Before getting into the lineups for the two shows this weekend, some wonderful news concerning Dan Rogers, the Opry's Vice President and Executive Producer:
NASHVILLE—The Country Music Association presented Dan Rogers, Vice President and Executive Producer of the Grand Ole Opry, with its 2022 Irving Waugh Award of Excellence. Rogers received the industry honor from Jay Williams, WME Nashville Co-Head and Partner and Chairman of the CMA Awards & Recognition Committee during the CMA Board meeting in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, March 28.
“Dan has been a force in our industry for many years and we are more than thrilled to honor him with the Irving Waugh Award of Excellence,” says Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “Country Music would not be where it is today without the Grand Ole Opry and Dan’s efforts to grow, evolve and reach audiences across the globe. He strikes the perfect balance between honoring the Opry’s respected past while also working to keep the institution up to date on the newest artists and music.”
“I am so thankful to the CMA for this recognition,” says Rogers. “Throughout my career, I’ve looked up to previous winners of this award, truly never imagining a day when my name would join that list. Day after day, I learn from and am inspired by the tremendous artists and passionate colleagues with which I’m lucky to work. I’m thankful to be part of this incredible community and am excited to work further toward earning this award in the years to come.”
The Irving Waugh Award of Excellence is presented to an individual who is the originator and caretaker of ideas and actions that have dramatically broadened and improved Country Music’s influence on a national or international level for the benefit of the industry. It is the intention that these ideas and actions are ongoing and have a proven historical impact on Country Music.
I am sure that I am speaking for many of the readers when I offer my congratulations to Dan, and also express how fortunate we all are to have Dan in charge of the Opry.
I know from talking to Dan that it is not an easy job. Putting on several Opry shows each week, along with the private events that take place at the Grand Ole Opry House can be a challenge. But I look at all he has accomplished in just a few short years. Dan has added several new members who have been well deserving of membership and have supported the show. He also has introduced us to a variety of new artists, many of whom have been making their Opry debuts. And he guided the show through the Covid pandemic.
I really like the direction the Opry has been going in during the last few years and continue to look forward to the Opry's 100th anniversary in just two more years.
Again, congratulations to Dan Rogers for this well-deserved award.
Now taking a look at the schedules for the Opry shows this weekend as the Opry finishes up the month of April.
The Friday Night Opry has member Gene Watson listed on the lineup for this weekend. For Gene, this will be his first Opry appearance of 2023. Nice to see Gene back at the Opry, and I will add that he has a couple of more appearances coming up soon.
Joining Gene will be Rhonda Vincent, Jeannie Seely and Mandy Barnett. Jeannie Seely and Mandy Barnett will make it a two-show weekend as both return on Saturday night, along with Mark Wills, Hall of Famer Don Schlitz, Dailey & Vincent and The Isaacs.
There is only one non-member making their Opry debut this weekend and that is Pillbox Patti, who is scheduled on Friday night. Also listed is the legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanual, along with Spencer Crandall and Dillon Carmichael.
The only two non-members on the Saturday schedule are the Davisson Brothers Band and Shane Profitt.
Friday April 28
7:00: Rhonda Vincent, Spencer Crandall, Jeannie Seely, Mandy Barnett
Intermission
8:15: Dillon Carmichael, Pillbox Patti, Tommy Emmanual, Gene Watson
Saturday April 29
7:00: Opry Square Dancers, Mark Wills, Jeannie Seely, Davisson Brothers Band, Don Schlitz
Intermission
8:15: Dailey & Vincent, Mandy Barnett, Opry Square Dancers, Shane Profitt, The Isaacs
There are no "superstars" on the schedule this weekend, but two solid nights of shows.
Opry Live on Circle Saturday night will have previously taped performances by Trace Adkins, Little Big Town and Darius Rucker, all of whom appeared during the latter part of March.
As mentioned, Pillbox Patti will be making her Opry debut on Friday night. Originally known as Nicolette Hayford, she has spent years as a songwriter, including writing Ashley McBryde's "One Night Standards," plus co-writes on McBryde's new "Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville" album and Lainey Wilson's "Bell Bottom Country." After that successful part of her career, she ventured off to do a new project, emerging as Pillbox Patti with a new album "Florida."
Originally from Florida, her new album was released on Monument Records. Florida captures everything she wants to convey: a fresh, authentic take on growing up in her Country. It’s crystallized through the lens of a Florida native delivering her youth and adulthood in an honest, spirited, not always pretty, package.
I'm not sure what we will see from her on Friday night. Let's just say it could be interesting.
Now from 45 years ago, Saturday April 29, 1978:
1st show
6:30: Jim Ed Brown (host) w/Helen Cornelius
6:45: Bill Monroe (host); Wilma Lee Cooper; Ernie Ashworth
7:00: Wilburn Brothers (host); Don Gibson; Del Wood; Raymond Fairchild
7:30: Roy Acuff (host); David Houston; George Hamilton IV; Crook Brothers
8:00: Grandpa Jones (host); Stu Phillips; Lonzo and Oscar; Guy Willis
8:30: Hank Snow (host); Jimmy C Newman; Marion Worth; Fruit Jar Drinkers
2nd show
9:30: Bill Monroe (host); Wilburn Brothers; Del Wood; Ernie Ashworth; Wilma Lee Cooper
10:00: Jim Ed Brown (host) w/Helen Cornelius
10:15: Roy Acuff (host); David Houston; Brother Oswald
10:30: Grandpa Jones (host); Guy Willis; Roy Wiggins
10:45: George Hamilton IV (host); Stu Phillips; Crook Brothers
11:00: Hank Snow (host); Lonzo and Oscar; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Kirk McGee
11:30: Jimmy C Newman (host); Marion Worth; Raymond Fairchild
(Jean Shepard was scheduled for both shows but cancelled. She was working a show date in Pennsylvania as a replacement for Dottie West. Don Gibson was only scheduled for the first show).
Conway Twitty never really performed on the Grand Ole Opry. That is kind of surprising as he lived and was based out of Nashville and was associated with Opry member Loretta Lynn. However, Conway had a lot going on between his touring and Branson shows. Conway's first, and only, Opry appearance took place on Saturday April 28, 1973. Here is the running order from that night 50 years ago:
1st show
6:30: Mrs. Grissoms
Billy Grammer (host): Gotta Travel On
Willis Brothers: Women's Liberation
Billy Grammer: Detroit City
6:45: Rudy's
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper (host): Big Midnight Special
Stan Hitchcock: Let Me Roll
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper: Did You Think To Pray
Carol Lee Cooper and George McCormick: Never Ending Song of Love/Old Fashioned Love Song
7:00: Rudy's
Bill Anderson (host): I Love You Drops
Lonzo and Oscar: Movin' On #2/Easy Loving
Del Wood: Down Yonder
Mary Lou Turner: Teddy Bear Song
Bill Anderson: If You Can Live with It
Jimmy Gately: Sweet, Sweet Loving
Bill Anderson: Don't She Look Good
7:30: Standard Candy
Archie Campbell (host): Make Friends
Jimmy C Newman: The Kind of Love I Can't Forget
Ray Pillow: I Wished Somebody Loved Me That Much
Crook Brothers: Sally Goodin
Tommy Jones: Black Mountain Rag
Jimmy C Newman: Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues
Ray Pillow: Cinderella
8:00: Martha White
Roy Acuff (host): Wabash Cannonball
Bobby Lewis: It's Such A Pretty World Today
Conway Twitty: She Needs Someone To Hold Her/Hello Darling
Conway and Kathy Twitty: Don't Cry Daddy/Jackson
Roy Acuff: Won't It Be Wonderful There
8:30: Stephens
Ernest Tubb (host): Baby, It's So Hard To Be Good
Stu Phillips: If Loving You Means Anything
The 4 Guys: Hello Walls/Big Bad John/Wings of A Dove
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Nubbing Ridge
Ernest Tubb: Have You Ever Been Lonely
2nd show
9:30: Kellogg's
Billy Grammer (host): She's Got To Be A Saint
Willis Brothers: Little Red Wagon
Lonzo and Oscar: A King Size Cola & A Moon Pie
Del Wood: Are You From Dixie
Billy Grammer: Life's Railway To Heaven
Willis Brothers: Cool Water
Billy Grammer: What A Friend
10:00: Fender
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper (host): Poor Ellen Smith
Ray Pillow: I Wish Somebody Loved Me That Much
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper: To My Mansion
10:15: Union 76
Archie Campbell (host): Lonesome Road
Stan Hitchcock: Let Me Roll
Tommy Jones: Feudin Banjos/The Claw
10:30: Trailblazer
Roy Acuff (host): Gathering Flowers From The Hillside
Conway Twitty: Baby's Gone/She Needs Someone To Hold Her
Conway and Kathy Twitty: Don't Cry Daddy/Daddy Frank
10:45: Beechnut
Ernest Tubb (host): Filipino Baby
Bobby Lewis: Together Again
Crook Brothers: Eighth of January
Ernest Tubb: Waltz Across Texas
11:00: Coca Cola
Jimmy C Newman (host): The Kind of Love I Can't Forget
Louie Roberts: Hey, Good Looking
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Old Joe Clark
Jimmy C Newman: San Antonio Rose
Louie Roberts: Make The World Go Away
Sam McGee: Fairwell Blues/Alabama Jubilee/Just Because
Jimmy C Newman: Good Deal Lucille
11:30: Elm Hill
The 4 Guys (host): Down By The Lazy River/Turn Your Radio On
Diane Jordan: Here I Am Again
Stu Phillips: Have I Told You Lately That I Love You/You Win Again/Release Me
Diane Jordan: Teddy Bear Song
Stu Phillips: If Loving You Means Anything
(Bill Anderson was only scheduled for the first show that night)
They certainly got their money's worth out of Conway that night as he was on an extended amount of time on each show.
There you have it for this week. As always, thanks for reading and commenting and I hope everyone enjoys the Grand Ole Opry this weekend.
Congratulations to Dan Rogers! A very deserving award.
ReplyDeleteJust returned from a Riders In The Sky concert in Nashville INDIANA. Brown County Playhouse had around 200 people, but Riders performed as though there were 20,000. On stage probably at least an an hour and a half, worked hard. Amazing show, and they even hung around afterwards to sign autographs and chat with the folks.
ReplyDeleteAnd best part of all? They ENTERTAIN!!!
Thanks for the report Nat. As luck would have it, my brother and I could not attend and because of a conflict, won't be able to see them in Vincennes either. I'm not sure how many time we have seen them but we were never disappointed and they always hung around and met the fans. To me, we are blessed that they are still able and willing to do the Opry and travel.
DeleteJim
Well, I went to Pillbox Patti's website and based on the opening photo, if that is what you have show to get my attention then you must not have much else to offer as far as singing! Further, I opened up one video and watched about 10 seconds and saw way too much of things I shouldn't see in country music or on the Opry. If either of those experiences are an indication to what we will hear or see on the Opry, I'm very disappointed. Frankly, regardless of what she might do or say, I've already tuned out!
ReplyDelete"Let's just say it could be interesting" is probably an understatement!
Jim
I wondered why Rhonda only did two songs to start. Nice to hear her with Jeannie and she stayed around....or maybe came back, to sing with Gene. Thanks to Dan and the Opry for giving Gene so much time.
ReplyDeleteJim
And our newest Opry member... Jon Pardi.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great wake-up call this morning ... Alan Jackson (via video) invited Jon Pardi to be the Grand Ole Opry's newest member last night at the Stagecoach Festival. First country music artist out of California to become an Opry member. SO EXCITING! I am a big Jon Pardi fan. And Dan Rogers was on hand to carry out the Grand Ole Opry mic stand!! The video stopped before giving Jon a chance to say yes but I'm sure he did. JUST SO EXCITING!!! So happy for him! Two video's can be found under Jon Pardi and Stagecoach Festival Facebook pages not the Grand Ole Opry page but I am sure they will post a video at some point and hopefully they will include more of the video of Jon saying yes! Everyone always has to say yes to make it official.
ReplyDeleteLove these invites that are not under the Opry roof ... when the artist thinks they are just going to be in concert but the Opry has different ideas on that. They do it differently every time!
Thank you Dan Rogers and the rest of the Opry management for making this great decision and congratulations on your winning the 2022 Irving Waugh Award of Excellence ... you are very deserving of it.
Enjoy the Opry tonight ... last night's show was good. Rhonda Vincent was everywhere and that's a very good thing. She sang with The Rage, sang with Jeannie Seely and then sang with great Gene Watson. Rhonda and Gene sure make outstanding duet partners.
(Jeanene)
And I did not mention this earlier:
DeleteHAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY TO WILLIE NELSON!!! And many more!!
(Jeanene)
How about Tommy Emmanual inviting Mollie Strings to play guitar with him? I believe they both have some talent! :)
ReplyDeleteCouldn't hear Tommy's guitar as well as I would have liked, but what incredible musicianship by both. Only heard parts of the show, but sounds like it was an absolute winner!
First, my congratulations to Jon Pardi on being invited to become the Grand Ole Opry's newest member. I have seen Jon several times at the Opry and he certainly brings a lot of excitement. Hopefully, he will be a much better Opry member then the one who invited him.
ReplyDeleteI think the only surprise was the timing and where the invite took place. Several of us had Jon on the short list of potential new members and I actually thought it would have happened sooner. Personally, I was (and still am) hoping that T. Graham Brown and Scotty McCreery are still in the discussion. Both have appeared on the Opry many more times than Jon and I think both would make great Opry members.
This is not meant to take anything away from Jon. He is one of the hot new male artists in country music today and I know each time he has been at the Opry, he has been well received. Hopefully, we will be able to count on him to support the show in the future.
Overall, a good choice.
Question for others here.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of the artist interviews during the 'Opry? Personally, I would much prefer hearing another song rather than an interview.
It all seems too staged and scripted for me. Trying to force a square peg in a round hole results in these disjointed shows with no flow to them in my opinion.
DeleteIt almost feels like it is an arrangement with the record companies as a promotional tool. We'll schedule our artist if you interview and promote them as if being on the Opry isn't enough. I said it "feels" like that, I don't quite think that is what it is but maybe some variation of that. I always enjoyed the little back and forth between the artist in the long gone days when there was a host and they shared a couple minutes together talking. I always thought that made the show feel more personable and like you were all in a big living room with family. As was said above, this now seems scripted. Besides, most of the artist talk about themselves enough during there segment. I love Gene Watson and enjoyed his segment Friday night but he even got to talk a lot more than I would have thought he would. For me, accepting the artist talking so much depends on how they present themselves and what they are saying.
ReplyDeleteI think we are watching the Opry try to reinvent itself. The Opry I and others here love so much isn't really cool today. Somewhere along the line there has been a failure to convey what the Opry is and people attending today expect something that the show has not been over 80-90 years. They don't understand the sponsors, the radio show (radio doesn't exist in some of their minds), a host, not knowing ahead of time who they will see and on and on. The Opry is never going back to what it was a mere 10 years ago. Maybe that started back in the 90'a with the TNN promotions showing Garth and others that were only there a hand full of times a year, or not at all, giving you the impression that is what you would see when you attend.
Further, COVID sped up the change like it has on everything else in our lives.
It's all a hard reality for me but I know there is no going back. To compete in this society today the Opry has to look and act different than just a few years ago. I'll never like the change but the Opry is not going to survive by satisfying me and the few like me/us that are left. I'll keep listening to hear Bill, Jeannie, Ricky, Rhonda, Riders, Mandy and a few other traditional country acts as long as they are there. But really enjoying and anticipating tuning it each week is just not what it used to be for me.
I still think we have more reductions coming in the number of acts we see per show. I'd bet if they hand out surveys, that is one complaint, that we only go to hear 2-3 songs from each artist. It's a tough situation and I know it is hard for someone like Dan Rogers to try to preserve history and tradition, yet move forward and satisfy the shareholders, Comcast, Gaylord and all the others and further, be politically correct in this crazy world we live in today.
Jim
I can see it both ways here! I grew up with tnn, not wsm. I know what I'm getting when I tune in, and actually I've started listening each saturday night to one of the Prince Albert shows starting with the first one. (btw, they are all online in perfect condition in the internet archive in much better quality than what the hall of fame has on it's archives.) But, I also get going to say see Carrie, and wanting more than 4 songs, so I wouldn't be terribly mad if they lessened the number of acts and gave each one more time.
ReplyDeleteGood comments by all. I just wish the entertainers had enough time to actually sing and entertain. I personally don't care about artist interviews, "this moment in history," Aunt Edna's birthday, or all the other stuff the 'Opry has for some unknown reason inserted into the show. It's as if they're embarrassed by the music.
ReplyDeleteIt could be too that the consultants have told them to give the audience too much for their buck so maybe they'll come back for more. Not sure that is how it is working though. Consultants think they know, can poll and tell you what you customers want but I don't always buy it. They are in business to make money too and as long as they can keep their customers on the hook making them think they need the consultants to tell them what to do and not to do to be successful they have a permanent customer base.
ReplyDeleteBoy I'm a pessimist!
Jim
I remember when they went to a 2 hour show. They said that the surveys ,concluded that people preferred a shorter length show.A lot of people today just don’t make any sense to me. I went to the Opry for the first time when I was 11 in 1997. It was two & half hours, the ticket was $20-$25, there was over 20 artists on.
DeleteThe last time I went ,to the Opry ,was in February 2022 and it cost me & my wife around $250 and there wasn’t even 8 artists on.
So, people prefer to pay more money for a shorter show. Which is probably true, since so many today prefer to use self checkout instead of a cashier.
I just can’t get into it like I use to. The family approach isn’t there anymore. I can remember when the members were like family; they loved, supported, and sometimes fussed with one another. Those days are long gone. When I listened or went to the Opry ; it was Porter, Little Jimmy, Jimmy C., Jim & Jesse, Bill Carlisle, Wilma Lee, Billy Walker, Charlie Louvin & Walker, Jean Shepard, Bro. Oswald & Charlie, etc Those days are long gone, but I still have the memories and that’s why it’s hard for me to go with the change. In my family after my granny passed away, the holiday get togethers changed and after a couple years ,we no longer get together with our extended family. That’s how I am with the Opry ,it has changed so much that it’s no longer the show that I discovered & loved. Like the family we’ve lost the ones that kept it together. The Opry doesn’t have a Roy Acuff, Porter Wagoner, or Little Jimmy Dickens anymore.
I know change happens rather we like it or not. With all that I believe Dan Rogers ,has been the best manager since the late 90s & I wish he would have been made manager years ago. Curry
It is with great admiration that the Country Music Association bestowed the prestigious 2022 Irving Waugh Award of Excellence upon Dan Rogers, Vice President and Executive Producer of the Grand Ole Opry. This esteemed industry accolade was presented to Rogers by Jay Williams, WME Nashville Co-Head and Partner, and Chairman of the CMA Awards & Recognition Committee during the CMA Board meeting in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 28.
ReplyDeleteThe significance of this honor cannot be overstated, as Rogers has been a formidable presence in our industry for countless years. His contributions and dedication to the growth and evolution of the Grand Ole Opry have been instrumental in shaping Country Music's success and reaching audiences around the world. Rogers strikes an impeccable balance between upholding the Opry's revered heritage and embracing the newest artists and music that propel the institution forward.