Grand Ole Opry: Be Better At Reading The Room

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Jelly Roll being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry (photo: Chris Hollo)

Before we get too deep here, let’s just put to bed this idea that country music’s most storied institution is on some sort of dramatic wayward trajectory that’s unprecedented in its history, and is worth hyperventilating over, or sounding some red alert about, or proposing boycotts because of. Give it a rest. People have been whining over Grand Ole Opry decisions since the very start of the program 100 years ago, and they’ll be doing it for 100 more. We argue and criticize because we care. It’s water cooler talk.

Every single generation at some point thought their version of the Opry was so off track it would end up in the ditch, and for various and sometimes disparate reasons. Some thought it wasn’t being gatekept properly, while simultaneously others believed it was too insular and was being gatekept too harshly. And at any given time, both opinions could be correct.

You go back and study the tenure of Grand Ole Opry General Managers like Jim Denny in the 1950s, or more recently with Pete Fisher who was the manager from 1999 to 2017, and it makes modern day concerns about who might get an Opry debut or what they post on social media look like a popcorn fart.

Jim Denny was the man who presided over the firing of Hank Williams. Ott Devine banned Johnny Cash in 1965 for smashing out the footlights. Bud Wendell banned Jerry Lee Lewis in 1973 after a raucous performance. Pete Fisher faced lawsuits after he forced out all the “older” performers on the Opry and had Stonewall Jackson, Charlie Louvin, and other country legends speaking out.

That doesn’t mean that the current gripes about the Opry aren’t legitimate. The Grand Ole Opry does seem to have lost any sort of finger on the pulse of how the public feels about certain artists and subjects with many of its recent decisions.

Recently, gripes went up by some Opry faithful when pop star Sam Smith was given an Opry debut on October 21st, including pearl clutching about how in the past, Sam has dressed up like Satan on stage. Sure, someone like Sam Smith probably has no business being on the Grand Ole Opry stage, especially when other, more deserving country artists have still not received that opportunity. That goes without saying.

But people seem to forget how Bob Wills stirred controversy by bringing drums out on stage, or how The Byrds got booed because they were from California, or how Morgan Wallen caused an uproar when he jumped on stage to sing a duet in the aftermath of the ‘N-word incident,” and appears to be banned still to this day.

You’re pissed that Sam Smith played the Opry and want to act like it’s unprecedented? Ten years ago, The Opry was catching hell for booking a woman who’d gone viral for wearing a Chewbacca mask who came to be known as “Chewbacca Mom.” At least Sam Smith is a musician, and one of some note. These concerns are a century old.

Recently a social media account called Country Music Time Machine came out not just criticizing Sam Smith for appearing on the Opry, but all the older artists not calling the decision out, and the media for not reporting on it. The outlet now says they are no longer talking about the Opry at all after this irresponsible “incident.” Again, I’m not here to defend Sam Smith playing the Grand Ole Opry. But to act like older Opry artists and media outlets are culpable for not drawing a line in the sand is ridiculous. Frankly, I had no idea Sam Smith even played the Opry until afterwards.

Saving Country Music criticized how Chewbacca Mom was on the Opry in 2016 by saying, “Meanwhile worthwhile country music talent like Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, and many more have never made appearances on the Opry.”

But you know what’s happened since then? Both Cody Jinks and Whitey Morgan received their Grand Ole Opry debuts. More artists have been debuting on the Grand Ole Opry stage in the last few years than ever before. Long-time Opry performers who deserved outright induction such as Neal McCoy, Kathy Mattea, Charlie Worsham, Suzy Boggus, Steve Earle, T. Graham Brown, and other have been inducted recently.

The current tenure of Grand Ole Opry General Manager Dan Rogers has arguably been one of the best in the entire institution’s history. He’s making sure loyal performers are being honored, and the institution has opened itself up to many more deserving debuts. If anything, the issue is that it’s opened itself up too much. That’s how someone like Sam Smith slips in.

The tenure of Dan Rogers has not been perfect. Far from it. But in the historical context, it’s been pretty darn good, but with the same sort of missteps that every era of the Opry has seen, most notably the induction of Jelly Roll as a permanent member. Sam Smith playing the Opry passes so quickly because it’s a one-off thing. Jelly Roll’s membership will be forever.

But really, where the Opry is continuously failing is in its messaging, it’s social media strategy, and most importantly, it’s lack of a broad and informed perspective. Recently, the Opry doesn’t seem to have a bead on the pulse of country fans, and specifically, the show’s constituents. The Reinstate Hank debacle earlier this year is a perfect example of this where it wasn’t just the decision to not Reinstate Hank, but how they made a strange public pronouncement about it that only dramatically exacerbated the situation.

The Grand Ole Opry seems top have absolutely no clue that Jelly Roll has become one of the most polarizing, if not vilified Nashville entertainers on the planet. Morgan Wallen, eat your heart out. The left hates Jelly Roll because he’s a Jesus freak and is supposedly “coded red.” The right hates him because he went on Kimmel and made some harmless Trump jokes. Now, Jelly Roll is drifting in no man’s land, but in its infinite wisdom, the Opry continues to post about him on social media, and made him the “special guest” for their Dolly Parton tribute to the overwhelming chagrin of the Opry faithful.

Thinking Jelly Roll is cool is the equivalent of thinking AI is cool. The public hates that crap. Ironically, that Country Music Time Machine outlet that went nuclear over the Sam Smith performance posted an AI slop video of Roy Acuff “approving” Sam Smith for his Opry debut. That’s just as cringe as the Opry’s Sam Smith decision itself.

Recently the Opry posted a big, slickly-produced video of Stella Lefty’s Opry debut. As could have been expected, the Opry was slammed in the comments section. “*singer/songstealer there, corrected it for you,” the top comment says. It’s perfectly understandable why Stella Lefty got an Opry debut. She has one of the most popular songs in music right now. Would the Opry be better served by just letting that sleeping dog lie and let the bussed-in tourists see the debut for themselves and leave a post about it off social media? Absolutely.

Similar to people saying they’ve never heard Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” there is currently a lot of disconnect happening throughout society as people are siloed into their own realities by social media algorithms, and slanted news outlets.

In truth, the Opry is probably making these decisions perfectly ignorant of the controversies surrounding these performers. Craig Morgan, John Rich, or whatever other out-of-touch Opry lurker who bought the Jelly Roll redemption story hook, line, and sinker tells the Opry they should induct Jelly Roll, and they do. And whoever is doing the Opry’s social media especially needs to get their nose out from the Opry’s backstage, and spend some time in the greater information ecosystem.

The Grand Ole Opry is going to be fine. But it does need to understand that in this hyper-polarized moment, it has both a responsibility, and an opportunity to be a leader in uniting people and elevating the conversation instead of inadvertently lending to the online polarization and culture war.

The Opry and current manager Dan Rogers really came into their own and revitalized the institution during the pandemic when everything else was shut down. The Opry endured, despite the cultural upheaval that gripped that moment. That’s the status the Opry needs to find again as an election in the United States looms, polarization online is at its peak, and people are looking for places to escape from it all instead of being led right back into it.

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