Getting the country groove on in Nashville

Maggie Kollker is spending a rainy holiday Monday nestled inside a crowded, dark dive. The band next to the front entrance is asking for requests, though one of the musicians, hunched over with his low-slung guitar, looks too hung-over to care. Kollker is in her element, sitting among musicians and looking every bit the seasoned local.

But Kollker isn't from Nashville at all; she's a fresh-faced 25-year-old Chicagoan, addicted to the party this city offers. She started visiting Nashville three years ago, and has logged more than a dozen trips since.

"So much talent and the honky-tonks are so much fun," Kollker explains.

Ah yes, the honky-tonks — the dingy bars in Nashville's entertainment district, with dented Nascar fenders and neon liquor signs lining the walls, not to mention the persistent smell of beer wafting up from dirty grey floors. These watering holes spill country music and drunken customers onto the street day and night.

Here Kollker has found a home away from home, and she's not alone. Like a snake charmer, Nashville's music has entranced music fans, especially female ones, as they routinely make the pilgrimage to "Music City" for some good ol' fashioned "honky-tonking."

The music originating in this city has never been more popular, with more than a quarter of Billboard's Top 40 albums often coming from country artists. American Idols are routinely crowned from this genre, Carrie Underwood being their undisputed queen. And one of pop's biggest acts in 2011 is crossover country darling Taylor Swift. Suddenly, country is sexy and people are flocking to Nashville.

On any given night in Nash-Vegas, a term used by locals to describe the neon strip of Broadway and 2nd Avenue known as The District, you'll find crowds of tourists and lineups at standing-room-only bars.

The District is to Nashville what Bourbon Street is to New Orleans. You won't get flashed if you throw beads, so leave those at home, but you will hear a lot of live music and probably stumble upon more than a few stags and bachelorette parties. Venues range in size and style, from the three-storey Wildhorse Saloon, where you can learn to line dance between performances, to Legends, a long, hollow bar where faded country records act as wallpaper and the guys sit and drink while their girls dance next to their tables in tight jeans and cowboy boots.

Taking a swig of beer from the bottle before resting the longneck on her jeans, at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge Kollker has found a comfortable refuge from the persistent rain. Taking a seat at the bar, she complains about her imminent departure from the city that's two-stepped its way into her heart, and the musicians she now calls friends.

"They were attracted to me wanting to hear their own stuff, not covers all the time," says Kollker, clearly in love with the sounds, the people and the city itself.

Embedded in the warped wood tiles of Tootsie's bar, and so many other dives along this strip, is Nashville's history. Country legend Hank Williams used to steal away from shows at the Ryman Auditorium during intermissions for a quick drink across the alley at Tootsie's, before tipsily returning to the stage.

Each of these bars now hosts a long list of aspiring singers, who come to Nashville chasing a dream like their idols before them. Singers like Tara Arender, who's onstage yet dressed like it's laundry day, wearing Nashville's unofficial uniform of a plain T-shirt and jeans. When Arender gets a request she doesn't know, she looks up lyrics on her iPhone and belts out the tune. The show must go on.

Then there's Megan Ellis, a 26-year-old singer from Ohio, who came to Nashville in 2006. You can tell Ellis, with her blow-dried hair, mid-thigh dress and cowboy boots, is grooming herself for the big time as she sings at a smoky bar called "Big Shotz."

"I look at playing downtown Broadway like it's my college; it's hard to get accepted. I don't want to be in it forever. It's a struggle at times, and I learn something new everyday," says Ellis.

But Nashville is more than just chasing dreams and drunken sing-a-longs. The Bluebird Café, a showcase for aspiring songwriters, is one of the city's jewels. This is where country greats like Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift got their start, and it remains a hotbed for up-and-comers who put pen to paper.

Chitchat is not permitted during the performances, and the cramped quarters ensure there's a lineup outside most nights. While some of the singing can be a little raw, the lyrics draw talent scouts and some of these songwriters are just a step away from stardom.

Then there are institutions like the Ryman Auditorium, home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. This venue now hosts a wide variety of acts from every music genre; the acoustics are considered second only to the Mormon Tabernacle.

The Grand Ole Opry, meanwhile, has moved east of the city, but it remains one of the longest-running radio shows in history. It still airs every Saturday, and also features performances from some of country's biggest stars throughout the week.

Like the Opry, Nashville is a city that's forever evolving, and it's becoming sexier as it edges its way from country to cosmopolitan. For Kollker, it's the party that keeps her coming.

"There's cheap beer, nice folk and amazing live music 20 hours a day," she says.

What you likely won't see here anymore are those lonesome cowboys, crying in their beers about their exes, their lost dogs or their pickup trucks. This is a city that has evolved, offering siren singers and plenty of country cuties that come for the music and a taste of country stardom.