Grand Ole Opry: OPRY 100 with Ashley McBryde

The Read

McBryde writes country songs about people who have made a mess of something and are not especially sorry. She sings them in a voice with real grain in it, and she has been unusually good at holding onto that edge while playing rooms this size. On an Opry bill she gets a short set, which tends to concentrate rather than dilute what she does. The format is the oldest variety-show logic in town: a handful of artists, short sets, fast turnover, a live broadcast keeping everyone honest on time. Every performer steps onto the six-foot circle of wood cut from the Ryman stage. The rest of the lineup fills in closer to the date, which is part of the deal — you are buying the format as much as the bill.

The Room

Grand Ole Opry House

2804 Opryland Dr

The Opry left the Ryman on March 15, 1974. President Nixon played piano on opening night. Roy Acuff supervised the installation of the circle of wood cut from the Ryman stage.