Thursday, April 28, 2005
Little opry brought in the big stars
From the Louisville Courier-Journal
Lincoln Hamilton was just a boy when his parents, Dwayne and Esther Hamilton, joined five other investors 30 years ago to create a country-music hall outside Nashville.
"When they'd get on the phone to try to book somebody like Loretta Lynn or Conway Twitty and find out they cost $3,500 or $4,000, it was like, 'Oh, my God.' Back then, that was a lot of money," Hamilton recalled.
"At the time, just about everyone wanted to be paid in cash before the show," he said. "They didn't even believe there was such a place. 'The Little Nashville Opry? You say it's an old horse barn where?' "
The old horse barn west of Nashville went into business on April 4, 1975, with country star Cal Smith as the headliner and a little-known up-and-comer named Mickey Gilley opening the show.
Thirty years later, the auditorium is still going strong. And no veteran country-music artist or fan needs any reassurance that The Little Nashville Opry is the real deal.
Misenheimer said opening for Twitty, Rogers and Alabama stand out as some of his best memories.
"That was back when artists had staying power," the veteran player observed. "Nowadays the business is kind of shallow. Hit it while you're hot and don't worry about quality. Stars come and go real fast these days."
Hamilton talks about a changing business as well. "Some artists today, you could offer them a million dollars and they wouldn't come because they don't play places that can't hold 10,000 people," he complained. "I don't get it, frankly. But they just won't do it. You say 2,000 seats and that's the end of the conversation."
Read the article
Louisville Courier-Journal
Lincoln Hamilton was just a boy when his parents, Dwayne and Esther Hamilton, joined five other investors 30 years ago to create a country-music hall outside Nashville.
"When they'd get on the phone to try to book somebody like Loretta Lynn or Conway Twitty and find out they cost $3,500 or $4,000, it was like, 'Oh, my God.' Back then, that was a lot of money," Hamilton recalled.
"At the time, just about everyone wanted to be paid in cash before the show," he said. "They didn't even believe there was such a place. 'The Little Nashville Opry? You say it's an old horse barn where?' "
The old horse barn west of Nashville went into business on April 4, 1975, with country star Cal Smith as the headliner and a little-known up-and-comer named Mickey Gilley opening the show.
Thirty years later, the auditorium is still going strong. And no veteran country-music artist or fan needs any reassurance that The Little Nashville Opry is the real deal.
Misenheimer said opening for Twitty, Rogers and Alabama stand out as some of his best memories.
"That was back when artists had staying power," the veteran player observed. "Nowadays the business is kind of shallow. Hit it while you're hot and don't worry about quality. Stars come and go real fast these days."
Hamilton talks about a changing business as well. "Some artists today, you could offer them a million dollars and they wouldn't come because they don't play places that can't hold 10,000 people," he complained. "I don't get it, frankly. But they just won't do it. You say 2,000 seats and that's the end of the conversation."
Read the article
Louisville Courier-Journal
# posted by Dave Sichak @ 9:14 PM 
