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| Tootsie's Orchid Lounge in Nashville, Tennessee, is a honky-tonk. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The term honky-tonk is slang and often used to refer to a small bar. Generally, it has a country theme to it and features live music as well. There are plenty of them found out there all over the place. People love to go hang out with them to drink, visit with friends, meet new people, and to listen to the music. It is also a great type of environment to hear up and coming stars without the crowd or the high ticket price.
Most musical artists that have hit the big time will tell you stories of starting out in honky tonk bars. They were paid a measly amount of money for their performances and some will tell you they even waited tables or tended to the bar in between sets. This is a great way to say you met a certain performer before they were huge stars and hard to gain access to.
Most of these honky tonks are establishments were regulars show up. They are common places for the nighttime crowd to hang out and have a good time. Another common element of them is neon lights. This can be on the signs outdoors as well as inside of the establishments. No matter where you may travel to for work or vacation, you should be able to come across some fun honky tonks to hang out in.
Since country music is what is commonly played at honky tonks there is usually a dance floor. Here you will see people getting into the swing of things with various types of songs. Some are fast to dance to and others are slow moving for close dancing. There is also plenty of music for line dancing to take place.
The environment you will find inside of a honky-tonk depends on where you are at. Some of them are still pretty tough as far as the crowd that goes into them on a regular basis. You may find it isn’t very comfortable for you to be hanging out there. Others are full of real cowboys and cowgirls that want to have some fun. You may want to do some checking before you go to a honky tonk just so you are familiar with what the atmosphere will be like in there.
