Southern Soul: New Orleans to Nashville

This trip promised a lot on paper, and delivered so much more in reality, exceeding my expectations. Our group leader managed to cram so much in, while at the same time allowing a nice degree of freedom for us to do our own exploration and choose our own optional activities. The tour began with a deeply moving and affecting look at the civil rights movement, covering the life of Martin Luther King Jr (where he was born, the church at which he preached, his memorial garden and tomb; later on we would visit the place where he was assassinated); the slave trade and its role in creating wealth for the plantation owners and the country as a whole; and the continued oppression of the freed slaves after the Civil War and their struggle for basic human rights. As we went on, the focus shifted toward the music that was created on the plantations, the way it developed and seeped into mainstream culture in America before spreading across the world. While this was very informative and educational, there were plenty of lighter moments too and we were a great group who had a lot of laughs along the way. As well as visiting sites that were significant to the music history, there were opportunities to hear live music - jazz, blues and country - at many locations from New Orleans to Nashville. A wonderful experience that we will continue to savour for a very long time.

If you're into music (especially The Blues) and want to understand where it all started and developed, this is the trip for you. Starting with the background of the Civil Rights movement and visiting iconic sites such as the bridge at Selma and the museums in Atlanta and Birmingham, we followed the development of the Blues from New Orleans through Clarksdale, Memphis and finally Nashville. We experienced a wide range of live music - gospel, blues, jazz, country, rockabilly, bluegrass etc and saw the places where it all began. It was a truly entertaining and memorable trip from the beginning to the end made even more special by our awesome guide, Jay.

This is a great trip if you’re keen to experience the USA Deep South Music and history. Great experience of New Orleans, Martin Luther King and the civil rights movements, Elvis and the music history of Memphis and Nashville. The trip is with Grand American Adventures- Exodus sister Company. You travel in a small tour bus driven by your guide. We were lucky we had 9 people on the trip as any more would have been a squeeze. A few early starts and longest drives on the road were 5-6 hours but had plenty of rest stop breaks. There’s a lot to see and do plus the music & dvds on the van helped get us in the mood and educate us to each area.