PART 1
On our second day in town, I took a trip to take in a backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry. Blake Shelton welcomed visitors via a video presentation in a side room to kick the tour off. Once the video was done, we got to see the artist entrance which is through a private side-double door that comes in through a little garden area where you can find a fountain statue that belonged to comedian Minnie Pearl.
photo by Mike Carroll
From there, we went on to a large warehouse-like room that is used as a TV studio for recording television programs. This is where Hee Haw was filmed, as well as scenes from the hit ABC show Nashville.
photo by Mike Carroll
The tour moved on to the backstage lobby where there is a security booth for the artists to check in at. This is a neat room that leads into the hallway where all the dressing rooms are.
photo by Mike Carroll
In this little lobby is a bank of mailboxes, where each member of the Opry has their own box for fan mail. All you have to do to write your favorite Opry Member is write a letter and address it to the Grand Ole Opry, c/o your favorite artist, and they will eventually get it!
photo by Mike Carroll
There is also a wall where each Opry Member has a nameplate on it…we watched another video here from Blake Shelton talking about what it meant to be part of the Opry.
photo by Mike Carroll
We then moved on to the hallways where the dressing rooms are. The first room you come to is the “Into the Circle” room, which is reserved for artists making their Opry debut. Most of the rooms were closed off, but we did get to peak into a couple of them.
photo by Mike Carroll
The room shown above is the Patriotic-Themed room and is a favorite of Trace Adkins amongst others. There is a “Welcome to the Family” room that is used by performers that aren’t traditional country artists. Some notable visitors to use the room include Kevin Costner and Steve Martin, both accomplished musicians as well as world-famous actors. Other notable themed rooms include the “Cousin Minnie” room, named after Minnie Pearl and the “It All Begins With a Song” room.
One interesting tidbit is that most dressing rooms don’t have bathrooms, so artists have to go into the private “public” bathroom in the hallway. Little Jimmy Dickens has his own room, and Dressing Room #1 belonged to the legendary Roy Acuff, and is preserved the way it was when he lived on the grounds of the Opry in his final years. His door was always open so that his fellow artists could visit with him, and in that spirit, this is the only dressing room that visitors are allowed to step foot in to look around. This was also one of the few rooms that it’s own bathroom.
The next stop on the tour was the artist Green Room, or as they call it at the Opry, the artist Family Room. This cozy lounge features plenty of plush seating in a warm atmosphere where artists can mingle as they prepare to take the stage. The room, as the hallways were, was covered in photos of the legends as they appeared on stage at the Opry.
photo by Mike Carroll
The primary feature of the Green Room was a mural showing many of the stars from over the years. If you look closely, you’ll see a water stain in the lower half, which is where the flood waters rose to a few years ago when Nashville was inundated by a major flood that destroyed much of the Opry House. The water was so high that it rose over the stage in the theater!
photo by Mike Carroll
The final stop of the tour took us to the stage itself. Wow. What an experience. In the back of the stage, there are some pews for guests of the artists performing. The middle of the stage is where the house band plays, which is comprised of some of the greatest musicians in the world. Most acts that perform at the Opry are backed by the house band, which is able to play the artist’s songs flawlessly after running through them just a couple of times backstage, without any kind of a formal rehearsal session. Finally, at the front of the stage, is the legendary circle. It was brought over from the original Opry stage at the Ryman Auditorium after being cut out from the side of the stage. The philosophy was that every legend that ever walked onto the stage at the Ryman had to have stepped across this section of the floor, so the history of this piece of wood is immeasurable. The tour culminates with each visitor getting to stand in the circle to be photographed by Kodak, who will generously sell you copies of the photo (for an expensive fee!) I have to tell you, to stand in that circle is quite an experience. The history, the moments…looking out into the empty theater, you can only imagine how nerve-wracking it must be for an artist to make their debut in this sacred spot.
The tour concludes as your escorted into the gift shop, which I encourage you to visit if you’re ever there. They always have some neat souvenirs including some autographed CD’s. I want to thank our wonderful tour guide Angela Mueller for the informative and fun tour of the Opry Backstage!
PART 2
After grabbing a bite to eat, we went and checked out singer-songwriter Jace Everett as he played an intimate show at a very small venue called The Basement. While it was a short 45 minute set in a place that had a capacity of maybe 50, this was an excellent show to take in, as Everett hits an amazing range of notes with his voice. Best known as “the guy that sings the theme song to True Blood (“Bad Things”),” Everett never really found success as a solo artist. His highest charting single, “That’s the Kind of Love I’m In,” only peaked at #52 in 2005. He has however enjoyed success as a songwriter, having written such hits as “Your Man” for Josh Turner.
We then moved on to Winners for Whiskey Jam, hosted by Josh Hoge and Ward Guenther. The bar was packed for this weekly event, which featured several songwriters and a surprise appearance by up and coming star Tyler Farr, who sang his current hit single, “Redneck Crazy.” Also of note was the performance by Small Town Pistols, a new group comprised of siblings Amanda and Tyler Wilkinson. You may remember them from The Wilkinson when they were joined by their father in the late-90’s when they had a #3 hit “26 Cents.”
We closed the night out checking out Rebar, the bar next door to the bars Winners and Losers in mid-town Nashville. This cool little joint features an outdoor patio, dart boards, a jukebox, and a fun atmosphere often frequented by musicians and others in the music industry.