Friday was just plain fun, helped along by two unscripted events. We headed to downtown Nashville in the morning, specifically to Broadway St - a.k.a. Honky-Tonk Heaven. And they start playing here at 10 am! Most of the establishments don't have solid fronts - they have shutters that are thrown open so the atmosphere and music is seen and heard from the sidewalks. Like the fudge shops on Mackinac Island, where they pipe the wonderful aroma out to the passerbys If it wasn't a bar we passed, it was a boot shop. When we were out west last year, we saw a lot of boots, but they were real cowboys there. In Nashville, its young girls in dresses or shorts and boots. Fashion over function!
We walked up and down both sides of Broadway and settled on a bar for lunch that had both music and TVs as the Tigers were playing again. (which a surprising number did - a commentary on our times, I guess). We both felt the group playing here was not as talented as what we heard the night before and some other music we heard walking.
After lunch we toured the beautiful Ryman Auditorium. This building's history could be a country song - faith, fame, fall from grace, and redemption. We learned the following from the orientation film (narrated by Trisha Yearwood): In the late 1880's, Thomas Ryman, a Nashville businessman, attended a tent revival held by a traveling evangelist named Sam Jones. Ryman went to disrupt the meeting because Jones was preaching against the two things that made Ryman money: gambling and liquor. Instead, Ryman was converted and proceeded to build a permanent structure for Jones to preach in. Seven years later, in 1892, the Union Gospel Tabernacle was completed. When Ryman died in 1904, it was renamed in his honor. From 1904 until 1943, the facility hosted religious revivals, operas, and ballets, bringing world renown talent to Nashville. But what made the Ryman famous was when the Grand Ole Opry came calling.
A radio show called The Barn Dance had been broadcast on WSM since 1925. Having outgrown several locations, it changed its name to the Grand Ole Opry and moved to the Ryman in 1943. Anchored by such singing stars as Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and comedian Minnie Pearl, the Saturday night radio broadcasts drew sellout live audiences. With its wooden pews and walls, experts agree that the acoustics in the Ryman are second only to the Mormon Tabernacle, even better than Carnegie Hall. Mike says he remembers his Grandma listening to the Opry on the radio.
Lack of air conditioning and backstage dressing room area were major factors in the Opry moving to a new, larger building northeast of downtown in 1974. A section of the wood stage from "The Mother Church of Country Music" was installed in the center of the stage in the new building. The Ryman sat vacant for 20 years, falling into disrepair and there was talk of tearing the iconic building down. A concert by Emmylou Harris energized the community and in 1994 the auditorium reopened after a major renovation. When removing the pews, workers were told to "scrape off the gum underneath but leave the nicks and scars." And they did. Today the Ryman is home to concerts by musicians of all genres.
After the Ryman, we found ourselves enjoying the sunshine at the Walk of Fame. This is like the one in Hollywood for the movie industry. The names on the stars reminded us that Nashville is called Music City, U.S.A. because there were names from Christian music, bluegrass, and rock n roll, not just country.
While walking, we were approached by a young man on a Segway. He asked about the boot on my foot and we were sure he was going to try to sell us a Segway tour. But he said he was a Goodwill City Ambassador, asked us if we had any questions, gave us a city map, said he would be praying that my foot healed quickly and was on his way. We later saw other Ambassadors on Segways around town, talking to tourists.
Our first pleasant surprise came next. Bridgestone Arena encompasses almost an entire city block downtown. Mike knew that the country music station on Sirius XM, The Highway, was broadcast from the Bridgestone. We thought we would see if the studio was open to the public. After exchanging texts with Josh, who reminded us about it, we decided to get in the standby line to be in the studio for the afternoon "Happy Hour Show" hosted by Buzz Brainard, a Michigan native. The Highway is one of the preset stations on our car and RV radio so we knew that if you get in the studio, you can be chosen to be on "the hot seat" with Buzz and be live on the air. We had about 2 hours before the Opry show (we had tickets) and thought we would give it a try. We ended up being the first people in the standby line. 15 of us were led into the studio for the opening half hour. And here I have to admit, it wasn't by random chance that I was chosen, as I raised my hand and volunteered, but I got on the hot seat! We texted our kids and told them to listen. I was on with a guy from Ohio that was in town for the Titans football game on Sunday. While a song played, Buzz asked my name and what I was doing in town. Then we went live. I said that we were on a month-long 40th anniversary celebration, traveling from Michigan to Florida. He thought that was very cool and said he's tempted to join us. I said we have a small RV, so he took that as a no! Buzz said a co-worker was getting married the next day and did I have any words of wisdom for her. Mike's famous saying popped into my head and I said, "My husband tells everyone the secret to our success is that we compromise and do it her way."
Our second surprise capped off our night. We had bought tickets online several weeks ago for the Grand Ole Opry when we knew the exact dates we would be here. We took the "best available" and were 4 rows from the top in the balcony. And we didn't really care who was performing that night, we were just going for the experience and to see the Opry. (but we were excited that the main performers were going to be Little Big Town as we are familiar with their songs). The new Opry has pew seating, just like the Ryman. After touring the original home of the Opry earlier in the day, coming to the evening show at the new theater tied it all together for us. When you go to a show, it is not just one or two performers. There were 12 artists on the 2 and 1/2 hour program! You would not go to an Opry performance just to see your favorite performer as each person or group only sings one or two songs. But the show does a really good job of mixing the old, classic country stars with current ones, leaning heavily on the old-timers. This brings a diverse crowd of young and old. (lots of the aforementioned girls in dresses and cowboy boots along with tour buses of senior citizens). As one act was exiting the stage, they led us all in a chorus of "Happy Trails To You".
And we were reminded that the Grand Ole Opry is still a live radio broadcast as the show was crisply paced and breaks were taken for commercials delivered by an onstage announcer.
Little Big Town closed the show and as they were finishing their last song "Pontoon", Reba McEntire walked onstage from the wings. The crowd went crazy! It was obvious the group had no idea she was there. They joked around a little and Reba announced that Little Big Town was being presented with membership in the Grand Ole Opry. This is a huge honor and every member of the group broke into tears and hugs. Members of their families came out from in back of the stage. Their official induction is going to be Oct. 17. It was a happy ending to a good day.
We took today (Saturday) off to give my foot a rest. (or maybe we are just slowing down!)
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