Running through Nashville is the Cumberland River, and in the 1880s it meant Nashville was a rough and tumble river town with saloons, gambling, and of course riverboats. Thomas Ryman was a man of the river, owning a successful riverboat company, and not exactly a man of God, but all that changed on May 10, 1885, when Ryman attended a revival by Sam Jones. Legend says Ryman came to taunt Jones, but instead he became a believer, and partnered with Jones to build a grand gathering place. It took seven years, but they succeeded and opened the Union Gospel Tabernacle in 1892. By the time Ryman passed away in 1904, he and the Tabernacle were beloved by the community, and Jones pushed for the auditorium to be renamed the Ryman Auditorium. The Ryman is an icon of Nashville, hosting concerts in the evening and tours during the day.

From the beginning, the Ryman welcomed everyone. It hosted Confederate soldier reunions, Booker T. Washington, Aimee Semple McPherson, Helen Keller, Sarah Bernhardt, President Teddy Roosevelt, along with opera and ballet. In 1920 Lula C. Naff arrived as the general manager for the Ryman. A woman in a man’s world, she brought in a variety of performers and speakers, later earning the nickname “high priestess of the Tabernacle.” Bela Lugosi, Harry Houdini, Harpo Marx, Ethel Barrymore, Mae West, Doris Day, Orson Welles, the Ink Spots, Roy Rogers along with wife Dale Evans and even his horse Trigger, Tallulah Bankhead, and Bob Hope all walked the Ryman stage, but it is a little radio show that really put the Ryman on the map.

In 1925 a Saturday night “barn dance” show on local radio station WSM had become quite popular, garnering the name “The Grand Ole Opry” After performing at several different venues, it needed a more stable home, and one to seat its large audience. Naff sealed the deal. Beginning June 5, 1943, the Grand Ole Opry began performing at the Ryman, and its popularity exploded. Through the Opry Bob Wills, Red Foley, Chet Atkins, Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, Marty Robbins, and Flatt & Scruggs, just to name a few, were brought into people’s homes.

Hank Williams first performed on the Opry in 1949, with a crowd so in love with him he came out for six encores, a record. Willams joined the Opry as a member the same year. Being a member (back then and today) requires a specific number of Opry appearances each year, sadly, due to Williams’ struggle with drugs and alcohol, he became increasingly unreliable, and was kicked out in 1952, only to pass away on New Year’s Day the following year at just 29.

Meanwhile, Elvis Presley was making quite the wave in Memphis with his version of “That’s All Right” and Sam Phillips of Sun Records sought to get Elvis more exposure. Through his friendship with Ryman’s Jim Denny, Phillips landed Elvis a spot on the Grand Ole Opry as part of Hank Snow’s portion on October 2, 1954. But there was a catch. Denny said that Elvis was not allowed to play “That’s All Right” but instead had to perform “Blue Moon of Kentucky” the B side of “That’s All Right.” It’s said the audience’s response was not the kind we associate with Elvis performances of screaming and crying, but instead lukewarm applause. It would be Elvis’ one and only appearance on the Opry stage.

In 1955, Lula C. Naff retired, but the Opry’s popularity only continued to grow, thanks to the seeds she planted, transforming the Ryman into “the Carnegie Hall of the South.” The next year Johnny Cash made his debut on the Opry, and met June Carter backstage, falling in love with her instantly. Like Williams, Cash battled drugs and alcohol, and during on Opry performance he smashed the stage lights, and the Opry gave him the boot. However, Cash, unlike Williams, overcame his addictions, and was later reinstated.

Through the 1950s and 1960s the likes of Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tex Ritter, Porter Wagoner, and Hank Snow performed, and when Johnny Cash got his own show, he taped it at the Ryman.

While the Ryman is a must-visit in Nashville, I wanted to go because of its ties to one of my favorite musicians, Gram Parsons. On March 15, 1968, The Byrds performed on the Grand Ole Opry, and are considered to be the first rock band on both the Ryman stage and the Opry. With push from founding Byrd Chris Hillman, and new member Gram Parsons, The Byrds were going in a country direction, and were in Nashville recording their album Sweetheart of the Rodeo at Columbia. Through Columbia the band were able to be guests on the Glaser Brothers’ portion of the Opry, with Tompall Glaser acting as emcee. What would happen would be another layer to the Gram Parsons myth, showcasing his ego and unpredictable behavior that would prove to be part of his downfall.

Fellow founding Byrd Roger McGuinn recalled the night, “The Grand Ole Opry was cold – we were interlopers and they were leery of us…They didn’t know if we were sincere or making fun of their music. They knew we were hippies, and there was a good deal of polarity…Gram was ecstatic – his grandmother used to listen to the Opry all of the time. For him it was like going to Nirvana.” Hillman remembers the audience as “hostile” and there were shouts of “Cut your hair!” McGuinn believed their hair at the time to have been “short by L.A. standards, but…insane by Nashville standards.”

There is disagreement regarding which two songs were to be played, two Parsons biographies say it was two Merle Haggard covers, “Sing Me Back Home” and “Life in Prison” however Hillman’s autobiography says they were to perform the band’s next single, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” written by Bob Dylan, and “Sing Me Back Home.” Regardless of what the plan was, the performance did not go according to it, and the Opry was all about planning due to it being a live radio show with strict timing; you needed perform the songs you said you were going to perform.

After their first song, the Byrds received a less than enthusiastic response. Pedal steel player Lloyd Green recalls booing, and said “I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl off the stage.” What followed didn’t impress the audience either. Glaser introduced the next song, but Parsons, overcome with emotion or ego spoke up to say they were going to perform “Hickory Wind” an original Parsons had written, and dedicated it to his grandmother. This did not go over well. Glaser supposedly turned red, and described as “fucking livid” by the Byrds’ manager, Jimmi Seiter, and Glaser yelled at Parsons after the performance. Needless to say, the Byrds were not invited back. Sweetheart didn’t sell well, but is now thought of as the “big bang” creating the country-rock genre. Ironically, when Sweetheart of the Rodeo turned 50 in 2018, McGuinn and Hillman reunited for an anniversary tour, and played the Ryman. For my visit, I had to wear my Sweetheart tee from when I saw the anniversary show in LA.

By the late 1960s the Ryman was showing its age. Its lack of proper dressing rooms and AC made it unpleasant at times for performers and audience members alike. On March 15, 1974, the Opry had its last broadcast at the Ryman, but it knew it couldn’t leave without something from the now sacred auditorium. The Opry cut a circular portion of the stage floor to place at their new home.

With the Opry gone, the Ryman fell silent with only tourists visiting. It became more dilapidated with each passing year, and thought to be beyond hope, despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. During the late 1970s and through the 1980s, a variety of movies filmed at the Ryman, many of course about country music, including John Carpenter’s TV film Elvis with Kurt Russell, Coal Miner’s Daughter, where Opry icons Minnie Pearl and Ernest Tubb played themselves with Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn, Honkytonk Man with Clint Eastwood, and the Patsy Cline biopic Sweet Dreams.

Just as a woman had filled the Ryman, it would be another woman who would save it, Emmylou Harris. Harris recored a live album simply titled At the Ryman, its acclaim, including winning a Grammy, drew attention to the hallowed halls. With new found enthusiasm, it was decided the Ryman was worth saving. Updates were made at a cost of $8.5 million, which included moving the entrance to the back, as the original lobby proved too small, and the Ryman officially reopened on June 4, 1994, becoming a National Historic Landmark in 2001.

Since its reopening the diversity of performers at the Ryman has continued, including Bob Dylan, Beck, Lenny Kravitz, Harry Connick Jr., Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Bruce Springsteen, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, The Chicks, Jon Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Neil Young, Keith Urban, Mumford & Sons, Jack White, Coldplay, Ringo Starr, Wu-Tang Clan, and Trixie Mattel & Katya.

There are a variety of ways to experience the Ryman, with the first of course being to take in a show. There are multiple tours offered as well, including a self-guided tour. Patrick and I opted for the VIP tour, which included backstage access with a tour guide and lasted roughly two hours, and we were invited to stay and explore the exhibits after our tour.

Tour or catch a show at the Ryman Auditorium, located in the heart of Nashville at 116 5th Avenue North. Learn more about tour options and upcoming shows on their website.

What’s Nearby?

The Johnny Cash Museum

Sources
“Captain Tom Ryman: Captain. Skeptic. Convert.” Ryman, 2 November 2022.
Eiland, William U. Nashville’s Mother Church: The History of Ryman Auditorium. Grand Ole Opry, LLC, 1992, 2014. Print.
“Grand Ole Opry: 1943-1974.” Ryman, 2 November 2022.
Hillman, Chris. Time Between: My Life as. Byrd, Burrito Brother, and Beyond. BMG, 2020. Print.
“History” Ryman.
Kealing, Bob. Calling Me Home: Gram Parsons and the Roots of Country Rock. University Press of Florida, 2012. Print.
Meyer, David N. Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music. Villard, 2007. Print.
“Ryman Renovations: Reviving the Mother Church.” Ryman, 2 November 2022.
Vaughn, Lane. “From Lula to Emmylou: The Women Who Saved the Ryman.” Ryman, 4 March 2025.
Windsor, Paul. “New Exhibit Looks Back At The Night Elvis Presley Performed On The Grand Ole Opry.” Forbes, 4 June 2024.