The Opry Goes On

The Grand Old Opry concert hall may be under water but the Opry sings on:

Grand Ole Opry superstars Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley today added to the artist line-ups for this weekend's Opry shows. Temporarily displaced from the Grand Ole Opry House because of flooding that impacted Nashville and Middle Tennessee, the Opry will play this weekend at its most famous former home, the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

"When we said 'the show must go on' after this week's flooding, Brad, Alan, and the Nashville community obviously agreed wholeheartedly," said Pete Fisher, Grand Ole Opry Vice President and General Manager. "We are excited about keeping the Opry tradition alive with some spectacular upcoming shows. As Opry member Marty Stuart said at our first show since the flooding, 'Our family, our songs, and our spirit live on.'"

Also today, Country Music Hall of Fame member George Jones and fellow Opry member Martina McBride added their names to the list of those appearing at the Tuesday Night Opry May 11, also at the Ryman Auditorium.

The Ryman is known as the "Mother Church of Country Music" and was the host venue for The Grand Old Opry from 1943 to 1974. It has an interesting history that you can read here.

The country music business is very much like a family and those people really pull together when things get tough.  Nashville has been hit very hard by this flooding, but I have no doubt they'll come back better than ever.