Carrie Underwood Invited to Become Grand Ole Opry Member: Can I Say “I Told You So?”

Of course this is a calculated move to bring in a younger audience to the Opry.

Inducting Ashton Shepherd–who possesses genuine, nuanced vocal talent and whose songs are not pop candy–will counterbalance this.

Ashton Shepherd may not be the next, but I’d be surprised if she didn’t make it an album or two down the line (this is of course assuming that her first album sells well in the first place).

There is no true set criteria for induction.

i didn’t really mean criteria. i meant that i think he follows some of the important guidelines that go in to picking an artist, he is traditional country, he makes good quality music and he has been very successful recently. if they’re picking younger artists, why not him?

Ok, I got ya.

There are a lot of people out there that in my opinion would make welcomed inducteesand to be honest, who would turn it down?

I really don’t see Carrie Underwood leaving the country scene any day soon, so she’s welcomed in my opinion, and she is extremely talented to boot. If you think through, Carrie had a development deal that fell through before American Idol.

It didn’t take Dierks very long to be inducted either. They really are gunning for a younger audience.

I’d like to see Tracy Lawrence, Mark Chesnutt, Neal McCoy, and Tracy Byrd be inducted. They’ve all contributed more than their fair share to the country music market and quality music as a whole.

If the Opry wants to get people in the door - Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, and Toby Keith would all be perfect inductees. But after the feather-ruffling, I’m not sure how much of a chance Toby would stand. These artists also don’t really spend time playing the Opry.

Tracy Lawrence’s commercial appeal is coming back ten fold. You never know who might have the big hit tomorrow, if you would have asked not too long ago, Clay Walker would have never had a hit again - but look at him now.

I think the Opry needs to balance filling the seats and tradition.

That’s alright if they lose their voices, their songs are what matter - it’s human nature. But I was AMAZED at how well Jim Ed Brown can still belt it out!

The Opry is a bit about cheesy comedy that makes for good entertainment, and nobody’s better at delivering the one-liners than the old guys and gals who may not have the strongest voice anymore.

I think it’s a fantastic “commercial” choice. My only question is where will this take the Opry in the future? Can you imagine an Opry down the road being dominated by Carrie, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum? The younger demographic (which the Opry is going for here) may demand it. Many people who review Carrie’s videos, CDs and concerts (same as those other artists) always start their reviews with “I hate country music…” (citing the twang, the traditional instruments, the simple and redneck themes…)

It would be great if these young fans start with Carrie and then move on to the more traditional (new and old) and back into country music’s history, but I can’t see that happening. It would be sad if the Opry went the direction of country radio…

Asking reigning country Queen Carrie to join the Opry makes perfect economic sense as it will guarantee big audiences. If this is Pete Fisher’s new direction, then I’d expect Taylor Swift to be next in short succession to quote “get them while they’re hot”.

The current Opy shows are filled with so many past their prime older performers that its become half-way between a Branson show and Vaudeville act which is a shame. For the typical Nashville tourist audience members that never listen to the Opry on the radio the current format may be okay. For regular listeners having the same older artists singing mostly the same songs show after show week after week is tedious.

I would love to see the Opry embrace the more traditional artists that had radio hits starting in the 1980’s and onward. I don’t get tired of hearing John Conlee (okay he started in the 70’s), T. Graham Brown, or Hal Ketchum as their voices are still in top form and they sing great songs to boot. Fully functional artists of that caliber that live in the Nashville area and are willing to be regulars would be my first choice over pop-country princesses….

I would love to see Rascal Flatts become members. I mean they outsold every artist in every genre of music last year. I am not sure what more criteria you need

I’d rather see Bon Jovi invited to the Opry than Rascal Flatts….at least BJ can sing and in tune live!

Lisa: No.

Lisa: That was me expressing my disagreement with your comments. While I know that what is good and “country” are subjective and I know it would be boring if everyone agreed with everyone else, but calling Rascall Flatts “amazing” is beyond me. Keep on bobbin’ that head, I guess….

I second that Lisa! : )