Grand Ole Opry 9/26 & 9/27

It is going to be a very busy weekend for the folks at the Grand Ole Opry as in addition to the usual Friday and Saturday night Opry shows, on Friday evening (afternoon in the U.S.) the Grand Ole Opry will be putting on a special show at Royal Albert Hall in London as the Opry, in celebration of its 100th anniversary, goes overseas. While the Opry has sent groups of Opry members overseas before, this will be the first actual Opry that will be broadcast on WSM. 

The group of Grand Ole Opry members who are on the schedule for Friday London show include Carly Pearce, Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde, Darius Rucker and Marty Stuart. Guesting will be Mumford & Sons and Breabach, both of whom are British based acts. 

Mumford & Sons formed in West London in 2008 and quickly rose from small gigs to headlining festivals, winning Grammys, and topping charts worldwide. Their fifth album, RUSHMERE (2025), debuted at No. 1 in the UK and fueled a sold-out global arena tour. Along the way, they’ve collaborated with legends like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Brandi Carlile, among others. 

Breabach is considered one of Scotland’s most skilled & imaginative contemporary-folk acts and at the forefront of the burgeoning traditional music scene. The band unite deep roots in Highland and Island Gaelic tradition alongside progressive musical influences and have cultivated a unique sound, anchoring double bagpipes, fiddle, whistle, step-dance and song with energetic double bass and guitar accompaniment.

The London show will air live on WSM at 1:30 p.m. Nashville time. Opry announcer Kelly Sutton will be handling the announcing duties for the show. 

As I mentioned, while the London show is front and center this weekend, there are also the shows at the Grand Ole Opry House. Taking a look at the Friday Night Opry, Opry members Mark Wills, Connie Smith, Riders In The Sky, Don Schlitz and Gary Mule Deer are on the schedule. Rounding at the Friday lineup is Sister Sadie, Breland and making her Opry debut, Moriah. 

Moriah wrote on her Facebook page: It’s happening. I’m making my Opry Debut on September 26th! I’ve sat in those pews so many nights and watched shows online, amazed at how the Grand Ole Opry stage gives songs a chance to be heard far beyond the building’s walls. Getting to make my debut during Hispanic Heritage Month AND the 100th anniversary of the Opry? It just makes it all so surreally special. 

Now taking a look at Saturday night, Connie Smith and Gary Mule Deer are back, making it a two-show weekend for both. Sunny Sweeney returns on the Opry schedule, joined by 49 Winchester, Trey Hensley, Wyatt Flores, Opry NextStage artist Kashus Culpepper, and making his Opry debut, Drew Green. 

Drew Green’s debut EP, Dirt Boy Vol. 1, released in 2020 and included both “Little More Be Alright” and second single, “Right Where I Be” - as well as additional streaming standout, “She Got That,” which has over 26 million streams. He followed his early success with the 2021 release of sophomore EP Dirt Boy Vol. 2, yielding twangy tune “Hooch” and, in 2022, Green released soulful standalone single "Good Ol' Man,” which has over 28 million streams to-date and was recently certified RIAA Gold.

After over 2 million views on TikTok, he released viral hit “Lotta Bit Of You.” The virality translated to over 22 million streams and a successful nationwide tour and, in 2024, Green signed with RECORDS Nashville. He kicked off the deal with the release of his debut EP, Whiskey On Whiskey, which included “Lotta Bit Of You,” as well as a reimagined version of “Colorado,” featuring the song’s co-writer and fellow artist, HARDY. On September 19, Green will release his debut, 18-song album, What You’re Looking For - which will include previously released tunes, as well as several new songs, further cementing his spot as a pop country trailblazer.

(Lineups will be posted when finalized)

This week the Opry 100 Spotlight shines on former Grand Ole Opry member Whitey Ford, known as the Duke of Paducah. 

Benjamin Francis Ford was born in De Soto, Missouri, and was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He had only a third-grade education, so he joked that he came from the "university of hard knocks". He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1918. During his Navy service he learned to play the banjo and earned his nickname Whitey Ford because of his blond hair. After his discharge in 1922, he joined McGinty's Oklahoma Cowboy Band, a Dixieland jazz group, as a banjo player. The group later changed its name to Otto Gray and his Oklahoma Cowboys and appeared in a few Hollywood film shorts. In 1929, Ford made his debut on WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois. 

In the mid-1930s, while based at St. Louis radio station KWK, Ford acquired his Duke of Paducah stage moniker. By then he had developed his comic rube character, begun to compile an enormous library of jokes, and adopted his famous tag line, "I'm goin' back to the wagon, boys, these shoes are killin' me!" In he, Ford teamed with Red Foley and John Lair to organize the Renfro Valley Barn Dance.

During the late thirties and early 1940s, Ford starred with Louise Massey & the Westerners on the NBC network radio show Plantation Party out of Cincinnati and Chicago before moving in 1942 to star on the Grand Ole Opry's NBC network segment, a role he would maintain until replaced in 1947 by Rod Brasfield, whom he helped to recruit. Subsequently, Ford made several series of popular radio shows, some of them recorded and syndicated widely throughout the United States and others fed live to CBS from various locations while on tour with Eddy Arnold.

Ford kept working at the Opry and touring, even heading a troupe billed as the Rock and Roll Revue during the mid-1950s. Beginning in 1958, he hosted Country Junction, a Nashville television show that aired on WLAC-TV for a number of years. Eventually many of his jokes found their way to Hee Haw, whose producers bought his joke library. Ford donated numerous radio scripts and extensive scrapbooks to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The remainder of his substantial collection of American humor was acquired by Emory University shortly before his death. Four months after his passing, he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Now going back 56 years, here is the running order from Saturday September 27, 1969, on a night that featured the Duke of Paducah making a guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry: 

1st show
6:30: Mrs. Grissoms

Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper (host): Guide Me Home My Georgia Moon

Del Wood: Down at Papa Joe's
Duke of Paducah: The World is Waiting for the Sunrise

Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper: The Birds are Back

6:45: Rudy's

Charlie Walker (host): Moffitt, Oklahoma

The 4 Guys: The Games People Play

Peggy Little: Put Your Lovin' Where Your Mouth Is

Charlie Walker: El Rancho Grande

7:00: Luzianne

Charlie Louvin (host): Little Reasons

Jim & Jesse: I'm Hoping That You're Hoping

Diana Trask: Children

Louie Roberts: Don't Worry/Tonight Carmen

Charlie Louvin: The Kind of Man I Am

Jim & Jesse: Diesel On My Tail

Diana Trask: I Fall to Pieces

7:30: Standard Candy

Billy Grammer (host): Columbus Stockade Blues

Jeannie Seely: Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me

Earl Scruggs Revue: I Don't Love Nobody

Crook Brothers & The Stoney Mountain Cloggers: Black Mountain Rag

Billy Grammer: Jesus Is A Soul Man

Jeannie Seely: Ode To Billie Joe

Earl Scruggs Revue: Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town

8:00: Martha White

Roy Acuff (host): Wabash Cannonball

Jimmy C Newman: Boo Dan

Margie Bowes: Once A Day/Big City

Johnny & Jonie Mosby: I'll Never Be Free

Brother Oswald: Oswald's Chimes

Jimmy C Newman: A Fallen Star

Jimmy Riddle: Fox Chase

Roy Acuff: I'll Fly Away

8:30: Stephens

Stu Phillips (host): Do What 'Cha Do Do well

Skeeter Davis: Foggy Mountain Top

Willis Brothers: Buying Popcorn

Fruit Jar Drinkers: Dance All Night

Stu Phillips: Little Tin God

Skeeter Davis: The Closest Thing to Love

Willis Brothers: Kaw-Liga

Stu Phillips: Crysal Chandeliers

2nd show

9:30: Kellogg's

Charlie Walker (host): Don't Squeeze My Sharmon

Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper: Guide Me Home My Georgia Moon

Jeannie Seely: Take Me As I Am

Johnny & Jonie Mosby: Gentle On My Mind/Just Hold Me Hand

Charlie Walker: Moffitt, Oklahoma

Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper: Teardrops Falling in the Snow

Jeannie Seely: Welcome Home to Nothing

10:00: Fender

Charlie Louvin (host): Let's Put Our World Back Together

The 4 Guys: Turn Around Look at Me

Diane McCall: Little Things

Charlie Louvin: Will You Visit Me on Sundays/What Are Those Things

10:15: Pure

Jim & Jesse (host): Are You Missing Me

Del Wood: Are You From Dixie

Peggy Little: Son of A Preacher Man

Jim & Jesse: When I Stop Dreaming

10:30: Trailblazer

Stu Phillips (host): Make the World Go Away

Duke of Paducah: Bill Bailey

Diana Trask: There Goes My Everything

Stu Phillips: Little Tin God

10:45: Kent

Roy Acuff (host): Meeting in the Air

Earl Scruggs Revue: Streamline Cannonball

Crook Brothers & The Stoney Mountain Cloggers: Gray Eagle

Earl Scruggs Revue: Lonesome Road Blues

11:00: Coca Cola

Bill Anderson (host): But You Know I Love You

Billy Grammer: Jesus Is A Soul Man

Margie Bowes: That Completely Destroys My Plans

Fruit Jar Drinkers: Katy Hill

Bill Anderson: I Get The Fever/Get While The Getting's Good/My Life

Billy Grammer: Peace on Earth Begins Today

Sam & Kirk McGee: San Antonio Rose

Bill Anderson: Still

11:30: Lava

Jimmy C Newman (host): Jambalaya

Don Winters: Chime Bells

Louie Roberts: Love Is on My Mind

Jimmy C Newman: Release Me

Louie Roberts: Don't Touch Me

Jimmy C Newman: Cry, Cry Darling

There was a time when comedy was featured on the Opry. Beside the Duke of Paducah, other comedians of his era included Minnie Pearl, Rod Brasfield, Jamup & Honey, Lew Childre, Lonzo & Oscar, Sarie & Sally, June Carter and Archie Campbell, among others. 

The Duke of Paducah left the Opry around 1960, moving on. Even though he was no longer a member, he was always welcomed at the Opry and would continue to make guest appearances until he passed away. 

One last word: there have always been rumors though the years that Duke of Paducah passed his joke book on to Archie Campell and that was where Archie received much of his material. 

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