You Never Know Who You’ll Run Into in Nashville

Being in the radio (and now digital) business for as long as I have, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I have met a lot of famous people. And, for whatever reason, I did not anticipate that when I started my career. Talk about a fringe benefit.

Yes, I've met tons of A-listers like Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Luke Bryan, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Dierks Bentley, and so many more because of my job. And that's something I'll never forget. But I have had random encounters with other celebrities, and those chance meetings were completely unrelated to work.

Pat Boone

When I was 13, my family stayed at the Contemporary Hotel (now Resort) at Disney World. The monorail runs right through it. My dad and went to look around, rode the elevator to the top floor, and saw the legend himself, Pat Boone, as soon as the doors opened. There was some big function happening, but they didn't stop us. And, like he'd known him his whole life, Dad walked up to him, extended his hand, and said, "Well, Pat Boone, how in the world are you?" I don't remember their conversation, but Pat was a very nice guy.

Scott Hamilton

My sister and I were at the big mall in the Nashville suburb of Franklin. We were in the food court, and I looked up and saw Olympic skating icon Scott Hamilton getting on the escalator. I'd forgotten he lived there. Anyway, I added Scott to my Nashville "brushes with greatness" list, as David Letterman used to call it.

But this was my first such encounter with someone other than a country star. I once stood in line at a Nashville movie theater behind Keith Urban, and my family sat behind the Oak Ridge Boys on a flight out of Nashville to Dallas in 1984.

I did a little crowd-sourcing and learned about other Music City chance encounters from some of our Kentucky and Indiana audience. Take a look.