Grand Ole Opry 8/1 & 8/2

Beginning with the month of August, the Grand Ole Opry is back to just two weekend shows as the Sunday Night Opry has completed its July run of shows. August also brings back Opry Country Classics on Thursday night. 

But first, looking at this weekend at the Grand Ole Opry, the Friday Night Opry has members John Conlee, Connie Smith, Gene Watson and Don Schlitz on the schedule. Don will be closing out the Friday show and he will be performing in the same slot on Saturday night. Joining Don on Saturday will be Riders In The Sky and Bill Anderson. 

Among the non-members this weekend, Sunny Sweeney, Shane Profitt, Ingrid Andress and JP Saxe, who will be making his Opry debut are set for Friday night, while Maggie Baugh, Eric Paslay are on the schedule for Saturday, along with very frequent Opry guest Charles Esten and making their Opry debut, Bobby Rush and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. 

Friday August 1
7:00: Sunny Sweeney, John Conlee, Shane Profitt, Connie Smith
Intermission
8:20: Indrid Andress, Gene Watson, JP Saxe, Don Schlitz

Saturday August 2
7:00: Opry Square Dancers, Riders In The Sky, Maggie Baugh, Bill Anderson, Eric Paslay
Intermission
8:20: Charles Esten, Opry Square Dancers, Bobby Rush and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Don Schlitz

Jonathan Percy Starker "JP" Saxe, who is debuting on Friday night, is a Canadian singer and musician. He is best known for his collaboration with American singer Julia Michaels titled "If the World Was Ending" which was released in 2019. The song was nominated for a 2021 Grammy. His "hero" grandfather, noted cellist János Starker, was a multiple nominee and Grammy winner. He has amassed over 3 billion streams and spent much of 2024 criss-crossing four continents via his sold-out headlining tour and (before that) opening for close collaborator John Mayer.

Bobby Rush and Kenny Wayne Shepherd will be making their debut Grand Ole Opry appearance together on Saturday night. A noted blues legend, Bobby has won three Grammy Awards, while Kenny Wayne is a five-time Grammy nominee. Rush and Shepherd will perform songs from their new collection of blues tunes that was recently released titled "YOUNG FASHIONED WAYS."

At 83, Rush received his first “Best Traditional Blues Album” Grammy award for “Porcupine Meat,” and he’s been on fire ever since, winning the same category in 2021 (“Rawer than Raw”) and 2024 (“All My Love For You”). He’s also been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. 

In addition to his multiple Grammy nods, Shepherd has received two Billboard Music Awards, two Orville H. Gibson Awards which honors the world’s greatest guitarists, a Blues Music Award and a Keeping The Blues Alive Award. He’s also scored eight Top Ten singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart shares the record with B.B. King and Eric Clapton for the longest running albums on the Billboard Blues charts with his second album “Trouble Is…”

In addition to his 15 solo albums (recently including two volumes of “Dirt on My Diamonds”), Shepherd also recorded two albums as one third of The Rides in the mid-2010s with Stephen Stills and Barry Goldberg from Electric Flag. Meanwhile, Rush has released over 30 solo albums since the late 70s.

Both of these artists are true legends, and it will be a treat to hear them on the Opry this weekend. 

This week I am going way back in the history of the Grand Ole Opry and posting the lineup from 78 years ago, Saturday August 2, 1947. At the time, the Opry was only in its 22nd year of existence. 

8:00: Purina
Eddy Arnold: Rose of the Alamo
Bill Monroe: Blue Moon of Kentucky
Crook Brothers: Mississippi Sawyer
Eddy Arnold: I'll Hold You in My Heart
Oklahoma Wranglers: Missouri
Marie and Clyde: You Are Somebody's Rose Now
Blue Grass Quartet: Shining Path
Lonzo and Oscar: John Henry
Oklahoma Wranglers: Mockingbird
Eddy Arnold: Many Tears Ago

8:30: Warren Paint & Color Co. 
Lew Childre: Riding on the Elevated Train
Paul Howard: Lazy Morning
Milton Estes: Jole Blonde's Daughter
Clyde Moody: Shenandoah Waltz
Lew and String Beans: Sister Lucy
Robert Lunn: Smoke, Smoke, Smoke
Possum Hunters: Durang Hornpipe
Johnny Selph: That's Why I Worry
Paul Howard: Somebody Else's Trouble
Lew Childre: Good Old Mountain Dew

9:00: Royal Crown
Golden West Cowboys: Southland Polka
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Free a Little Bird
Roy Acuff: Golden Treasures
Bradley Kincaid: Two Little Shoes
Oswald: Good Old Mountain Dew
Cowboy Copas: Sweet Thing
York Brothers: Riding and Singing My Song
Roy Acuff: Turn Your Radio On
Golden West Cowboys: Texas Tony Lee

9:30: Prince Albert
Red Foley: Honey Be My Honey Bee
Old Timers: Old Miss Hanna
Bill Monroe: Blue Yodel Number Four
Minnie Pearl: Jokes
Red Foley: Tears on My Pillow
Scruggs: Sally Goodin
Rod Brasfield: Jokes
Grandpa Jones: Eight More Miles to Louisville
Fowler Quartet: Sit Down
Red Foley: Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Square Dance: Fire in the Mountain

10:00: Wall Rite
Bill and Lester: True Life Blues
Blue Grass Quartet: In Our Heavenly Home
York Brothers: I Want to Live and Love
Chubby: Orange Blossom Special

10:15: Weather House
Roy Acuff: Don't Make Me Go to Bed and I Will Be Good
Arthur Smith: Paddy on the Turn Pike
Jug Band: Lazy Day
Gang: I'll Fly Away
Jimmy Riddle: Tiger Rag

10:30: O'Bryan Brothers
Milton Estes: Keep Those Cold Icy Fingers Off of Me
Bradley Kincaid: Lizy Up a Simmon Tree
Clyde Moody: Where the Old River Flows
Johnny and Jack: Love in the First Degree
Milton Estes: One Way Ticket to the Sky

10:45: Oven Magic
Oklahoma Wranglers: Dragging the Bow
Lew Childre: When You Wore a Tulip
Wally Fowler: Rocking on the Waves
Oklahoma Wranglers: Open Up Dem Pearly Gates

11:00: Eddy Arnold Song Bood
Eddy Arnold: That's How Much I Love You
Lily Belle: Time Changes Everything
Lonzo and Oscar: Old McDonald Had a Farm
Eddy Arnold: Don't Bother to Cry

11:15: Ernest Tubb Song Book
Clyde Moody: If You Need Me I Will Be Around
Marie and Clyde: Though I Tried
Oklahoma Wranglers: Old Indians Never Die
Clyde Moody: Leaf of Love

11:30: Saf Kill
Golden West Cowboys: Tennessee Waltz
Old Timers: They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree
Gully Jumpers: Flop Eared Mule
Crook Brothers: Wait for the Light to Shine
Golden West Cowboys: I Hear You Knocking

11:45: Bob Anderson
Paul Howard: Oklahoma City
Robert Lunn: Tooth Picking Time in False Teeth Valley
Sam and Kirk: Long John Green
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Stones Rag
Paul Howard: Please Don't Leave

There were some legends who appeared on the Opry that night that we all remember: Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Red Foley, Minnie Pearl, Rod Brasfield, Pee Wee King and Cowboy Copas among several others. It was also still the era of the string bands, and they were all present that night: Crook Brothers, Possum Hunters, Gully Jumpers and the Fruit Jar Drinkers. In addition, a number of other acts would feature instrumentation numbers. With the Opry now anchored at the Ryman Auditorium, and with a national radio audience, the Opry would continue the trend to feature more vocalists while decreasing the number of string band performances. 

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