May
20
Laura Bell Bundy photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.
When Laura Bell Bundy sings on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time on Saturday, the moment will blend a very odd series of events.
For starters, Laura Bell established herself first as a performer on Broadway. Shifting from the Great White Way to Music Row is a career path that’s only happened once or twice before.
Making the evening even more unique, the Tennessee floods have the Kentucky-born singer showing up on the Opry from a location she probably never heard of before moving to Nashville. Since 1974, the Opry’s been housed at the Grand Ole Opry House, but the Cumberland River covered that stage the first week of May, and it’s unclear when the venue will be able to reopen. The Ryman Auditorium was the Opry home for more than 30 years prior to the Opry House, and it still hosts a number of Opry performances over the course of the year.
Continue Reading
ShareThis
May
17
Lady Antebellum on stage at the Ryman Auditorium during the Music City Keep On Playin' benefit concert. Photo credit: Photo by Ed Rode/edrode.biz.
The stars came out in a big way, as did a number of companies and the American people when GAC presented Music City Keep On Playin’ — A Benefit For Flood Relief.
Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum and Dierks Bentley were among the artists who delivered nearly 20 songs during Sunday’s three-hour live special from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The event raised more than $1.7 million as of midnight CT and counting.
Music City Keep On Playin’ was the first national fundraiser organized to aid victims of a devastating flood that engulfed much of Nashville two weeks ago. In a scant 48 hours, the city took in over 13 inches of rain, more than the Middle Tennessee ground could absorb. The Cumberland River swelled over its banks, damaging some of the city’s landmarks, including the Grand Ole Opry House, LP Field, Bridgestone Arena and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Continue Reading
ShareThis
May
5
Keith Urban on stage at his "All For The Hall" benefit concert at the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN on October 13, 2009
After several days of devastating flooding, Nashville has begun digging out, surveying the damage caused by dirty, rising water after a catastrophic downpour.
The Grand Ole Opry House is likely closed for weeks — maybe months — with water so deep that someone paddled a canoe over the seats, Marty Stuart told the Associated Press. The Country Music Hall of Fame, which has water in its Ford Theater, lost power and is running a generator to maintain temperatures inside the building to keep its fragile artifacts from being destroyed. A facility where Keith Urban was storing his concert equipment was inaccessible, and Keith believes he lost all of his guitars and amps.
Continue Reading
ShareThis
Oct
6
Mandy Barnett photo courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/mandycarolbarnett.
If you’re in Nashville this week, get your ticket to the Grand Ole Opry’s “Country Classics” show on Thursday, October 8 at 7 p.m. (Central), hosted by GAC’s own Storme Warren.
As part of the Opry’s 84th Birthday Weekend, Thursday’s theme is ”songs that made the Grand Ole Opry famous.”
The lineup includes Mandy Barnett, Jack Greene, George Hamilton IV, Jan Howard, Hal Ketchum, Jim Lauderdale, the Del McCoury Band, the Opry Square Dancers, Jeannie Seely and Sunny Sweeney.
What can you expect at the show? You’ll hear Mandy singing the Ernest Tubb classic, “Walkin’ the Floor Over You,” Continue Reading
ShareThis
