” While I love that the attention has probably helped the Bluebird, I hate that it’s made it almost impossible for me to go to one of my favorite places on a regular basis.