Wow! What a great idea and a great thread. My first reaction is to join the movement and help revitalize the Opry. I well remember attending the Opry—still in the Ryman—and feeling so great when I realized the most applause all night was for Mother Maybelle Carter playing a solo—probably &ldlquo;Liberty”—on the autoharp. Of course the stage managers couldn't get her off fast enough. And even Mother Maybelle had to endure the guy with the snare drum standing behind her a little way.

The thing is, though, nearly all of the wonderful acts that played back then had originally joined the Opry on the strength of their commercial success. In its heyday, the Opry wasn't a rest home it was the vibrant center of a growth industry. Its format and success came directly from the avarice of greedy executives looking for a way to exploit the musicians and listeners for maximum ROI.

I agree that music industry executives are completely out of touch but, as others have suggested, I'm not sure there is a paying audience for the Opry we all remember so fondly. The festival idea might work but we'd probably need commercial sponsors. The Opry stars always worked for scale which, at the time I made the trek, was well under USD $30. The show was supported by sponsors who lined up because WSM is a clear channel station and WSM had the radio audience to make it pay off for advertisers. Musicians were expected to be there a certain minimum number of Saturday nights and make their money through record sales and personal appearances.

What sort of model might be self sustaining today?

      - Mark