Posts Tagged With: Nashville TN

Nashville, TN. March 24

The renovated Ryman Auditorium

Today we continued our overdosing on all things musical in Nashville. The Ryman Auditorium gained a national reputation as the first home of the Grand Ole Opry or as some called it: “The Mother Church of Country Music”. But the Ryman had a storied history pre-dating the Grand Ole Opry.

Its root begin with a capitalist and a preacher. Tom Ryman was a riverboat captain and successful entrepreneur who profited from the wild days of Nashville in the post-Civil War era. Evangelist Sam Jones came to Nashville to encourage its citizens to repent and he denounced the wild, wicked ways of drinking, gambling, etc. Ryman decided to attend a gathering and attempt to squelch the influence of Jones. Instead, Ryman was converted and decided to raise the funds to provide Jones with a permanent location to preach. In 1892 the Union Gospel Tabernacle was finished.

When Ryman died in 1904, Jones had the Tabernacle renamed in Ryman’s honor. The Ryman served Nashville as the location for religious revivals, operas, traveling minstrels, famous orators, etc. Over time, under the direction of one of the few women engaged in obtaining acts for large theaters around the country, Lula Naff, the Ryman was a destination for top acts and remained profitable doing so.

On a separate track to destiny, WSM radio, one of the early 50,000 watt clear channel radio stations in country, was broadcasting a radio program called the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry had been kicked out of four venues due to its loud and boisterous audiences. In 1943, Naff agreed to allow the Opry to use the Ryman on Saturday nights for its radio performance. A marriage that was made in heaven. The Opry boomed,particularly after Bill Monroe and his new band mates Lester Flatts and Earl Scruggs, played on the show in 1943.

The Opry made the Ryman its home base until 1974 when the show just outgrew the older facilities at the Ryman and decamped for the new digs we visited Friday. For twenty years, the Ryman sat basically empty until the musicians and community came together with extensive renovations that returned the Ryman as a valued performing arts theater. Today, it is a popular tour stop for visitors and country music fans from around the world.

Our tour was self-guided and includes a series of videos and displays relating to its history and the musicians who played there. It was well-done and the building was not so overwhelmed by tourists to make the self-guided tour a bust.

The line to buy tickets extends from the bottom center to the doors at the upper right.

Not so at the Country Music Hall of Fame just down the street from the Ryman. This was one of the most unpleasant museum experiences I have encountered. We had to wait twenty minutes to buy our tickets due to the long lines in front of us. (The line grew even longer behind us.) It took another ten minutes to wait for an elevator to bring us to floor three where the experience officially begins. Once in the museum, the throngs of people made it both difficult and time-consuming to view and/or read the displays.

The museum seemed to have good material. Numerous stars and variations of country music were discussed. Examples of musical instruments associated with particular musicians were on display. Changing special exhibits spent considerable space highlighting several top stars. If you were truly committed to country music, maybe you could overlook the conditions. We found it to be a drag and it turned us off. We left much earlier than we normally would have a museum of this size. Maybe it is less crowded during the week. If you plan to visit, plan your time wisely.

The Honky Tonk area around country music museums

The area around the country music museums was crowded with people drinking, walking, eating, etc. Most restaurants had a line outside of the door. Beyond the music venue area, the downtown sidewalks were less crowded. Our first restaurant choice, Roberts Western World was jammed. We listened to music for a while but when no wait staff appeared within 20 feet of us, we left and went back to Puckett’s. A thirty minute wait was projected there so we went back to our Airbnb lodging and bought dinner at Publix. We put the Grand Ole Opry live radio show on the iPhone and will listed to it tonight.

Ed and Chris. March 24

Epilogue: Snippets on life in America from Chris
Day 9: Do you remember the early battles against “Big Tobacco”? We do. Small groups formed to prohibit smoking in public places. Gun violence is a major public health issue. The NRA, however, is a well-funded, entrenched lobbying force for the status quo. But there are voices of opposition. These kids are our future.