I've been wanting to write about the Grand Ole Opry ever since I started this blog and for some reason it's just never happened. So I'm very happy to be getting this post out there as part of my CMA Fest recap. Just a heads up: this is pretty picture heavy. In case I haven't mentioned it before, clicking on a picture should enlarge it. Every picture I post is one I took, unless I say otherwise. All of these in here are mine. CMA Fest really got me in touch with the zoom on my camera, I'll say that. I'm going to talk more about this particular Opry show after the break, but first I wanted to talk a bit about the Opry in general.
Starting with some basic facts that I'm sure some, if not many, of you will already know. The Grand Ole Opry is a radio show broadcast on WSM 650AM. They've recently created an app and you can listen to the shows on that as well. The Opry started in 1925 and is the longest running radio show in the United States. I've been to several Opry shows and I wish that everyone could go to a Grand Ole Opry show at least once in their lifetime. I'm not just talking about country fans either; I mean people in general. It's an American institution and one of the best things about country music. Go to an Opry show and you'll see current country stars mixed in with up-and-comers and legends. There's really nothing else like it.
Some of you have probably been to one or more Opry shows. And there might be some of you who have never been to a show, but have watched one of the specials on GAC. I'd like to address the second group for a moment. I've seen people complaining about how you don't see legends on the Opry stage anymore and I'd bet money that most of them say that because of the TV specials. I love that GAC showcases the Opry, but you need to keep in mind that it is a TV show. The shows you see featured don't show how it really is. There are country music legends performing at every Opry show. But for some reason they never make the specials. Instead, they take all of the current popular or upcoming acts and stick them in the same segment. And instead of having each artist do their entire set like they usually do, they'll have them do one song and then come back later to do another. This is not typical. At a standard Grand Ole Opry show, an artist will come out and do their entire set and that's it. Sometimes you might see someone come back to sing with another act. And then sometimes artists will be in town and randomly decide to swing by and do a song or two.
So how long is a typical Grand Ole Opry set, you may be wondering? An act will usually do somewhere between one and four songs. I've been to a couple of shows where an artist did five. These were usually when said artist was a big name closing the show. The Opry is a great way to be introduced to an act, in my opinion. They don't get much time so you can bet that they're going to hit you with their best. And then if that act goes on to become one of your favorites, there's something pretty cool about having first seen them at the Opry.
For me anyway and I'm sure for several others. See, I love the Opry. It is one of my favorite things to experience. I say experience because that's really what it is; you don't simply go to the Opry, you experience it. I don't believe there's a such thing as a bad Opry show, though some shows are better than others. The shows during the week of CMA Fest are probably some of the strongest shows of the year. So let's talk a little bit about this one.
To prove my point, this Grand Ole Opry show kicked off with the recently crowned winner of Dancing with the Stars. A woman who I feel should be asked to be a member of the Opry and one of the more underrated artists out there: Kellie Pickler.
Kellie performed her new single, "Someone Somewhere Tonight", and I'm really hoping that this one gets more radio play that her last couple of singles. 100 Proof was, in my opinion, one of the best albums released in 2012 and deserved more attention. Kellie's too good to not be more popular than she is and she's not afraid to sing some straight up traditional country. We've had the Carrie era, the Taylor era and now the Miranda era and I think it's time for the Kellie era. I'd love to see her start getting nominations - namely for female vocalist. Even if she doesn't win yet; she deserves to be nominated. It's going to be interesting to see how much all her recent publicity is going to affect her career.
Next up: Diamond Rio.
One of the great country vocal groups, though they don't seem to get talked about much. These guys are so musical and it makes listening to them a treat. They have some great songs too!
Bill Anderson was next. One of our legends and a pretty incredible songwriter.
Lennon and Maisy. Perhaps better known as the daughters of Rayna James on Nashville. Though they seem to be making a name for themselves outside of the show. I actually really like these girls; I think they're pretty charming. Surprisingly strong harmony - what I like is that they don't stick with typical harmonies. They change it up and make them more interesting. I'm very interested in seeing what kinds of careers they have. There's definitely a whole lot of potential here that will no doubt keep developing at they get older, assuming they keep up with it.
After Lennon and Maisy, it was time for some bluegrass in the form of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. I always love getting to see them. To call these guys good musicians would be an understatement. I especially like when they cut loose with a fast number. I think that great bluegrass musicians are some of the best musicians in the world. It's not about playing fast. Anyone can play fast. It's about being able to play fast and clean. No sloppy instrumental licks found here. Now that said, they didn't play anything all that fast at this show and I think that's a shame. Still some beautiful playing and a strong set.
Next up: Rascal Flatts.
Making her Opry debut, this year's American Idol runner up, Kree Harrison was next. The country world was certainly abuzz about Kree all season and I finally decided to watch and see what all the fuss was about. And see how Keith Urban was doing as a judge in the process. Now some of you know this already, but I have grown to hate American Idol and I must say that the weeks I did watch this season only served to strengthen my opinion. I'm not going to go into all of that here, though I might in another post down the road. The point is that there was a whole lot of hype about Kree over the course of the season. A lot of people have even been gushing about her Opry debut. I will not be joining them.
Look, I think she's a very good singer. Not going to say otherwise, but for all the talk about how well she connects with what she sings, I have to say that I just didn't feel it. At all. I felt a pretty big disconnect in fact. Almost like she's thinking about the song instead of feeling it. I didn't care for her debut single, "All Cried Out". Great concept, bad execution. Speaking about the lyrics; not her delivery of them. It's a song about a woman who has cried so many tears that she doesn't have any left. We know this because she tells us. But that's all she tells us. There's no story here whatsoever. There's nothing in it that makes me care, there's no substance. I feel like this song got thrown together as fast as possible so she'd be able to release a single right away. I blame the Idol machine for this; not Kree herself. I'm not alone in this sentiment, though some of defended it by bringing up the tragedies she's faced in her past. But here's the thing: if you need to know a singer's life story to relate to a song than the song has failed. Songs need to stand on their own merit and this one doesn't. Because there's nothing in it to hold onto. Kree is a talented young woman and with the right songs may end up doing something. And maybe she'll win me over. We'll see. There's definite potential there. She just needs to have great songs. Here's hoping that they take the time to put together a solid album.
Closing the show was Mr. Keith Urban. A man you can always depend on to put on a great show. I'm so happy that we got to see him at this Opry show, especially since we ended up missing his set at LP Field.
He and his band put on a great set - his band being one of my favorite bands in country music. One of these days I'll have to put together a top ten list for country bands. These guys would definitely be on it. A very strong ending to a very strong show.
Starting with some basic facts that I'm sure some, if not many, of you will already know. The Grand Ole Opry is a radio show broadcast on WSM 650AM. They've recently created an app and you can listen to the shows on that as well. The Opry started in 1925 and is the longest running radio show in the United States. I've been to several Opry shows and I wish that everyone could go to a Grand Ole Opry show at least once in their lifetime. I'm not just talking about country fans either; I mean people in general. It's an American institution and one of the best things about country music. Go to an Opry show and you'll see current country stars mixed in with up-and-comers and legends. There's really nothing else like it.
Some of you have probably been to one or more Opry shows. And there might be some of you who have never been to a show, but have watched one of the specials on GAC. I'd like to address the second group for a moment. I've seen people complaining about how you don't see legends on the Opry stage anymore and I'd bet money that most of them say that because of the TV specials. I love that GAC showcases the Opry, but you need to keep in mind that it is a TV show. The shows you see featured don't show how it really is. There are country music legends performing at every Opry show. But for some reason they never make the specials. Instead, they take all of the current popular or upcoming acts and stick them in the same segment. And instead of having each artist do their entire set like they usually do, they'll have them do one song and then come back later to do another. This is not typical. At a standard Grand Ole Opry show, an artist will come out and do their entire set and that's it. Sometimes you might see someone come back to sing with another act. And then sometimes artists will be in town and randomly decide to swing by and do a song or two.
So how long is a typical Grand Ole Opry set, you may be wondering? An act will usually do somewhere between one and four songs. I've been to a couple of shows where an artist did five. These were usually when said artist was a big name closing the show. The Opry is a great way to be introduced to an act, in my opinion. They don't get much time so you can bet that they're going to hit you with their best. And then if that act goes on to become one of your favorites, there's something pretty cool about having first seen them at the Opry.
For me anyway and I'm sure for several others. See, I love the Opry. It is one of my favorite things to experience. I say experience because that's really what it is; you don't simply go to the Opry, you experience it. I don't believe there's a such thing as a bad Opry show, though some shows are better than others. The shows during the week of CMA Fest are probably some of the strongest shows of the year. So let's talk a little bit about this one.
To prove my point, this Grand Ole Opry show kicked off with the recently crowned winner of Dancing with the Stars. A woman who I feel should be asked to be a member of the Opry and one of the more underrated artists out there: Kellie Pickler.
Kellie performed her new single, "Someone Somewhere Tonight", and I'm really hoping that this one gets more radio play that her last couple of singles. 100 Proof was, in my opinion, one of the best albums released in 2012 and deserved more attention. Kellie's too good to not be more popular than she is and she's not afraid to sing some straight up traditional country. We've had the Carrie era, the Taylor era and now the Miranda era and I think it's time for the Kellie era. I'd love to see her start getting nominations - namely for female vocalist. Even if she doesn't win yet; she deserves to be nominated. It's going to be interesting to see how much all her recent publicity is going to affect her career.
Next up: Diamond Rio.
One of the great country vocal groups, though they don't seem to get talked about much. These guys are so musical and it makes listening to them a treat. They have some great songs too!
Bill Anderson was next. One of our legends and a pretty incredible songwriter.
Lennon and Maisy. Perhaps better known as the daughters of Rayna James on Nashville. Though they seem to be making a name for themselves outside of the show. I actually really like these girls; I think they're pretty charming. Surprisingly strong harmony - what I like is that they don't stick with typical harmonies. They change it up and make them more interesting. I'm very interested in seeing what kinds of careers they have. There's definitely a whole lot of potential here that will no doubt keep developing at they get older, assuming they keep up with it.
After Lennon and Maisy, it was time for some bluegrass in the form of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. I always love getting to see them. To call these guys good musicians would be an understatement. I especially like when they cut loose with a fast number. I think that great bluegrass musicians are some of the best musicians in the world. It's not about playing fast. Anyone can play fast. It's about being able to play fast and clean. No sloppy instrumental licks found here. Now that said, they didn't play anything all that fast at this show and I think that's a shame. Still some beautiful playing and a strong set.
Next up: Rascal Flatts.
I'll be honest: I was looking forward to seeing them the most. Especially since they didn't play any of the night shows. I've loved them since they released "Prayin' for Daylight" all those years ago and they've still got it. They stunned a lot of fans by revealing that they'd almost broken up a couple of years ago, but thankfully for all of us they decided to stay together. Not only did they work through their problems, they came out on the other side stronger than they'd been before. They're making the best music of their career and it's like new life has been breathed into them. And if you ask me, that's pretty wonderful.
Making her Opry debut, this year's American Idol runner up, Kree Harrison was next. The country world was certainly abuzz about Kree all season and I finally decided to watch and see what all the fuss was about. And see how Keith Urban was doing as a judge in the process. Now some of you know this already, but I have grown to hate American Idol and I must say that the weeks I did watch this season only served to strengthen my opinion. I'm not going to go into all of that here, though I might in another post down the road. The point is that there was a whole lot of hype about Kree over the course of the season. A lot of people have even been gushing about her Opry debut. I will not be joining them.
Look, I think she's a very good singer. Not going to say otherwise, but for all the talk about how well she connects with what she sings, I have to say that I just didn't feel it. At all. I felt a pretty big disconnect in fact. Almost like she's thinking about the song instead of feeling it. I didn't care for her debut single, "All Cried Out". Great concept, bad execution. Speaking about the lyrics; not her delivery of them. It's a song about a woman who has cried so many tears that she doesn't have any left. We know this because she tells us. But that's all she tells us. There's no story here whatsoever. There's nothing in it that makes me care, there's no substance. I feel like this song got thrown together as fast as possible so she'd be able to release a single right away. I blame the Idol machine for this; not Kree herself. I'm not alone in this sentiment, though some of defended it by bringing up the tragedies she's faced in her past. But here's the thing: if you need to know a singer's life story to relate to a song than the song has failed. Songs need to stand on their own merit and this one doesn't. Because there's nothing in it to hold onto. Kree is a talented young woman and with the right songs may end up doing something. And maybe she'll win me over. We'll see. There's definite potential there. She just needs to have great songs. Here's hoping that they take the time to put together a solid album.
Closing the show was Mr. Keith Urban. A man you can always depend on to put on a great show. I'm so happy that we got to see him at this Opry show, especially since we ended up missing his set at LP Field.
He and his band put on a great set - his band being one of my favorite bands in country music. One of these days I'll have to put together a top ten list for country bands. These guys would definitely be on it. A very strong ending to a very strong show.
I feel like I kind of fast forwarded through the show itself, but there just wasn't much to say. I hope it was interesting anyway and if nothing else, that you enjoyed the pictures. Thanks for reading!
Comments
Post a Comment