Grand Ole Opry, Music City's Number One Attraction

From its modest start, the Grand Ole Opry has become a symbol of America, and anyone thinking about a Nashville vacation knows, the Grand Old Opry is Music City's number one draw. It originally began as a live music radio presentation in 1925, and just continued going and going. And today it has lived on to be the oldest continuous radio show in the USA. It is also heard on XM Radio, and is televised Saturday nights on the Great American Country network.

The Grand Ole Opry began just five years after commercial radio broadcasting was first started in North America. In 1925, a radio station was established in Nashville by an insurance company (National Life and Accident) hoping that this new transmission medium could be employed to offer insurance policies. Country music devotees are acquainted with the station's call letters, WSM, but most don't remember that WSM stood for the company's motto: "We Shield Millions."

National Life employed one of the country's most popular radio broadcaster, George D. Hay, as WSM's program director. On November 28, 1925, the 30 year old Hay called himself "The Solemn Old Judge" and set up the program that would come to be known as the WSM Barn Dance.

George D. Hay's weekly Barn Dance shows proved enormously popular, and in 1927 he renamed it the Grand Ole Opry. Droves of fans filled up the studio as they came to hear the singers & pickers, so National Life established a larger auditorium with a capacity of 500.  In 1932, WSM increased their signal strength to 50,000 watts and most of the USA and Canada could hear the Opry on Saturday nights.

The audiences kept growing, so in 1934 the Opry moved from its second studio to the Hillsboro Theater (now the Belcourt in Green Hills). The fans kept increasing, so next the Opry moved to the Dixie Tabernacle in East Nashville, then to the War Memorial Auditorium next to the State Capitol.

In 1943, still requiring more room, the Opry moved to the Ryman Auditorium, where it stayed put until 1974, when it moved to its new home, the 4,400 seat Grand Ole Opry House, adjacent to the Opryland Hotel, where you can see shows several times each week, except for several weeks in winter when the Opry returns to the Ryman Auditorium.

On the front of the stage of the new Opry House, there's a six-foot circle of dark colored, oak floor; it's glossy but visibly well worn. Removed from the stage of the Opry's renowned former home, the Ryman Auditorium, this circle of oak gives newcomers and old hands likewise the chance to play on the identical spot that one time supported Patsy Cline, Ernest Tubb, Uncle Dave Macon, and others.

There have been many changes at the Opry since it began - its members, its music, and its home. But that dark oak circle remains, a reminder for every artist who stands inside that they are part of something that's much bigger than themselves, and wherever they may go they are connected to the stars who came before.

The Opry’s members and music have defined C&W in America. Hundreds of musicians have performed as members through history. Being honored with membership in the Grand Ole Opry, country’s most longstanding “Hall of Fame”, is to be tapped as one of the most select artists of country music.

Membership in the Opry is not just earned, but must be sustained with regular performances during the artist's lifetime.

Nowadays you can experience the Grand Ole Opry in to a greater extent than before. There are Tuesday Night Opry performances from April until December. A two-hour radio program, can be heard in 200 cities across America. Just like country & western stars of old  grew up adjusting their radio to hear the Opry, rising generations of Opry artists can catch it on satellite radio or the internet.

Wherever they're listening, those future day Opry artists some day will assume their spot standing on that famed round piece of oak.