For almost a decade, culinary celebrity Alton Brown has been touring the country with a series of popular and entertaining multimedia variety shows based on his love of food and science. It should come as no surprise that Brown can put on a show, as his curriculum vitae includes hosting numerous television shows ranging from Iron Chef America and Cutthroat Kitchen to his long-running Good Eats instructional program on Food Network. He’s also an accomplished musician, podcast host and actually served as the Director of Photography on the video for R.E.M.’s “The One I Love.”
This is to say, he’s quite the renaissance dude. He’s bringing all his talents to bear for his latest tour, Alton Brown Live: Beyond the Eats, which will make a stop at TPAC’s Jackson Theater on Thursday, March 17, which should make for a pretty entertaining St. Patrick’s Day activity. The tour actually kicked off with a seven-week run in 2021, pausing for a holiday break after Thanksgiving before hitting the road again last month. Tickets are still available for the performance at the TPAC website.
In advance of Brown's visit to Nashville, one of his favorite towns (and he’s not just saying that), I caught up with him for a chat from his tour bus in between stops. During our conversation, we discussed topics ranging from how downtown Nashville was still a little shady in the early ’90s, to our mutual love of Flip Wilson, and to why he wants no part of TikTok. Below are some excerpts from our talk.
What’s new and exciting about this latest edition of your traveling roadshow?
We did a seven-week tour in the fall last year, and as soon as I got home, we made some changes to relaunch it. I constantly monkey with these things. I’m never done. And I’m excited that I’ll be in the Jackson [Hall at TPAC]. I’ve never been in the big house!
We continue to work in the format that I call “a culinary variety show.” This show is newer, bigger, stranger and slightly more dangerous. I get to do things that nobody will let me do on TV. Like, I’ve always wanted to host a quiz show, so we do one in the middle of the show called “Eat This.” It’s the most fun thing I do during the night when I get to bring participants up on the stage to do activities like sensory-based things. It’s not all knowledge-based.
How are you incorporating music into the show?
Well, we start out with a song, and there are five songs in the show — four originals and a parody. I think music is still a huge part of what makes television variety shows special, so I like to pepper a few songs through the show. It’s not a concert, but music really changes the energy of the room.
I love that format of the variety show. In the ’60s and ’70s we had Tony Orlando and the Hudson Brothers and Sonny and Cher and Flip Wilson, and they all incorporated music into their shows. That was some of my favorite television.
You famously jumped onto Twitter on your own terms, posting photos of your thoughts written on Post-it notes. You were also a pioneer for creating fun, fast-paced frenetic instructional cooking videos. Now that recipe demos have become so popular on TikTok, what do you think of that development?
I did that Post-it note thing on Twitter to circumvent the 140-character limit they tried to place on me, although that’s gone now. I’ve never watched TikTok or cooking videos because I’m obsessed with originality. I’m afraid I’m going to see something and copy it.
Actually, I don’t like to allow technology to determine how and where and why I do something. I don’t like to let it define myself, plus at some point, I’m afraid I just won’t get it. It’s sad to see the older generation glom onto something new and just end up embarrassing themselves.
What excites you about coming back to Nashville?
I love Nashville! I worked out of there for a while in the early ’90s, and downtown was still pretty rough. It was hardcore honky-tonk!
Nashville is a very unique city, really one of my favorite cities. You’ve got so many great restaurants and I think some of the best coffee in America. And there are so many amazing guitar shops in town, I always end up spending thousands of dollars on guitars that I’m barely good enough to play. The older I get, the more obsessed [I get] with older guitars. I’m in love with the current guitar I’m playing on the tour, a ’61 Fender Telecaster!
My wife went to Vanderbilt, so we visit often. The final leg of our tour last year was in Yakima, Wash. Since we live with our dogs on one of our buses when we’re on tour, we drove all the way back across the country to Atlanta. We stopped in Nashville so that my wife could check out what was going on at Vandy.
What else would you like people to know about Alton Brown Live: Beyond the Eats?
It’s a very family-friendly show, very safe for kids. I love seeing children in the audience and kids getting into cooking. But don’t come expecting to see a stage version of Good Eats. This is a totally new show, made from scratch.
It’s the most satisfying thing I get to do. There’s nothing like being able to share a few hours with a live audience. Even if you're not particularly interested in food, I think you should come. I call it general-focus entertainment for the theater.
