A mother-daughter visit to the Grand Ole Opry
Nashville has been on my list of places to visit for a long time, for its Southern hospitality and hot chicken—but mostly for its music scene. From the live music in the honky tonks on Broadway to the world-class recording studios set inside homes with wraparound porches and shade trees out front, to the “Mother Church of Country Music” otherwise known as the Ryman to the polished but still down-home country variety show at the Grand Ole Opry: I was not disappointed.
I grew up on country music. As a kid, my favorite CD was Reba’s greatest hits: I knew all of the words to Fancy and The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia and Little Rock far before I understood the implications of the stories that I was singing along to. When I was a teenager and we couldn’t agree on much else, my mom and I could at least agree on listening to the country music station in the car. I remember one of the first mix CDs I made for my mom (those early days of Limewire!) was filled with her requests, songs from the early days of country, like Barbara Mandrell and Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty that I didn’t recognize at the time but were played over and over again until I loved them. I remember driving back to college after a weekend at home and finding a note in my glove compartment along with a crisp $50 bill: “just like in the Carrie Underwood song (Don’t Forget to Remember Me, for those who aren’t familiar with the masterpiece of Carrie’s first album—it still makes me cry every time I listen to it, even as I write this). Even now, I listen to a pretty wide variety of music—but I have a special place in my heart for turning the country music up and rolling the windows down when I’m on long drives through the wide open California valleys.
So when the opportunity came up to visit the Grand Ole Opry and explore the city of Nashville, I jumped at the chance—and invited my mom to come along! Not only were we long overdue for a mother-daughter trip, but my mom had never been to the South before: getting to experience a new city together, especially a city with so many activities grounded in a shared interest. Bonus: getting to introduce my mom to sweet tea and hot chicken and a Kimpton hotel! 
The quick history on the Grand Ole Opry: it started as a radio show all the way back in the 1920s, and in 1943, it moved to the Ryman Auditorium and become a standard Saturday night musical tradition on national radio. It’s still the longest running radio broadcast in U.S. history (you can still listen to the live show on the radio every Saturday night) and it showcases a mix of country, bluegrass, folk and gospel music. Being invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry is still one of country music’s crowning achievements, and being asked to perform on its stage can be a huge opportunity for an up-and-coming artist. We toured the Ryman Auditorium on our first morning in Nashville, which was so helpful to get a sense of how deep country music roots go in the city. It was also so nice to see the original home of the Opry and learn more of its history before seeing a show in the beautiful new venue (that opened in the early 1990s). 
The Grand Ole Opry is currently located about 25 minutes outside of the city: it’s located right next to a huge mall (with outlets!) and the Opryland Resort. If we had planned things a little better, we would have tried to get there earlier to have dinner at one of the resort’s restaurants (7pm shows always throw me for a loop because that is just when I’m hungry for dinner!) or do a bit of shopping at the mall (my mom is 100% reading this and saying: make sure to tell them how big and nice the mall looked!). There is a food truck outside that looked delicious, but go early: we were in line when they announced that they had totally sold out of food!
One of the most fun—and unique—things about the experience is that it’s basically a variety show. I have a very short attention span and get distracted very easily, and this format was perfect to keep me engaged the whole time! There’s a mix of new artists, super established singers, comedians, and even square dancers on Saturday nights! Everyone performs two or three songs, and then it’s on the next. Our show had Jackie Lee (an up-and-comer with a few songs I’ve been loving on the Spotify Hot Country playlist—which is my go-to for artist discovery), Shonda Pierce (a comedian), the McCrary Sisters (an amazing local gospel group who had the greatest energy), John Barry and so many more!
We were able to do a VIP backstage tour about halfway through the show, which was such a highlight! It was so neat to be in the same spaces where all of the country greats have been, especially being able to take a peek into the dressing rooms. So wild to get to see the spot where celebs like Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood prepare before shows!
It was also so cool to actually see the view from behind the performer on the stage. There are a couple of pews at the back of the stage, which are invite-only: the only way you can get that view is if the artist on stage invites you. If you pay attention during the show, you’ll see different people getting up and switching out in between acts: that’s friends and family settling in for an act, and then going backstage with the artist once their set is over! One of the other defining features of the Grand Ole Opry is that it’s a such a launchpad for the careers of new country artists, and getting asked to perform on the Grand Ole Opry stage is a huge honor. 
Another really fun part of getting to go backstage: seeing, and even meeting, the artists. We ran into Jackie Lee, who was SO friendly and personable and lovely. It’s always so nice to be reminded that the people on the stage are real people, too! Now I’m very ready for Jackie to get very popular and famous so I can say I met him way back when.
One of the things that I also appreciated was how family friendly it was. I can count the number of times I’ve heard my mom curse on one hand (and if you don’t think my mom hasn’t emailed me the few times that I’ve used a swear word on a blog post…) and even as a grown-up, it’s the most awkward to listen to R-rated songs or comedy acts—so I was relieved that all of the songs and jokes were great without having any questionable material. The audience around us ranged from a family with their young kids (two little boys in matching shirts to their dad—too adorable!) to a couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, so rest assured: the content is fun and engaging and appropriate for all ages.
This is just a fun fact that appealed to me as a lover of snail mail: every member of the Grand Ole Opry has P.O. box, and so you can write to any of your favorite country stars c/o Grand Ole Opry and it will go straight to their mailbox next to the dressing rooms. Tempted to write a fan letter to Reba telling her how much she inspired me as a kid!
We had SO much fun, and I feel so lucky to have been able to share this experience with my mom. My only regret: we booked this weekend ages ago before the official schedule came out, and we were just ONE WEEK off from seeing Carrie Underwood! She’s performing this weekend, and since both my mom and I are such big Carrie fans, kind of dying that we were so close to seeing her in such an intimate setting. That said, we’re already talking about going back–and might just have to be a little more strategic about seeing a star!
Note that the Grand Ole Opry kindly invited me to Nashville to experience a show, but all opinions are my own.
