Grand Ole Opry 2/14 & 2/15

For those who missed this:

The Grand Ole Opry makes a return to television on Circle, the recently launched country music and lifestyle network, with the weekly live-recorded series Opry. Bobby Bones has been tapped to host the show, which debuts Feb. 26, and will serve as executive producer. The 60-minute episode will included culled performances from the previous week’s shows.

Dan Rogers, VP/executive producer of the Grand Ole Opry, sees Bones as a good fit for the legendary institution. “He has a really great appreciation for the Opry’s traditions,” Rogers says, “but there’s no question that he is very much in tune with the country music of today and has certainly brought in new fans to the fold.”

Growing up in Mountain Pine, Ark., the Opry was an important part of Bones’ childhood. “My grandmother raised me for a long time [and] the Opry was really what we would bond over listening to it on the radio,” says the host of the nationally syndicated radio program The Bobby Bones Show. “My goal after moving to Nashville was to play the Opry.”

 Bones has fond memories of listening to the late comedian Jerry Clower with his grandmother and honored them both in his inaugural Opry performance. “My grandmother passed away when I was in college, so the first Opry appearance that I did, I told the story about my grandmother and how she was such a big part of my life,” says Bones, whose Opry appearances now number in the double digits. “We used to listen to Jerry Clower when he would play the Opry. That got us into his records and that’s what bonded us. So I told a Jerry Clower joke on the Opry stage in her honor and it was a full circle moment for me.”

Opry will feature performances, interviews and behind-the-scenes segments. “When I bring my friends to the Opry, what they really geek out about is [what’s] on the walls of the Opry, in the [dressing] rooms, and that’s the stuff you can’t see if you are watching from the seats or you can’t hear if you are watching through the app or listening on the radio,” Bones says. “So what I want to do is not just do a history lesson, but show them how much cool freakin’ stuff is backstage and talk to people about it.”

Opry marks the first time the legendary show has aired on TV in years. The Opry was televised live in its entirety for the first time on March 4, 1978, as part of a PBS pledge drive special. During The Nashville Network’s existence there were various shows including Bill Anderson’s Backstage at the Opry, but the most recent television exposure was Noteworthy at the Opry, which aired on the GAC Network in 2013.

“When the Opry began in 1925 radio was new, it was the thing everyone was excited about and talking about and through the years, we have added the internet. Now of course being back on television is important but equally important, to me, is that you’ll be able to also watch on your mobile device via Circle as well,” Rogers says. “It’s always been important to be entertaining thousands of people in the Opry House in Nashville, but it’s also equally important to us that the artists who come play our stage are seen and heard by folks around the world.”

Bones is excited about his part in the Opry’s future. “I’m hoping to be a part of the team that completely pays respect and loves the past history of country music and also opens up the eyes of 13-year-olds or eight-year-olds that are starting to love country music now. I just never want the Opry to go away.”


As far as the Grand Ole Opry in concerned,  it looks like another good week  as both the Friday Night Opry and Saturday's Grand Ole Opry have very solid line-ups this weekend.

There is a trio of Grand Ole Opry members scheduled for both nights. The list includes Mark Wills, Bill Anderson and John Conlee. Joining that group on Friday night will be Mike Snider, Dailey & Vincent and Terri Clark, while on Saturday night Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, Jeannie Seely, Bobby Osborne and Old Crow Medicine Show are on the list.

Comedian, and frequent Opry guest, Gary Mule Deer is scheduled for both nights. Joining Gary on the Friday Night Opry will be another frequent guest, Charles Esten. Also scheduled are The Grascals, Sawyer Brown, and making her Opry debut, Lainey Wilson. Saturday night has Charlie Worsham and Wendy Moten scheduled.

Friday February 14
7:00: Mark Wills (host); Mike Snider; Dailey & Vincent
7:30: Bill Anderson (host); The Grascals; Charles Esten
Intermission
8:15: Terri Clark (host); Gary Mule Deer; Lainey Wilson
8:45: John Conlee (host); Sawyer Brown

Saturday February 15
7:00: Ricky Skaggs (host); The Whites; John Conlee
7:30: Jeannie Seely (host); Gary Mule Deer; Charlie Worsham
Intermission
8:15: Bill Anderson (host); Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; Mark Wills; Opry Square Dancers
8:45: Old Crow Medicine Show (host); Wendy Moten

Of the 11 acts scheduled for Friday night, 6 are Opry members while 8 of the 11 scheduled for Saturday night are part of the Opry's cast.

As noted above, this will be the Opry debut for Lainey Wilson.

Hailing from the rural farming community of Baskin, Louisiana (pop. 300), where her family has tilled the land for five generations, Lainey Wilson cultivated her tenacious work ethic just as her family cultivated corn, wheat, soybeans, oats, and more. She learned that daily chores on the farm were a family affair, and every member had to do their part.

Music was also a family affair. Her father played guitar, her mother loved to dance, and her grandparents often took her to bluegrass festivals. She wrote her first song at age nine, and her dad taught her how to play guitar at age 11. Wilson’s love for writing and performing continued to grow as she booked herself gigs throughout high school, even working for a stint as a Hannah Montana impersonator performing at children’s birthday parties and events – with up-and-coming artist Lainey Wilson opening for Montana, of course.

It wasn’t long until Wilson moved to Nashville to pursue her dream of making music, with little more to her name than that dream and a Flagstaff bumper-pull camper trailer. She lived in that camper outside of a longtime family friend’s recording studio for three years. It was during this time that Wilson began to make inroads with Nashville’s tight-knit songwriting community, forging invaluable creative relationships with other up-and-coming songwriters in town and steadily developing her own voice as both a writer and an artist.

Lainey's determined openness and salt-of-the-earth upbringing have prepared her well for the road ahead. She recently released her first project for Broken Bow Records, the Jay Joyce-produced EP Redneck Hollywood, and is currently on her first radio tour in support of the new music, which includes “LA,” a funky, up-tempo nod to her Louisiana roots, as well as “Dirty Looks,” a sultry, slow-burning number and Wilson’s first radio single.

And now, here is the Grand Ole Opry line-up from 25 years ago, Saturday February 18, 1995:

1st show
6:30: Bill Monroe (host); Roy Drusky; George Lindsay
6:45: Mike Snider (host); Bill Carlisle
7:00: The Whites (host); Jim and Jesse; Jeannie Seely; Jimmy C Newman; Ray Pillow
7:30: Jimmy Dickens (host); Stu Phillips; Hal Ketchum; Doug Stone; Charley Pride
8:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Charlie Louvin; Charlie Walker; Jean Shepard; Opry Square Dance Band; The Melvin Sloan Dancers
8:30: Hank Snow (host); Osborne Brothers; Jack Greene; Connie Smith; The Four Guys

2nd show
9:30: Porter Wagoner (host); Brother Oswald & Charlie Collins; Stu Phillips; Charlie Walker; The Isaacs
10:00: Bill Monroe (host); Ray Pillow
10:15: Jeannie Seely (host); Osborne Brothers
10:30: Jimmy Dickens (host); Mike Snider
10:45: Jean Shepard (host); Jim and Jesse; Opry Square Dance Band; The Melvin Sloan Dancers
11:00: Hank Snow (host); Charlie Louvin; Jack Greene; Connie Smith; The Four Guys
11:30: Jimmy C Newman (host); Charley Pride; Hal Ketchum

Now from 50 years ago, Saturday February 14, 1970:

7:30: Billy Grammer (host); Charlie Walker; Grandpa Jones; Ernie Ashworth
8:00: Lester Flatt (host); Charlie Louvin; Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Crook Brothers
8:30: Roy Acuff (host); Earl Scruggs Revue; Skeeter Davis; Bobby Bare; Calhoun Twins; Del Wood
9:00: Bill Monroe (host); Darrell McCall; Stringbean; Fruit Jar Drinkers
9:30: Porter Wagoner (host); Dolly Parton; Bobby Bare; Ray Pillow
10:00: Charlie Louvin (host); Grandpa Jones; Charlie Walker
10:15: Roy Acuff (host); Earl Scruggs Revue; Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper
10:30: Lester Flatt (host); Skeeter Davis; Billy Grammer; Ernie Ashworth
10:45: Bill Monroe (host); Stringbean; Crook Brothers
11:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Dolly Parton; Del Wood; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Sam McGee
11:30: Bobby Bare (host); Ray Pillow; Ronnie Robbins

Here is a more detailed look at the show from 1970:

7:30: Standard Candy
Billy Grammer (host): Lonesome Road Blues
Charlie Walker: Pick Me Up on Your Way Down
Grandpa Jones: Stop That Ticklin' Me
Ernie Ashworth: My Love For You
Billy Grammer: Jesus Is A Soul Man
Charlie Walker: Honky Tonk Women
Grandpa Jones: Give My Love to Nell
Ernie Ashworth: Oh, Lonesome Me

8:00: Martha White
Lester Flatt (host): Salty Dog Blues
Charlie Louvin: A Toast to Mama
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper: Guide Me Home, My Georgia Moon
Crook Brothers: Lafayette
Lester Flatt: Before I Met You
Charlie Louvin: Even A Loser Likes to Dream
Wilma Lee Cooper: Thirty Pieces of Silver
Lester Flatt: Mocking Banjo

8:30: Stephens
Roy Acuff (host): Wabash Cannonball
Earl Scruggs Revue: Rubin
Skeeter Davis and Bobby Bare: Your Husband, My Wife
Calhoun Twins: Cottonfields
Del Wood: Down Yonder
Earl Scruggs Revue: Nine Pound Hammer
Skeeter Davis: I'm A Love; Not A Fighter
Roy Acuff: I Saw the Light

9:00: Luzianne
Bill Monroe (host): Y'All Come
Darrell McCall: In the Arms of My Weakness
Stringbean: Gonna Make Myself a Name
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Cacklin' Hen
Bill Monroe: I Found a Way
Darrell McCall: Hurry Up
Stringbean: Battle of New Orleans
Bill Monroe: Mule Skinner Blues/Rawhide

9:30: Kellogg's
Porter Wagoner (host): You Gotta Have a License
Dolly Parton: Daddy, Come & Get Me
Bobby Bare: Miller's Cave
Ray Pillow: It Takes All Kinds of People
Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton: Just Someone I Used to Know/The Last Thing on My Mind
Bobby Bare: Margie's at the Lincoln Park Inn
Ray Pillow: I Wish I Could Fall in Love Today
Buck Trent: Stampede

10:00: Fender
Charlie Louvin (host): Little Reasons
Grandpa Jones: Eight More Miles to Louisville
Charlie Walker: Moffett, Oklahoma
Charlie Louvin: You Gave Me a Mountain

10:15: Pure
Roy Acuff (host): Pins & Needles
Earl Scruggs Revue: Girl from the North Country
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper: Poor Ellen Smith
Roy Acuff: The Great Speckled Bird

10:30: Trailblazer
Lester Flatt (host): Nine Pound Hammer
Skeeter Davis: I'm A Love; Not a Fighter
Billy Grammer: Gotta Travel On
Ernie Ashworth: A New Heart
Lester Flatt: Folsom Prison Blues

10:45: Beechnut
Bill Monroe (host): Tall Pines
Stringbean: Wanda
Crook Brothers: Soldier's Joy
Bill Monroe: Uncle Pen

11:00: Coca Cola
Porter Wagoner (host): Big Wind
Dolly Parton: Daddy, Come & Get Me
Del Wood: Ballin' the Jack
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Gray Eagle
Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton: Tomorrow is Forever/Milwaukee, Here I Come
Sam McGee: Dixie Rag
Porter Wagoner: The Carroll County Accident
Mac Magaha: Katy Hill

11:30: Lava
Bobby Bare (host): Blowing in the Wind/Worried Man Blues/Gotta Travel On
Ray Pillow: Working Man Blues
Ronnie Robbins: That's How It Feels to Walk in My Shoes
Bobby Bare: Shame on Me
Ray Pillow: I'll Break Out Again Tonight
Ronnie Robbins: Love of the Common People/Mama Tried
Bobby Bare: Detroit City

There you have it for this week. As always, thanks for reading and commenting and I hope everyone enjoys the Opry this weekend.

And for the love birds out there: Happy Valentine's Day!