I grew up around live music. A big part of the reason I'm even in this job, as the country music reporter, is because of my dad's cover band, Ground Floor, which used to rehearse in our basement every Sunday afternoon. There’s a special feeling that comes from being “with the band,” even in your own home. Being backstage at the Grand Ole Opryreminds me of that on a much grander scale.
Soon after I joined The Tennessean in July, I started working on an article about the Opry’s exclusive membership model. I was fortunate to be invited backstage a number of times, including right before the start of several shows. Many people have been backstage at the Opry. You can book a tour and be shown around the famous dressing rooms, or even stand in the famous onstage
circle, cut from the floorboards of the Opry’s former home at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. But show days are a different experience.
Legendary musicians mingle and chat in those colorful dressing rooms. They make a point of greeting guest performers and first-timers, making them feel welcome and helping calm pre-show jitters. It is a live broadcast, after all.
Opry Executive Director Dan Rogers invited me into his office before one show, right in the middle of the pre-show rush. Production technicians and musicians hustled around, and longtime stage manager Tyler Bryan made the final checks before the curtain would rise.
“Every show is different,” Bryan told me, even after more than 5,000 consecutive Saturday nights Opry performances since 1925, with essentially the same format.
The interesting thing was that no one seemed overwhelmed. Even in the final minutes before showtime, the team took time to make people like me feel welcome. I accepted a Coke while we talked about Opry history and Rogers explained his perspective on the backstage culture. Artists like Garth Brooks have even been known to say the true magic of the Opry happens back there.
It was even a part of why Rogers feels Opry membership still matters. Being a member means you’re at home when you’re at the Opry. Artists might get the chance to chat with a hero, or even swap a few songs. Rogers recalled watching bluegrass great and Opry member Del McCoury spend an evening picking guitars with the much younger jamgrass superstar Billy Strings after one recent show. It was the living embodiment of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” the Opry’s unofficial theme song.
With a buzz building and Opry fans finding their seats, Rogers filled me in on a few surprise moments to look for that night. Carrie Underwood had a gift to give her fellow Opry member, Randy Travis, he said. There was also a surprise for me.
“Would you like to raise the curtain on tonight’s show?” he asked. I suddenly felt 12 years old again and full of live-music wonder, just like I did in my dad’s basement.
In our story, almost every artist described their Opry membership as having a second family, and being part of something magic. I don’t think it’s just a talking point. I know because I felt the warmth backstage that goes into making the legendary show. For country music lovers, like myself, these performances are more than a tourist attraction or a way for artists to make a little money. They are a tradition, and perhaps the most sacred one we carry.
Like all family traditions, the Opry gives both entertainers and fans dreams to aspire to, while firmly grounding us in legacy and purpose. Here in Music City, we're blessed to have that country music family so close to home.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What it's like to be backstage at the Grand Ole Opry?
