Tour Tennessee Series: The Grand Ole Opry

My early memories of childhood are like little snapshots in time…meaning I only remember very brief moments at a time.  Very small pieces.

MM just had to wear her cowgirl boots and her cowgirl hat to the Opry.

My first memory–I think I was about three–was of sitting on the shoulders of my cousin hiking in the woods.  It was late fall and cold.

The next memory was of sneaking into my parents’ living room when they had friends over and seeing a piece of a Dracula-type movie and being scared to death.

Around the same time my parents took me on my first trip to Nashville.  My dad has always been a country music fan–he likes to say he was country when country wasn’t cool.  {All through the 70s he even wore a leather vest, cowboy boots, and was the lead singer/guitarist in a country band…uh-huh, he was that country.  Which is hilarious if you know him now–a leather vest…really?} The only thing I remember from the whole trip was walking down the aisle and looking up at the Grand Ole Opry with its dark ruby curtains.  I was in awe.

Rider’s in the Sky

Times have changed since then–it’s moved to a larger venue and then moved several times due to the flood damage this past spring, but that in awe feeling is still the same.  Saturday night it was held at the War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville which had a very nice cozy atmosphere.  It’s moving back to its home at the end of September to the Grand Ole Opry House.

Ronnie Milsap, the headliner of Saturday night’s show

And honestly, I wasn’t sure how MM would do.  The show didn’t start until 8pm (Eastern Time) and it lasted over two hours…yes, it was very much past her bedtime.  But there was no need to worry.  MM clapped when the audience clapped, laughed LOUDLY when she heard others laugh, and spent the whole time dancing or running back and forth between my parents and I.  Her favorite performers were the square dance troop no doubt.

I love the Grand Ole Opry. I love its history, the fact it’s still live on the radio each Saturday night {you can find it on Sirius radio if you don’t live in the south}, I love the twangy old country music, but most of all I love the sequins…oh, how I love the sequins!

Little Jimmy Dickens

If you’re ever in the Nashville area I urge you to go.  Not only are there performers who’ve been there fifty years, but new country stars visit all the time too.  In September Carrie Underwood, Montgomery Gentry, Little Big Town, Jo Dee Messina, Dierks Bentley, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley and Loretta Lynn will all be there at some point.  Definitely a must-see in Music City.  I’ve been lots of times and it never gets old.

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