The Grand Ole Opry backstage tour was excellent! In fact we were so inspired we have booked ourselves for Tuesday nights concert!! We had no idea that it was such a HUGE deal to be invited to not just play, but to be asked to join. We started out with a movie hosted by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. It was very moving and inspiring. The tour it self backstage was awesome as we were able to see all the dressing rooms and stage equipment. Also interesting, no matter who you are, you have to show ID when entering in the dressing room staging area. Apparently there have been folks impersonating “Dolly” so they had to implement some checks to make sure they had the right Dolly!
They also have mail boxes at the Grand Ole Opry, so if you want to send a letter to one of your favourite stars, you can. When the stars show up, they check their mail box before going into their dressing room. Here are some shots starting with the entrance, the lobby, backstage, dressing rooms which each have different themes, and onstage. The Circle of wood was brought over from the original Opry house, the Ryman when they decided to build a new location. Very cool.
Next stop, the Ryman Auditoriam. The Ryman started out as a Church and started bringing talent in to perform. Over the years, any and all music genres played at the Ryman. Hee Haw was also filmed here throughout its whole time on T.V. A lot of history in this location, so we were happy to hear that when the Ryman was going to get torn down the stars stepped in and made sure the Mother Church of Country Music stayed alive and continued as hollowed ground.
Two great venues for seeing your favourite star and both worth the time to visit.