Still Ole, Still Grand

[For the next couple blogs, I'm reliving our recent vacation (sigh). Responding to a couple inquires from last blog, I don't surf. I meant "catching a wave" on film. Also, Doogie was okay when we returned, though he took a while to warm up to us. Our oldest son took care of him while we were gone.]


When radio was in its infancy back in the 1920s, a popular way to fill air-time was to broadcast live music by local musicians. In 1925, the year it came on the air, WSM in Nashville broadcast its first "barn dance," featuring what were called "hillbilly" musicians. Three years later the program was re-named The Grand Ole Opry.

What impressed me as Wendy and I sat in the audience of the Grand Ole Opry a week ago, was how true to its roots this program remains. The Opry is first and foremost, a radio show. There are commercials, an announcer, hosts for each half-hour segment, and a parade of musicians young and old coming on-stage to perform live.

During our two-hour program, and I imagine on other nights as well, the acts feature the gamut of what is included in country: western (with yodeling!), honky tonk, bluegrass, inspirational, old favorites and current GAC (Great American Country) top 40.

Usually, there are one or more "name acts" that even non-country folks might recognize. Wendy picked this particular night for us to go because Trace Adkins was performing. Then there are the Opry regulars, many of whom have been performing for decades there on stage. Little Jimmy Dickens, one such regular, was born the same year WSM came on the air.

I enjoyed the show very much, as it had the feel of live entertainment over the over-rehearsed, over-performed shows you might find in Pigeon Forge or Branson. The line-up for each night's show (Tuesday, Friday and two on Saturday) changes frequently as one performer cancels and another is added, right up to show-time.

My one complaint is that I could not find a post card with a scene like the one pictured above. Plenty of post cards of the outside of the building, the empty stage, the microphone by itself, and the opry plaza. Maybe there are legal encumbrances to producing such post cards. Post cards are cheap souvenirs, though, and I'm cheap.

Audience members are welcome to come down to the front of the stage and take pictures during the show. I recall one elderly lady, digital camera in hand, slowly making her way down front during the closing act. She walked right past the featured singer so she could take pictures of the four Opry regulars that sing back-up harmony (you can see them above and to the left, though they usually perform far back of the other musicians).

Whether it was because of this slight, the featured performer Johnny Lee (his big hit was "Lookin for Love" off the Urban Cowboy soundtrack) told a joke about how he entertained some residents of a nursing home.

Afterwards, he hung around to mingle and chat with the residents, most of whom voiced their gratitude for his performing. However, one lady he approached started in with some very personal comments about her relatives, her medical issues of late, her neighbors, etc. Not sure what to make of this, Lee asked, "Mam, do you know who I am?"

The woman hesitated for a second, perhaps dumbfounded by the question. Then she composed herself and replied, "No, but if you go to the front desk, they'll tell you who you are. Don't fret; it happens here all the time."

(By the way, Wendy and I would like to return to the Opry some day).