Sarah Dedmon
Nashville country music got started at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The Opry was a "weekly American radio program featuring live country and western music" (Grand Ole Opry, 2011). It was first broadcast in 1925 and is the nation's oldest continuous radio show. The station manage was George Dewey Hay but they called him "The Solemn Old Judge." The show was called WSM Barn Dance until 1926 and in 1930 started hiring professionals. Once this started, the Opry grew in popularity and debuted nationally on NBC in 1939. Only a year later the Opry moved to it's new, permanent home at the Ryman Auditorium where it performed live. This made it the nation's favorite radio show by the end of the 1950's.
As the Opry grew, so did the city of Nashville (Grand Ole Opry, 2011). It soon became America's country music capital with much help by the Opry. Many artists have come to the Ryman Auditorium to perform for the Grand Ole Opry. The show always offers the "who's who" of country music at the time. Soon the Opry became so popular they had to start charging admission for viewers and by the 1950's they offered more than just country music. It had "honky-tonk, bluegrass, crooners, comedy, even a little rock 'n' roll" (Opry Timeline, 2012).
Nashville itself has always been popular with tourists as well and is now known as "Music City". In an article titled "Nashville strikes new cords with visitors", Vince Gill states that "Nashville 'keeps getting better and better, but it's still got small-town charm'". As the popularity of country music grows, Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry still stay true to its southern roots. Over the years the artists have changed and even the sound of country music has changed but the values and morals of the south remain constant.
Now the Grand Ole Opry is a famous place where you can go see country artists perform. And for an artist, being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and being able to perform where so many other greats have performed is an honor, as you can see in the video when Carrie Underwood in inducted.
"Grand Ole Opry." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition(2011): 1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.
http://www.opry.com/about/Timeline_1950.html
Kitty Bean, Yancey, @thebeankitty, and TODAY USA. "Nashville strikes new chords for visitors." USA Today n.d.:Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.
