Tootsie's Orchid Lounge is a honky-tonk bar located in Nashville, Tennessee behind the Ryman Auditorium, home in past years and occasionally in the present to the stage and radio show The Grand Ole Opry. Tootsie's has three stages that host live local talent each night, covering modern-day country music artists such as Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift, and other performers, as well as original work. Some of its early famous first customers were Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Mel Tillis, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller and numerous other country musicians. According to the bar's website, Nelson received his first songwriting gig after singing at Tootsie's. Terri Clark, a Canadian-born country artist, started singing at Tootsie's in 1987, and has since become an internationally-known country star with hits such as "Better Things to Do," and the Warren Zevon cover, "Poor Poor Pitiful Me." Originally named Mom's, Hattie Louise "Tootsie" Bess bought the future honky-tonk in 1960. The name came later when, to her surprise, a painter made the exterior of the lounge purple.
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