By Steve Bergsman

The country road to Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, a hamlet built along scenic Leiper's Creek, rolls past lush farms where the land is so green that the opening stanza from the old "Davy Crockett" song runs through your head like a tractor without a driver:

"Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee/greenest state in the land of the free."

Some of these farms are owned by country-western royalty. The likes of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman have a place somewhere out there.

You are no longer in Nashville, but the tentacles of Nashville spread far and wide throughout the middle Tennessee region in places like Leiper's Fork, Franklin, Hendersonville and Clarksville. Sometimes to really feel "country" you need to see the countryside.

Leiper's Fork is just one small street with a few stores, galleries, eateries and a market. It takes about 10 minutes to walk the length of the town, stopping every so often to pop into the shops. Each store is a gem. For example, I stopped in at Yeoman's in the Fork, hands-down one of the best rare-book stores I've ever encountered — and I've been in many. During a discussion of books Mike Cotter, director of operations there, placed a $20,000 first edition of "Leaves of Grass" into my hand. He was certainly a trusting soul.

Earlier I had breakfast at Puckett's Grocery, where much to my surprise there was a stage. An associate who met me there said she once saw one of the locals play — some country singer named Winona. She had also seen veteran singers Tony Jo White and Michael McDonald stop by to play with whatever band happened to be in town at the time. I was thinking this was all a country yarn, but then stopping in for coffee was Richie Albright, the drummer for Waylon Jennings.

From Leiper's Fork I drove to Franklin, probably the most picturesque small town in the state. The historic downtown with its circa-1800s buildings has been gently revived and is now thriving with great shopping and restaurants. I stopped into Gray's on Main for a terrific lunch, and just behind my table was an expansive stage. As I was beginning to learn, performing spaces in the Nashville region are everywhere. I sat drinking my Tennessee lager totally enchanted by a three-piece combo called Daphne and the Mystery Machine. I wished them luck on their journey.

My journey on the outskirts of Nashville began along the Cumberland River in the town of Clarksville. I arrived in the early evening and made for the Lovin' Spoonful Cafe. Despite the musical reference in the restaurant's name, this place had no stage. What it did have, however, was equally as funky: what I'm guessing was the world's largest collection of paint-by-numbers artwork. Things don't get much more quirky than this — and the food was great.

I was in Clarksville because every spring the town throws itself a party called the Rivers and Spires Festival, which spreads across the whole of the downtown (another Tennessee burg with a historic center being revitalized). Since this is country-western territory, the headliner for the night was Love and Theft, a duo with a No. 1 hit, "Angel Eyes." I guarantee you won't get any closer to the stage than you will in Clarksville. Not only that, but there are all sorts of local contests or contacts to meet the stars. While I hung out with Steve and Eric, the two singers who make up Love and Theft, they must have had their picture taken with a dozen locals who seemed very happy to be there.

Not far away in Hendersonville was the cemetery called the Hendersonville Memory Gardens. This is where Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, are buried, and fans often make the trek here to pay their respects. Just behind the well-marked graves of Johnny and June are the graves of the Carter Family, the first-generation stars of the country-western songbook. Nearby is the showy grave of Merle Kilgore, who wrote the country standard "Wolverton Mountain" and co-wrote "Ring of Fire" with June Carter Cash. Also buried at Hendersonville Memory Gardens are Johnny Cash's parents and the singer Sheb Wooley, who had a No. 1 hit in 1958 with the novelty song "Purple People Eater."

The day I visited the gravesite, Joanne Cash Yates, Johnny Cash's sister was there. A well-known gospel singer, she sang two songs at Johnny's grave before pushing on to visit her parents' last resting place.

Probably the most-visited attraction in Nashville is the Country and Western Hall of Fame, but most tourists don't take the ancillary tour to RCA Studio B, which is located a short ride away in Music Row. This is hallowed ground, where thousands of some of the best-known songs in America were recorded, including almost all of Elvis Presley's hit records.

A couple of other studios are also worth a visit. Find your way to Berry Hill, on the outskirts of Nashville, where a lot of small recording studios have popped up. At Station West I caught up with record producer Carl Jackson, who was in the midst of putting together the album "Orthoponic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited." To my good fortune, he had in the studio three beautiful and talented ladies who called themselves the Shotgun Rubies.

There's also Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet. In the early 1960s, legendary record producer Owen Bradley converted this barn into a recording studio, and many C&W legends, including Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, recorded here. If you're lucky you might run into Bradley's son, Jerry Bradley, a legend in his own right, and he'll regale you with great tales of the music life.

Patsy Cline's great hit, "Crazy," was produced at Bradley's Barn.

"Willie Nelson wrote it, but Patsy didn't want to record it," Bradley told me.

She eventually did, and it became one of the great C&W hits of all time. Bradley returned the favor to Willie by producing the Waylon (Jennings) and Willie "Outlaw" albums.

WHEN YOU GO

I stayed in three relatively new hotels outside of Nashville during my trip: Best Western Plus Atrium Inn and Suites in Clarksville (931-919-4998), Hyatt Place in Hendersonville (615-826-4301) and Drury Plaza Hotel in Franklin (615-771-6778).

To get a bead on what's happening in the regions outside of Nashville, try these tourist boards: Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, www.tnvacation.com; Clarksville-Montgomery County CVB,www.clarksvillecvb.com; Sumner County Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.sumnercvb.com; and Williamson Country Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.visitwilliamson.com.

A piano that accompanied Elvis Presley is on display at the RCA Studio B on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo courtesy of Steve Bergsman.

Joanne Cash Yates visits the gravesite of her brother, Johnny Cash, and her sister-in-law, June Carter Cash, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Photo courtesy of Steve Bergsman.

Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.