Blake Shelton Comments Reveal Deeper Opry Dilemma
The brushup revolving around Blake Shelton’s recent comments about country music’s classic country fans has mostly died down. Blake apologized, at least to Ray Price and other artists, while excluding angry fans, and later clarifying further by saying, “Still sad that Ray thought I was talking about artists. I was only referring to people who don’t like the new direction country is going.”
This story grew many tentacles, but one worth following a little deeper is Blake Shelton and his current membership at The Grand Ole Opry. Opry historian Byron Fay of Fayfare’s Opry Blog, called for Blake Shelton’s outright firing after his inflammatory comments. This may seem like a reactionary, bellicose opinion, but Byron Fay raised an excellent point. By not making even one appearance at the Opry in 2012, Blake Shelton is in unquestionable violation of the Opry’s long-standing membership rules.
According to the bylaws of The Opry, membership not only has to be earned, but maintained. In April of 1963, The Opry implemented a rule stating that members must make at least 26 appearances on the show per year to keep their membership active. Over the years, the amount of required appearances per year has dropped, though the appearance rule is still in effect. In 1964, Opry management dropped the amount of required performances to 20. Then in 2000, they dropped the requirement to 12.
The Opry does its best to be flexible with their appearance rules for superstar members. For example, if you are a high profile member and make an appearance on a Friday or Saturday, they give you 3 performance credits. But members are still expected to do at least a minimum number of shows each year or risk losing membership.
Blake Shelton was invited to become a member of The Opry on September 29th of 2010, and was officially inducted on October 23rd. 6 months later Blake Shelton became a judge for the reality TV singing contest The Voice on NBC, taped in Los Angeles. The TV show has drawn Blake’s ire a number of times by insisting on running multiple seasons of the contest in the same calendar year. At one point, both Season 3 and Season 4 were being taped simultaneously, while Blake had just released two albums. Furthermore, unlike many Opry members, Blake lives in Oklahoma, not Nashville, making his ability to fulfill his Opry obligations even less likely.
It is understandable that for some Opry members who’ve paid their dues to the institution for many years, performance rules could be more flexible. But Blake never created a tenure with the Opry.
The problem with the Opry’s performance rule is the same problem with The Grand Ole Opry’s current practices for inviting new members. The last three inductees to the Grand Ole Opry were Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, and Darius Rucker–all high-profile, big name members who have touring and label requirements outside of the their Opry obligations. Keith Urban, who was inducted into The Opry in April of 2012, just took the position as an American Idol judge.
Meanwhile traditional artists like Elizabeth Cook are the ones making the most Opry appearances annually, including filling many last-minute slots for big-name cancellations. Yet these Nashville-based artists that have fulfilled The Opry’s membership requirements many times over seem nowhere close to induction because of the Opry’s exclusive focus on only inducting members with superstar names recently.
In August of 1952, The Grand Ole Opry fired Hank Williams for missing practices and showing up drunk. We all know The Opry is not going to fire Blake Shelton, but if Opry membership or the institution itself is going to have any meaning moving forward, they must either adhere to their rules, reform them, or reform the membership process. Otherwise, it may be The Opry that is ignored, not just their loosely-defined and ill-followed rules.
January 28, 2013 @ 3:32 pm
I read online where many people are doing less appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. They listed the singers gigs on the show, and most were less than 12. It’s sad to see this happening and the Grand Ole Opry is closing in on it’s 90th Anniversary in 2015.
Will it survive to it’s 100th anniversary with a lot of the older stars getting up there with age?
It’s not just Blake, but a lot of the performers, even Alison Krauss is down in performances.
January 28, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
There was a separate issue I initially wanted to broach in this article, but decided it probably deserved its own article, and that is older traditional country performers feeling disillusioned with the current direction of the Opry and so they are no longer fulfilling their obligations either. Alison Krauss might be a good example, though I have no specific information that is the case. The main artist I am thinking of is Dolly Parton, whose also did not make an Opry appearance last year. Nobody will question her devotion to country music, but she was part of a business venture with The Opry to build a new Nashville theme park that fell through when Gaylor sold out to Marroitt. Complete speculation on my part, but I wonder if there is still some bad blood there. Parton seemed pretty disappointed about the sale and the restructuring of Gaylord.
Here’s the story about it:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/dolly-parton-pulls-out-of-theme-park-after-gaylord-sale-to-marriott
January 28, 2013 @ 4:37 pm
Trigger actually the link you posted is where I saw it at. He lists all the appearances by the Opry Members.
To me country music died inside of me when the charts change. I don’t know why, I just don’t know what is happening to country music.
I love country music old and new, and even have a book selling in the Country Music Hall of Fame. I haven’t been down there yet to promote it, but it is being sold next to Tom. T. Hall and he’s a member of the Opry, but haven’t been there in 20 years.
It’s like a false illusion, smoke and mirrors of what I saw as country music and it’s history. I feel sad for the state of country music.
I wish Gretchen Wilson was bigger than Carrie and Taylor. At least she had real country songs and made it exciting.
January 28, 2013 @ 3:40 pm
Alan Jackson has a song mocking outsiders who have suddenly “gone country.”
Everything that has been going on, and now the latest changes at the Opry, remind me of a yet unwritten song about the gatekeepers of the traditional genre who have all “gone corporate.”
Alan, get yer pen out…
January 28, 2013 @ 4:18 pm
I fear for the future of the Opry. Time will tell.
January 28, 2013 @ 4:56 pm
I actually got into an argument with a tour guide at the Ryman who claimed Johnny Cash had been “kicked off” the Opry for drunken exploits. I pointed him to the Cash autobiography they were selling in the gift shop that clearly said Cash had never been a member of the Opry officially, during that period…specifically because of the artist requirements.
January 28, 2013 @ 7:03 pm
If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t he still technically “kicked out” of the Opry, even though he wasn’t a member? I believe they didn’t let him play there for a while after he kicked out the lights, but my memory is very rusty; forgive me if I’m wrong.
January 28, 2013 @ 7:44 pm
You can be “kicked out” as a member, and then you can be “banned” from performing because non members perform on the Opry all the time.
January 28, 2013 @ 9:08 pm
dude,Elizabeth Cook…*drools from gaping maw*
January 29, 2013 @ 12:19 am
No reason Elizabeth Cook isn’t a bona fide country star, or at the least an Opry member. She is perfect for both.
January 29, 2013 @ 7:39 am
Love, love, love Elizabeth Cook. Have seen her three times and will always go see her and her stellar combo (her guitarslinger/singer/songwriter husband Tim Carroll and upright bass player Bones Hillman) when they come to town. Will admit that the first time I went to see her, a not insignificant part of my excitement was to witness her world class beauty up close. But man, did she and the boys deliver! And she’s so damn charismatic, too.
Speaking of country music evolving, she is the type of artist that I would be rooting for. She certainly is grounded in traditional country, but has her own unique artistry. Apparently when she plays the Opry, she’s forbidden from playing some of her more edgy songs like Balls, Yes to Booty and El Camino.
January 28, 2013 @ 9:44 pm
I bet there’s something to your point Trigg about the older members & artists not coming around as much or at all. Darius Rucker & Rascal Flatts??? Sound like a good reason to stay away if you ask me.
January 28, 2013 @ 10:15 pm
He should have never been inducted in the first place. I don’t blame him for not liking people like me, I’m trying to sustain tradition not destroy it. Long live real country.
January 28, 2013 @ 10:31 pm
If anyone knows more about the Opry and memberships its the Williams family. Hell Hank III’s song The Grand Ole Opry Ain’t So Grand Anymore turned me on to the wrong doing and the wrong directions that both country music and the Opry is going. Country music is so congested with different artists with different takes on what country is I can’t even decide for myself who is truly country anymore. I thought Blake was country until his recent comments. I really thought he was in touch with the roots of country. Only to find out he is just another one of those superstars with a huge ego that kisses ass on music row. What aggravates me is the fact that Music Row cares nothing about the roots of which this music genre has come from. Last season on American Idol the country singing spit fire Skylar Laine had a voice and a nack for the old school country that impressed me a hell alot better than that Scotty McReary from the year before. She has two Idol’s Miranda Lambert and Waylon Jennings, and she can combine the two the new mixed with the old. But no, she is voted off… probably for the better so she wouldn’t end up on Music Row. But it’s almost true to what Blake said, that they don’t want to hear the old anymore. It’s tragic that country is heading in the direction that it is, but it’s not going to be saved by egomaniac Blake Shelton. If country is going to be saved with will be saved by the people and the fans who really know what country is about.
January 28, 2013 @ 10:46 pm
When the official CMT (Country Music Television) Facebook Fan Page has about three and a half times more total “Likes” than the Grand Ole Opry has for theirs, you know we’re in a sad state of affairs! =/
January 29, 2013 @ 12:20 am
Maybe the Opry needs to freshen up their presentation with things like Redneck Vacation and Swamp Pawn. That’ll get the kids tuning in!
January 29, 2013 @ 3:40 pm
He’s been very busy these last couple of years.Like you said,he has the all important reality show to film,has twitter obligations to look cool to his teen and tween fans,has music videos to shoot with songs that all sound the same now,and is busy covering Classic Country songs by Michael Buble,Linole Richie and Kenny Loggins.And now he has to rehearse “jokes” for the the ACM awards..Who’s got time for the Opry??
January 30, 2013 @ 6:23 pm
I believe , in the old days (pre-2000), quite a few Opry members lost (at least temporarily) their membership for failing to appear the mininum number of shows a year.I believe that happened to Connie Smith while her children were small and she wouldn’t appear all the time on the Opry….
January 31, 2013 @ 7:09 am
In Blake’s own words he can “kiss my country ass”.
August 6, 2013 @ 10:51 am
Looks to me like Blake Shelton is the latest of a long line of performers to let success go to his head.
I doubt the opry has the guts to fire him, but they should, if they do, I will make a trip down there and buy tickets the very next week just to show my support.
I guess Blake Shelton figures he invented country music.
June 13, 2015 @ 7:16 am
This is a little off-subject, but it has to do with the Opry. It’s just my opinion, but performers who secretly use pre-recorded tracks during live stage shows are ripping off fans. I’m a bass player. So as you might guess, I always watch the bass player. I was watching the bass player recently at the Opry and noticed that once the bass player took his hands off the bass momentarily, maybe to scratch an itch — but when he did, the bass kept on right on playing anyway! That revealed to me the sad fact that there was a track playing and I was not hearing what they were performing, but some pre-recorded stuff. I know that’s done in lots of shows, and often the performers on stage are lip-synching, pretending to sing and play, and the audience is just listening to a recording. Even if it was those very artists who pre-recorded it in a studio, I don’t like being fooled! I can listen to recordings at home without buying expensive tickets.