On October 18th, 2016; Becky (my wife) and I visited Nashville, Tennessee. We really only interested in visiting the “Grand Ole Opry”, (The Ryman Auditorium).

     After moving around Nashville for several years, On June 5, 1943 the Opry moved to its most famous former home, Ryman Auditorium, where it stayed for the next 31 years. The Ryman rarely had an empty seat for the Saturday night Opry.

     The following years of the Opry were spent on the Ryman stage. The music made on those well-worn planks changed music history, and Nashville, forever. On a cold December night in 1945, Earl Scruggs made his debut with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, completing the historic line-up that would serve as the prototype for the bluegrass sound. In the summer of 1949, a 25-year-old Hank Williams took the stage for the first time to perform “Lovesick Blues.” The crowd gave him such an enthusiastic reception: He was called back for six encores – a house record.

     Elvis Presley played the Opry one night in 1954. And in 1956, Johnny Cash was added to the cast. Cash met future wife June Carter for the first time backstage at the Ryman. Upon their meeting he told her he’d marry her someday – he kept his word and they were wed 12 years later. Honky-tonk angel, Patsy Cline, became an Opry member at the Ryman 1960. Cline’s biggest hit “Crazy” was written by a young up-and-coming songwriter, Willie Nelson.

     On March 15, 1974, the Opry made its last broadcast from Ryman before moving to its new custom-built home, The Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland. In 1994, the Ryman reopened after a major renovation and once again welcomed a diverse line-up of world-class entertainment. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 2001 and regularly receives national recognition as a premier concert venue.

     The newly-improved Opry House reopened September 28, 2010. The show regularly returns to the Ryman during the winter months, November through January.

    Becky and I found a Disc Jockey that was willing to have Becky sing for him in the “Sound Room” while he cut a music CD. It was like an audition.