It's the July 4th weekend and at the Grand Ole Opry, on Friday and Saturday nights the Opry will be celebrating America's 250th.
Starting off with the Friday Night Opry, there are four Opry members on the schedule: Suzy Bogguss, T. Graham Brown, Charlie McCoy and comedian Gary Mule Deer. Charlie Worsham and Wendy Moten are guesting, along with Dee White and making his Opry debut, Ashby Frank.
Gary Mule Deer returns on Saturday night, joined by members John Conlee and Connie Smith. Songwriter Dean Miller will be guesting, as are Darin & Brooke Aldridge, The Kody Norris Show, Frank Ray and the wonderful and talented Sunny Sweeney.
(As I post this, I still do not have the running order for the shows this weekend. I will update as soon as I receive them)
Ashby Frank, who is making his Opry debut on Friday night has performed with a who’s who of artists, including the Mashville Brigade, the Earls of Leicester, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Marty Raybon, and Special Consensus, among others. He has also written songs that have been recorded by Junior Sisk, the Lonesome River Band, Amanda Cook, Dale Ann Bradley, and a number of other artists.
Although he has previously performed on the Opry as a member of groups or supporting other musicians, this will be his first time as a featured performer in his own right. “I’ve had the honor of playing the Opry many times over the years,” Frank says. “The first time was with Marty Raybon and Full Circle when I was 19 years old. I never imagined that I’d ever get a slot of my own, but here we are!”
With a new album arriving July 17, the timing has worked out wonderfully for Frank, and he says he is extremely excited for the opportunity. “I knew that the great publicist Susan Collier was going to pitch me and my new project to the folks over at the Opry, but when I got the news, I was just totally flabbergasted,” he says.
“Joining me on stage will be the guy I’ve known and picked with the longest in this business, the great Jim VanCleve on fiddle, my Mountain Heart bandmates Seth Taylor on guitar and Travis Anderson on bass, and my good buddy that I occasionally get to pick with on Steve Earle’s bluegrass shows, banjo master Russ Carson,” Frank says. “It’s such an honor, and I can’t wait!”
In the history of the Grand Ole Opry, there have been three Opry members who have come from Canada. Hank Snow, Stu Phillips and Terri Clark. While Terri has continued to represent herself as a Canadian citizen, that has not been the case with Hank Snow or Stu Phillips. In 1958, Hank and his family became U.S. citizens. Stu Phillips and his wife Aldona became U.S. citizens in June 1998, and it was July 4, 1998, that Stu appeared on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time as an American.
From The Tennessean, July 3, 1998:
Grand Ole Opry members Stu Phillips will experience the Fourth of July this weekend in a different manner than ever before: He'll observe it as a U.S. citizen. Born in Montreal and raised in the Canadian Rockies, Phillips and his wife Aldona, were sworn in as citizens last Friday at the U.S. Court House in Nashville. Having lived in Nashville for the past 33 years, he's now spent more of his life in the U.S. than in his native Canada. Phillips, who joined the Opry in 1967 just before releasing his biggest record, Juanita Jones, appears on both Saturday shows.
Here is the posted lineup from July 3 & 4, 1998:
Friday July 3
7:30: Porter Wagoner (host): Jan Howard, Oswald & Charlie, Stonewall Jackson, Mike Snider
8:00: Jimmy C Newman (host): Wilma Lee Cooper, Del Reeves, Bill Carlisle
8:30: Jimmy Dickens (host): Jeanne Pruett, Charlie Louvin
9:00: Bill Anderson (host): Osborne Brothers, Jean Shepard, The 4 Guys, Johnny Counterfit
9:30: Ricky Skaggs (host): Charlie Walker, The Isaacs
Saturday July 4
1st show
6:30: Jimmy C Newman (host): Bill Carlilse
6:45: Jimmy Dickens (host): Wilma Lee Cooper
7:00: Porter Wagoner (host): Oswald & Charlie, Jan Howard, Hank Locklin
7:30: The 4 Guys (host): Charlie Walker, Stu Phillips
8:00: Bill Anderson (host): Charlie Louvin, Jean Shepard, Opry Square Dance Band, Melvin Sloan Dancers
8:30: Del Reeves (host): Jeff Carson, Jeanne Pruett, Johnny Counterfit
2nd show
9:30: Porter Wagoner (host): Wilma Lee Cooper, Hank Locklin
10:00: Jimmy C Newman (host): Bill Carlisle
10:15: Jimmy Dickens (host): Roy Drusky
10:30: Charlie Walker (host): Jean Shepard
10:45: Bill Anderson (host): Opry Square Dance Band, Melvin Sloan Dancers
11:00: The 4 Guys (host): Stu Phillips, Jeanne Pruett, Jeff Carson
11:30: Del Reeves (host): Charlie Louvin, Johnny Counterfit
While on the Opry that Saturday night, Stu and his wife Aldona celebrated their American citizenship. Stu explained "Our lives simply evolved over the years and took a new direction. Whenever I traveled overseas, I used to think of Canada as home. After moving to Nashville, our lives became integrated into this land with all its comforts. Now, whenever I travel overseas, home is Tennessee where I live."
I definitely remember the moment well and it was a wonderful night for Stu at the Opry. While not the Opry's biggest star and as I have said over the years, Stu was a fine ballad singer.
No comments:
Post a Comment