A Night at the Opry

It has been over two years since I moved to Tennessee, and I finally made my first visit to the Grand Ole Opry on Friday night. My mother and my brother's girlfriend came down for a one-week visit and while trying to put together a plan, I asked if they wanted to go to the Grand Ole Opry. They never sounded terribly interested, but I kept an eye on the Opry schedule once the ladies finally chose the dates for their visit. As luck would have it, one of the acts playing during the period of their visit was the Bellamy Brothers. Jackpot! Upon hearing that, my mom decided she must go!

For those not familiar with the format, let me explain what I know about it. There are shows every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Each show is going to have approximately a half-dozen acts, with each doing 2-4 songs. It's about an hour of show, a 15-minute intermission, and another hour of show. The Grand Ole Opry started out and still continues to be broadcast on WSM radio, and you can listen to the station online. Does WSM broadcast all of the shows from the Opry, or just the Saturday night shows? I don't know. According to the announcer at the show, this is the 98th year of the Grand Ole Opry! Want another number that will blow your mind? One of the performers at the show was Jeannie Sealy, a name I had vague memories of from my childhood. She debuted on the Grand Ole Opry on May 28th, 1966 (a few months before I was born) and holds the record for having performed the most times at the Opry. I don't remember the exact number but it was over 5,300 times! One of the songs she sang that night had just been released that same day.

In order of performance, the lineup for the show had Mark Wills, Jeannie Sealey, Mickey Guyton, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Charlie McCoy, Killer Beaz, Gabby Barrett, The Bellamy Brothers, and Vince Gill. As is usual for an Opry show, there was a mix of old-timers and younger artists. Some people, such as Ricky Skaggs, will bring their whole band. But most artists have the house band backing them up, or they may bring one or two musicians from their own band to add to the house band. Ponder for a moment the skill of those musicians in the Grand Ole Opry band. Four times a week, they are performing approximately 20 songs, a different set list every time, and some of those songs are ones they had never played before that day. There is time to rehearse each song one time, and they always sound fabulous.

Even though I was utterly unfamiliar with a couple of the performers, I enjoyed every minute of the show. If you ever visit Nashville and have even a passing interest in country music, I highly recommend making time for the Grand Ole Opry.