Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:116 5th Ave. N
Nashville, Tennessee
Tel:
(615) 458-8700
Feel the spirit of the country music legends! This original home of the Grand Ole Opry is a key piece of music history and an ever-popular venue, even today, for music history in the making.
Originally the Union Gospel Tabernacle, the Ryman Auditorium was built by Thomas Ryman, a riverboat captain and Nashville businessman. In its heyday, many country music greats performed at the Ryman including Roy Acuff, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Emmylou Harris. The Auditorium was used for Grand Ole Opry broadcasts from 1943 until 1974 when the Opry built a larger venue just outside Nashville at the Opryland USA theme park. In 1994, the Ryman Auditorium was restored and reopened as a performance venue and museum. Today audiences at the Ryman still sit in pews, a reminder of the auditorium's origins as a house of worship.
The museum displays photographs and memorabilia of past performances that provide a history of both the facility and the music that visitors can self-tour and explore. For the real deal, however, visitors are encouraged to catch a live performance or two. There are plenty of musicians from other genres besides country who perform at Ryman including alternative, bluegrass, and blues singers just to name a few, as well as stand up comedy shows.
The Ryman Auditorium is a great attraction for the whole family to enjoy and easy to get to. Simply take the I-40 to Broadway, turn east on Broadway (towards downtown and Cumberland River) and make a left on 5th Avenue North - Ryman is on your immediate right. A trip to the Ryman Auditorium is a must, and not just for music lovers, so be sure not to miss this fantastic piece of American history.
From Ryman Auditorium & Museum - Nashville, Tennessee:
The Ryman Auditorium first opened its doors in 1892 as a vision of Captain Thomas G. Ryman. With the coming of the Grand Ole Opry show in 1943, the Ryman found its identity as the Mother Church of Country Music. In 1974, the Opry moved to its current home by the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center and left the Ryman vacant. It was not until twenty years later in 1994 that the Ryman was restored to be the national showplace that it is today. Musicians ranging from Roy Acuff to James Brown and Patsy Cline to Sheryl Crow have performed on the Ryman stage, making it a historical as well as a current-day icon for people everywhere.