The Grand Ole Opry has posted their line up for this weekend's shows. There will be one show on Friday night and one show on Saturday, as the Opry continues to follow its recent schedules.
Friday night will feature Crystal Gayle returning to the Opry stage. Over the past several years, she has been making appearances on the Opry and always been well received. Also appearing on Friday will be Americana favorite Jim Lauderdale, along with Bucky Covington.
Saturday night's show will feature Dailey & Vincent, the award winning bluegrass group. They have been making many Opry appearances over the past several years. Also appearing on Saturday night will be newcomer Frankie Ballard, along with a reunited Foster & Lloyd. You may remember Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd from the 1980's, when they achieved success with a series of albums. The duo broke up in 1990 and went their separate ways. However, they recently got back together and have recorded a new album. The reviews of their album have said that they are as good as they ever were, and back in the 80's, they were pretty good.
When you look at the schedule, you will notice that Friday night has 12 acts and Saturday has 11, with one to be added. But overall, the quality is pretty good. And, with a shortage of segment hosts on each show, Ray Pillow will be hosting a segment each night. Ray does not make many Opry appearances any more, but he still has a great voice and he seems to be Pete Fisher's "go-to" guy when he needs someone to host a segment and all the usual names are not available.
Friday June 24
7:00: Riders In The Sky (host); Jimmy C Newman; Jim Lauderdale
7:30: Jimmy Dickens (host); Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press; Buddy Jewell
INTERMISSION
8:15: Ray Pillow (host); Bucky Covington; Del McCoury Band
8:45: Mike Snider (host); Connie Smith; Crystal Gayle
Saturday June 25
7:00: Jimmy Dickens (host); Jesse McReynolds; Frankie Ballard
7:30: The Whites (host); Jimmy C Newman; Del McCoury Band
INTERMISSION
8:15: Ray Pillow (host); Foster & Lloyd; Opry Square Dancers
8:45: Jim Ed Brown (host); Connie Smith; Dailey & Vincent
A couple of other quick notes:
Mandy Barnett has posted on the facebook that she will be appearing on the Tuesday Night Opry each week through July 19th. I know that there is a lot of cross promotion going on with the Patsy Cline show at the Ryman and the Opry has been helping to promote her new CD. It is easy to say that Mandy will be making more Opry appearances over the next month than a majority of the Opry's members.
I stated a while back that I would no longer comment on health issues unless the artist or their authorized representatives put it out. This came out yesterday and was in the mainstream media which is why I will mention it. Glen Campbell's wife, Kim, in an interview yesterday revealed that Glen has been diagnosed with early stages of alzheimers disease. He has recently made a new CD, a final one, and will be making a farewell tour in the fall. This is a shock and I wish him and his family the best. At the age of 75, Glen is way too young. I know that his life has been at times difficult, be he seems to have found peace in the last several years. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and he was one of the hotest country acts of the 1980's. While never an Opry member, he did make several appearances on the Opry. Our prayers go to him and his family.
Finally, Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers, will be the host of the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree this weekend. Should be a good show.
Historically, the summer was always the worst time in terms of seeing Opry members at the show because they were on the road. But I think it's funny and worrisome: for all that Pete Fisher has done to make older acts feel unwelcome, the youngest segment host this Saturday is 74-year-old Ray Pillow.
ReplyDeleteOn Glen Campbell: very sad indeed, and we tend to forget just how big he was from the late 1960s into the 1980s.
Michael, you make a great point about the ages and Pete Fisher's efforts to make the Opry younger, both with the artists and those attending.
ReplyDeleteOn Saturday night, there are 11 acts listed. Of the 11, 8 are over the age of 70, counting Connie Smith, who will be 70 in August, and considering Buck White of The Whites, who is over 80. I applaud these older artists for continuing on the Opry, but it also shows that problems that the Opry still has in getting their younger members to appear on the show on a regular basis.