Keep it Country: 100 years of the Grand Ole Opry

Linda Kenny singer
Evelyn Grant narrator
Damian Smith singer
Alan Carney piano/singer
​​​​​​​
The Singalong Songbook goes Country!

Just over 100 years ago, an insignificant radio station in Nashville, Tennessee began broadcasting a one-hour programme on Saturday nights. It was called WSN Barn Dance and it featured local musicians playing the traditional hill-billy music of the Appalacian Mountains, much of it brought across the Atlantic by Irish emigrants fleeing the Famine. 
To the surprise and delight of the managers, the programme took off … and how! Listeners tuned in from all across the USA. The name was changed to the “Grand Ole Opry”, and over the years it developed into a multi-million-dollar business, making Nashville the centre of the Country Music world.
“Keep it Country” looks back on a century of country hits, from the trailblazing twang of Hank Locklin and the rhinestone sparkle of Tammy Wynette, to the home-spun wisdom of Jim Reeves and more.
Come for the songs … and leave with the memories!

Presented by The Singalong Songbook