I'm sure you've noticed the Union County Opry signs posted at the Maynardville city limits. I know I have, and we're not the only ones. Middlesboro resident, William Isom, who drives to Knoxville to work each weekday, noticed them also.
Last July, he got curious and contacted the Union County Chamber of Commerce, who put him in contact with Union County Commissioner Danny Cooke for more information. Getting the details of the location and show times, Isom attended the August and September performances and, as a community service, shot footage to capture the venue and the entertainment offered to attendees.
You see, Isom just happens to work for East Tennessee Public Broadcasting Service. On November 26, 2019, East Tennessee Life aired a segment featuring Union County Opry. Isom, who has been a huge supporter, also recommended the Opry for the Be More award. Sponsored by Home Federal Bank, this award recognizes non-profit organizations that have made a positive impact in their community.
Opry organizers attended a breakfast last week honoring past recipients of the Be More award. Among them were organizations with programs for tutoring kids and helping the hearing impaired—a humbling crowd to be in for sure. The event announcer proclaimed that all people need a place to get away and clear their mind, and that is what the Opry provides.
East Tennessee Public Broadcasting Service is looking at also using Union County High School to film their show "Riders of the Silver Screen" and is helping to promote the Opry with segments on the upcoming shows. Local ABC television broadcaster WATE also supports the Opry by promoting upcoming events.
The idea of an Opry was sparked in October of 2018. County commissioners Danny Cooke, Sidney Jessee, Jr. and Debra Keck attended a 5-year planning meeting at Big Ridge to plan goals for the state park. One goal discussed was to have an amphitheater to be able to host concerts and maybe pick up the fall festival that the Museum of Appalachia no longer hosts.
Jessee proposed that an amphitheater would create an opportunity to create Union County Opry. Then Cooke thought, we don't have to wait for the amphitheater, we could start an Opry now! He didn't get any sleep that night as thoughts were flying through his head and he called Jessee and Keck the next morning who were on board to move forward. The Opry is organized as a 501(c)3 with Jessee serving as president, Cooke as vice-president, and Keck as the secretary/treasurer. They first reached out to the Director of Schools Dr. Jimmy Carter, and Union County High School principal/administrator Carmen Murphy about using the High School. Then they got busy planning the entertainment. Knowing that the Lions Club hosts a fundraising gospel singing each March, they decided to plan a nine-month program April through December.
The first show in April 2019 was a tribute to our musical heritage in which 15 local bands participated. Cooke said they had issues with the sound system, and with getting one band off of the stage and the next band on and all the equipment changes it turned into a five-hour show! It seemed like a total disaster. Yet, people came the next month and supported the Moron Brothers, who had the crowd laughing for a solid two hours!
One audience member shared with the merchandisers that she hadn't laughed in two years, and was so thankful for the two hours filled with joy that she hugged and thanked the band representatives. Doyle Lawson was the next performer, and his show was well attended. The following show was Balsam Range and their sound technician spent a significant amount of time with the Opry team going over the sound system and helping them to form a plan to build their equipment.
Cooke stated that they have bought a piece of equipment with each show, and now the entertainers might choose to use their microphones, but no other equipment has to be changed out between acts. Cooke attributes the Opry's survival of that first season to the Moron Bros and Doyle Lawson pulling them up from that first show. By November, Mark Bills, the Opry band's drummer, had figured out the lighting and Delana Hutchinson now runs the lights using color and even synchronizing the lights to the beat of the music, really putting on a show comparable to what you see in Knoxville. The Balsam Range sound technician even laughingly stated: "You can have the band sounding like a CD, but the lighting guy will get all the credit for a great show!"
Of course ticket sales are the primary source of revenue to pay the performers. However, the Opry is occasionally awarded grants, such as the $5,000 grant they received from the Tennessee Arts Commission. The show from last Christmas was sponsored by the county. There was a wonderful turnout and a huge amount of toys were donated in place of ticket sales to benefit low-income children in our community.
Opry organizers received an email from a Knoxville lawyer on Monday after the Balsam Range show, which just happened to be the same weekend as Garth Brooks. This lawyer had brought five guests with him up to the Opry, very much enjoyed the show, purchased some merchandise afterward, and went to Li'l Joes. He shared that he spent over $700 that weekend and that he would be back, praising them for the "natural fit" of tapping into our musical heritage to create this event in Union County.
Now that the inaugural 2019 season is behind us, and the 2020 acts are booked, Cooke expects to see bigger names and a little more variety in genres in 2021. The long-term goal is to get enough participation to warrant an event center. It is wonderful for the school to allow the use of their facilities, but the acts cannot rehearse ahead of time, and everything has to be set up and taken down on the same day, which makes for a very long day for Opry volunteers.
That's another amazing detail—many people work hard every month to make this possible for our community, but none of them receive any compensation. The Opry has a Facebook page, which is its primary method of spreading the word about upcoming events. Tickets can be purchased online, a transaction that captures attendees’ addresses and gives Opry organizers hard data regarding where audience members are from.
In the 2019 season, 50 percent were from out of town. One was from another country; others came from 11 different states and 45 regions of Tennessee outside of Union County. Cooke feels this entertainment is "just adding another piece to the puzzle" to the services offered to our citizens.
Cooke thinks the next step might be to provide more accommodations when people are visiting, suggesting that a 15-20 room motel could work for meeting these occasional needs.
The Opry now has a house band that consists of:
Craig Allen – lead singer
Mark Bills – drummer
Allen Capps – fiddle player
Jessica Cooke – vocals/fiddle
Danny Hutchins – keyboard
Melinda Jessee – vocals
Sidney Jessee, Jr. – banjo/guitar
Johnny Railey – bass player
Rusty Rutherford – lead guitar
Cooke says they consider themselves a country band, but can play whatever you want and they do get a bit "rocky" sometimes. He also wants to recognize Deerenda Cooke, who makes the flyers, prints and cuts the tickets, keeps up with the seating chart, decorates, runs backstage, and generally serves as the glue that holds it all together and makes it work.
I have the Opry schedule posted on my refrigerator and plan on catching some of these shows, and I hope you do, too.
The next show of the Union County Opry is Mayberry Comes to Maynardville, Rodney Dillard of the Darlings, April 4, 2020, at 7 p.m. For tickets call 865-992-8388 or visit unioncountyopry.com.