Airports across the nation are trying to mirror their cities. At Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, travelers can play the slot machines. At San Francisco International, they can tour an aquarium. At Palm Beach International in Florida, they can practice their putting.
The airports, in effect, are marketing tools. "The citizens who use them feel at home, and the visitors coming in get a sense of the city without leaving the airport," said Eileen Denne, spokeswoman for Airports Council International.
Nashville's niche has long been its music. From the vintage concert posters on the walls to the guitars and banjos in glass cases, there's no mistaking the airport for any other.
With the opening of Tootsie's - actually, two of them, one in the public area and one in the secure area - travelers can get a feel for the gritty downtown dive where country singers past and present got their starts.
But while the new airport clubs have the same live music and decor as the original, don't expect the same rough edges, like beer-soaked floors and walls covered with graffiti and faded stars' portraits.
"You've got to get that with age. You get that with hard knocks," owner Steve Smith said.
Still, for singers and musicians like Bontempi, the airport remains a sweet gig. For one thing, it pays - US$32.50 per hour for the side musicians, US$65 per hour for the frontman. Not bad in a town so crammed with people trying to get discovered that they'll play for free.
And while the audience is far from rapt, they can be appreciative.
As Bontempi performed, a stocky guy with a beard walked by once, twice and a third time before finally setting down his bags and fixing his attention on the tiny stage.
The man, a 28-year-old welder from Sacramento, California, named Keith Branson, smiled and nodded with the music.
"At least now I can say I heard a country singer in Nashville," he said.
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