LIBRARY GETAWAY PROGRAM 2004

US Drive Part II
Thursday, May 6, 2004

KEITH URBAN PLAYED HOST TO BEN FROM GETAWAY!
Ben is back on the road heading to Nashville and Memphis on a mission to track down urban legends and sing a little country music.

From Kentucky, Ben steered his smart new Buick Riviera south to Nashville in the centre of Tennessee.

Nashville is headquarters to country music. Anyone who's ever twanged a guitar or banjo or sung a meaningful song has probably longed to sing at, or at least visit, the famous Grand Ole Opry.
kEITH DRIVES BEN AROUND AND SHARES THE SIGHTS OF NASHVILLE WITH HIM
The Ryman Auditorium opened in 1892 and in 1943 when the Grand Ole Opry show arrived, became the mother church of country music. When the Opry left in 1974, the Ryman remained vacant. In 1994, after full restoration, it re-opened as the national showplace it is today. Its stage has been graced by the world's most loved and famous country music performers, including many Australians, such as Reg Lindsay, Smoky Dawson, Slim Dusty, Diana Trask, the Kernaghans, Troy Cassar-Daley, Kasey Chambers, Tommy Emmanuel and Catherine Britt.

Keith Urban has been playing guitar since he was six. In his early 20s he made trips to Nashville to find songs and work with noted songwriters. After struggling for almost 10 years, he was recently awarded New Male Vocalist ACM and the CMA's Horizon Award. A long way from the farm town of Caboolture in Queensland!