Martina McBride on the Grand Ole Opry. Photo by Chris Hollo, courtesy of Schmidt Relations.

The Grand Ole Opry will celebrate its 86th birthday the whole month of October with a list of all-star artists and special shows and events, many of which will be aired on GAC during episodes of Opry Live.

The party kicks off October 4 when the Opry honors Randy Travis for 25 years in country music and as an Opry member. Carrie Underwood, Connie Smith and Josh Turner are just a few of the artists scheduled to be on hand to honor Randy. Several performances from the night will be part of an episode of Opry Live to air on GAC October 15 at 9/8 CT.

The Opry’s Official 86th Birthday Bash Weekend will be held October 7 and 8 and feature performances from Charley Pride, Rascal Flatts and the solo Opry debut of Ronnie Dunn. Other events scheduled for the weekend are a Saturday afternoon birthday concert featuring Mel Tillis and a free Opry Plaza Birthday Party. GAC will broadcast the birthday party live on Opry Live at 9/8 CT.

Chris Young, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, LeAnn Rimes, Montgomery Gentry, Sara Evans, Scotty McCreery and Trace Adkins are all scheduled to appear on the Opry October 11. The night will also include a live broadcast of Opry Live at 8/7 CT. Other performances from the night will be filmed for a an episode of Opry Live to air October 29 at 9/8 CT. Continue Reading

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Colt Ford photo by Sean Cokes.

Colt Ford and Joe Nichols have joined the lineup for the 10th Anniversary of the Charlie Daniels Band & Friends Concert to benefit Christmas 4 Kids, a division of Christmas For Kids, Inc. They join previously announced artists Phil Vassar and Sawyer Brown as well as the Charlie Daniels Band. Charlie will also serve as host for the evening.

Christmas 4 Kids is a non-profit organization that provides children with their very own shopping spree each holiday season. The funds are generated by the annual concert and the Tour Bus Show/Artist Meet and Greet event. More than 400 children from 29 different Nashville-area schools go on a day-long shopping trip that consists of being chauffeured from their school on a luxury tour bus, lunch, and a party hosted by Santa and Mrs. Claus. At the end of the day, the buses take children to a Hendersonville, Tennessee Walmart where they receive a new winter coat and $150 to spend however they wish. Continue Reading

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Brad Paisley photo by Jeremy Cowart, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

The Grand Ole Opry will mark the 1-year anniversary of the flood that devastated Nashville and temporarily displaced the Opry from the Grand Ole Opry House in the only way that’s fitting – with an all-star concert on the Opry stage. The show, Play On, Nashville!, will take place May 3 at the Opry House with Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Charlie Daniels Band, and more scheduled to perform.

“The May 2010 flood devastated homes, businesses and lives, but it also showcased the unsinkable spirit of our city and its citizens in ways we are still learning about a year later,” said Pete Fisher, Opry vice president and general manager. “We want to celebrate that the Opry’s hometown is stronger than ever the best way we know how— with a one-of-a-kind night of great music.”

Four feet of water filled the Grand Ole Opry house and the show temporarily moved to several other Nashville venues throughout the summer while the Opry House was repaired. It took six months of restoration and recovery for the Opry to return home. Despite the devastation, both to the Opry and all over Nashville, the show never missed a beat, putting on the Tuesday night show following the weekend floods at War Memorial Auditorium.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since the flood,” said Opry member Dierks Bentley. “The city of Nashville, the Opry, and the country music community were so resilient and came together to rebuild so quickly after the devastation. I’ve never been more proud to be an Opry member, and I’m looking forward to celebrating that sense of community again on Tuesday.” Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

OK, so Halloween isn’t quite here yet, but country stars are already working to make sure you have a merry little Christmas.

In fact, A Merry Little Christmas is the name of a new holiday project Lady Antebellum has on the docket. The six-song mini-album is due Oct. 12 at Target stores featuring mostly seasonal classics. But it also boasts one new title, “On This Winter’s Night,” written by Tom Douglas, the same guy who authored “I Run To You” and the trio’s new single, “Hello World.”

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Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

The stage of the Grand Ole Opry House was buried under 46 inches of water when muddy waters overflowed the Cumberland River in Nashville in May during a horrendous flood.

The Opry House was immediately closed for reconstruction while the Grand Ole Opry radio show wandered from venue to venue in Music City — temporarily homeless but doggedly determined.

The Opry returns to the Opry House on Tuesday with an all-star lineup, including Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley, Martina McBride, Josh Turner and Montgomery Gentry, and you can catch the historic evening during a two-hour GAC special, Country Comes Home: An Opry Live Celebration.

The floods were cruel to some people, kind to others. Dierks Bentley had water in his basement, Kenny Chesney’s home took water into the second floor, and a bevy of artists — including Vince Gill, Toby Keith and Keith Urban — lost instruments in the water. Then there were the folks like Jason Aldean, who didn’t sustain any damage whatsoever.

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Grand Ole Opry members Brad Paisley (l) and Little Jimmy Dickens (r) unveil the refurbished 6-foot circle of wood (taken from the historic Ryman Auditorium when the show moved to the Grand Ole Opry House in 1974) that was damaged in the May 2010 Nashville flood. Photo courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry.

When Nashville was flooded in May, the tragedy was best symbolized for the world by the Grand Ole Opry House. Muddy water from the Cumberland River stood nearly four feet over the Opry stage, and the manager of the Opry literally surveyed the damage by kayaking through the venue.

The Opry House reopens Tuesday, September 28 with an all-star Opry edition that airs on GAC at 9/8c as Country Comes Home: An Opry Live Celebration. The lineup features a ton of artists, including Trace Adkins, Keith Urban, Josh Turner and the two men who helped put a famous wooden circle back in the restored Opry stage: Brad Paisley and Little Jimmy Dickens.

The wood is a six-foot section of oak taken from the stage of the Ryman Auditorium, the previous home of the Opry, when the Opry House originally opened in 1974. At the Ryman, that wood supported the likes of Patsy Cline, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. But the Opry has now been at the Opry House for 36 years — longer than any home it’s previously occupied.

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Grand Ole Opry members Brad Paisley (l) and Little Jimmy Dickens (r) unveil the refurbished 6-foot circle of wood (taken from the historic Ryman Auditorium when the show moved to the Grand Ole Opry House in 1974) that was damaged in the May 2010 Nashville flood. Photo courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry.

It’s a six-foot piece of circular wood, scuffed and nicked and grooved, but it’s a monumental symbol. Brad Paisley and Little Jimmy Dickens joined four construction workers Wednesday in installing a major piece of oak into the center of the stage at the Grand Ole Opry House.

The moment was captured by a herd of reporters and photographers as Nashville continues its recovery from a devastating flood in early May. At that time, water from the Cumberland River swamped the historic venue, piling 46 inches of liquid on top of the stage. The waters were so significant that mud was hurled onto the ceiling and Opry VP and general manager Pete Fisher literally floated a kayak through the house.

Dirt and construction dust still litter the grounds around the Opry House, but the placement of the circle back onto the stage was a hardy symbol for the restoration of the Opry and its history. The circle was cut from the floor of the Ryman Auditorium and installed at the Opry House when it opened in 1974, providing a physical link between current generations of Opry members and some of the late performers who stood behind the mic stand on that same wood — people like Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Roy Acuff and Marty Robbins. It was damaged during May’s floods, but not so much that it couldn’t be repaired. Its resilience embodies as well as ever the durability of the Opry and its legend.

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Kenny Edwards main photo by Gabriel Judet-Weinshel. Inset: Kenny with Linda Ronstadt. Photos courtesy of kennyedwards.com.

Bass player and guitarist Kenny Edwards, who worked extensively with Linda Ronstadt and played on a number of country hits in the 1980s and ‘90s, died Wednesday in California at age 64.

Kenny had a rare blood disorder and had been in chemotherapy for prostate cancer, according to the Los Angeles Times, yet he continued to tour with singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff. He collapsed in Denver earlier this month and, after reaching out to fans via his website, received funding to be airlifted back to a hospital in Santa Barbara, where he passed away.

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Luke Bryan photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Between the Brad Paisley H2O World Tour and May’s Nashville flood, country music has been waterlogged this summer.

But the liquid is still flowing in the genre. Brad’s weekend lake show set a record, Luke Bryan rode a gusher to the top of the chart, and yes, there’s more flood-recovery news, thanks in part to Chuck Wicks and Grand Ole Opry star Jeannie Seely.

Here’s a look at the way water continues to stream into country’s current landscape:

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Joe Nichols recently visited troops on US military bases in Kuwait and Iraq. His trip was filmed for the GAC special, Joe Nichols: My Military Diary, premiering Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 at 10 p.m. Eastern.

#7 on GAC’s Top Stories of 2009 |  View all »

Seven years into post-9/11 wars that continue to stretch America’s psyche and its public coffers, President Obama’s agonizing decision over how to proceed was one of the most analyzed topics in the national news during 2009.

Whether they approved of the wars or not, country’s stars continued to support the troops whose jobs demand they wage them. Joe Nichols, Toby Keith, Craig Morgan and the Charlie Daniels Band were among the numerous acts who made it a point to go overseas and play for the men and women in uniform. They went to the Middle East, to European bases and to Korea — and plenty more artists found time to give shows for the troops at U.S. bases.

In a couple of instances, GAC brought the experience to you with the specials Stars For Stripes: Wounded Warriors Return and Joe Nichols: My Military Diary.

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