GRAND OLE OPRY NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 6, 1992                   TAG: 9201040293
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KAREN SCHOEMER THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
GRAND OLE OPRY NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE
On a Saturday evening in October, at a time when he was selling more records than any other performer in the United States, Garth Brooks got up and played three songs on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. Behind him was a backdrop showing a wooden barn, the crossbeam of which read "WSM 650," the call letters of the AM station that broadcasts the Opry.
In front of him were 4,400 people, whose flash cameras popped like firecrackers during his 15-minute performance.
The Grand Ole Opry has changed remarkably little since its inaugural broadcast in 1924. The Opryhouse is a modern, high-budget affair with two tiers of orange-cushioned seats and a plush red curtain that rises and falls between acts.
But the Opry has never abandoned its roots. Announcers still read ads live on the air from very real sponsors like Dollar General Store and Goody's Headache Powder; in the lobby are programs from Opry broadcasts in the '20s and '30s.
Set into the stage is a circle of floorboard from Ryman Auditorium, the previous site for the Opry, where country legends like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline performed in the '50s and '60s.
On any given Friday or Saturday night, audiences can still see Porter Wagoner, Roy Acuff or the 90-year-old bluegrass picker Bill Monroe on the Opry stage back to back with younger stars; there are two shows each evening, and all four are broadcast on WSM, a station that reaches most of the eastern United States.
While some cynics refer to the Opry as an "old folks' home," its hipness has increased as younger performers have been added to the roster.
Marty Stuart, a guitarist and singer who recently released his second album, "Tempted," has a reverence for Opry traditions: "We may go on to be bigger in the world market, we may go on to sell more records, but right now you can see Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl and Garth Brooks - that's one end of the string to the other, and everything in between."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB