The Ryman Auditorium

Last Sunday i toured the Ryman Auditorium.
The backstage tour was around 30 minutes long and was a great insight into the history of country music and the venue it's self.
Originally opened in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, built by Tomas Ryman as a place for the Revivalist Samuel  Porter Jones to preach.
In 1943 the Ryman was home to The Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast until 1974, it is still used for 3 months of the year as the home of the Opry.

The tour focused mainly on the country stars that graced the stage, which of course was to be expected but for anybody interested in music you should know about this venue, many starts of the Rock world have played here and many other genres too. Of course Johnny Cash taped his TV show at the Ryman, this was four years after he had been banned from the building for losing his temper with a microphone stand and preceding to smash the bulbs lighting the stage front . Johnny Cash brought in all different forms of music to the Ryman for his TV show, including Bob Dylan, Louie Armstrong and Neil Young.

Neil Young later recorded a live show at the venue for a DVD release, watching the DVD was the first time i became aware of the venue and its history, this made me want to visit the Ryman one day.

As i walked around back stage, we were led into the Johnny and June dressing room, then the Hank Williams dressing room, each room we were told stories about the stars they were named after and the other stars that used the rooms through history. It was a fantastic tour and i would recommend it to anybody coming to Nashville, even if you aren't a big country fan. The tour guides are very good and have a deep knowledge of the history.

There are shows on at the Ryman every week, Ringo Star played last week, with a group of specials guests joining him on stage. I hope to go to a few Ryman shows while i'm here in Nashville.

Stay tuned!