Amy Grant w/ Vince Gill

The Read

Grant and Gill have been doing this at the Ryman for years, and the show has hardened into a shape: carols, hymns, a few of their own, guest players, extended family energy. Grant essentially defined the modern Christmas record for a generation of listeners. Gill sings harmony behind her and then takes one himself that quietly ruins people. The room does the rest. The Ryman in December, with the pews full and the sound as good as it gets in this country, is the closest Nashville comes to a civic holiday ritual. A midweek night in the middle of the run is usually the relaxed one — less occasion, more music. Expect a crowd that has been coming annually for a decade.

The Room

Ryman Auditorium

116 5th Ave N

Built in 1892 as a tabernacle by river captain Thomas Ryman, who was converted at a Sam Jones revival — little did he know it would become the church of American roots music.