The Grand Ole Opry has announced the line-ups for this weekend's shows. Both Friday and Saturday night Opry shows will be at the Ryman Auditorium and the line-ups look pretty good on both nights. On Friday night, the highlights are Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart, along with an appearance by Chuck Wicks. On Saturday night, Crystal Gayle makes an Opry appearance, along with Vince Gill, Amber Digby and Dailey & Vincent. Here are the complete line-ups:
Friday August 13:
7:00: Mike Snider(host); Jeannie Seely; Jimmy C. Newman; Chuck Wicks
7:30: Ricky Skaggs(host); Jim Ed Brown; The Whites
INTERMISSION
8:15: Bill Anderson(host); The Grascals; Vince Gill
8:45: Marty Stuart(host); Riders In The Sky; Connie Smith
Saturday August 14:
7:00: Bill Anderson(host); Jimmy C. Newman; Amber Digby
7:30: The Whites(host); Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; Mark Wills
INTERMISSION
8:15: Mike Snider(host); Stonewall Jackson; Crystal Gayle; Opry Square Dancers
8:45: Vince Gill(host); Ray Pillow; Jim Ed Brown; Dailey & Vincent
The Opry has also announced the line-up for the Tuesday Night Opry, August 17, which will take place at the War Memorial Auditorium.
7:00: Riders In The Sky; Troy Olsen
7:30: Jean Shepard
INTERMISSION
8:15: Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; Eric Church
8:45: Jimmy Dickens; Blake Shelton
On a final interesting note. Bill Anderson is hosting the first segment on Saturday night's show, with Jimmy Dickens gone for the weekend. Bill very rarely has hosted the opening segment on Saturday night, and in fact, the last time he kicked off the Opry was on Saturday October 28, 2006. Just an interesting piece of trivia I wanted to pass on.
I know that Mr. Acuff used to tell management he would host any segment except the first and last ones. I have programs from when he did host the opening segment, but that was a loooong time ago. I do think, with 49 years in and Hall of Fame membership, Ol' Whisper would tell the management if he didn't like the arrangement and expect to be listened to.
ReplyDeleteI thought maybe he might of had a show scheduled for Sunday and that was why the early segment, but nothing is listed on his schedule. I know in the past, many Opry members would request an early slot on Saturday so they could hop the bus and get to a Sunday afternoon show somewhere.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I saw on Bill Anderson's email newsletter that he sends out, and now he has it posted on his website, that plans are already underway for Bill's 50th anniversary as an Opry member in July. He met with Pete Fisher to discuss plans, and he has on his site that it looks like there is going to be a dinner and show on the Friday night of his anniversary and more plans to come. Looks like they are going to make a big deal out of this-----as they should.
I'm glad they are indeed making a big deal out of it. Considering that the Opry did NOTHING significant for another Hall of Famer, Charlie Louvin, and nothing for Jimmy C. Newman ....
ReplyDeleteI still find it strange how the Opry does things sometimes. When Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Jimmy Dickens, Bill Monore, Porter Wagoner all had their 50th anniversary as Opry members, they were given the entire televised portion of the Opry as a tribute.
ReplyDeleteThe Opry was still being televised when Jean Shepard, Charlie Louvin and Jimmy C. Newman had their 50th, and they weren't even on the televised portion and were given their award during the radio broadcast. In their cases, it wasn't even mentioned on the televised portion, and you are right about Charlie Louvin in that he is a Hall of Famer like the first group. In the cases of these, they had the honor of singing 2 songs instead of 1. And, if I remember right, nobody special came out to honor them except for Pete Fisher.
I was there the night George Hamilton IV celebrated is 50th anniversary, and while it was nice, it was very low key, with Mike Snider, who has no connections to George's career, hosting the segment.
Now, with Bill coming up on his 50th, the Opry looks like they are going to celebrate it and honor him, as they should. But, they should have made a bigger deal of the others.