





SUPPORT GREAT STORYTELLING
We rely on your support to remain on air and online. Your contribution helps us bring you interviews with great American artists and the carefully curated music mix that you’ve enjoyed over the years.
Donate
AMERICAN ROUTES ON INSTAGRAM
NASHVILLE
Take a two-hour trip to Music City, U.S.A. as we hit the high-class and the low-class joints. Nashville has been a hub of playing and recording country music for over 50 years while also generating a steady stream of regional R&B hits. Come backstage at the Grand Ole Opry and meet the people who make it work, from ushers and announcers to long-time cast members Porter Wagoner, Marty Stuart and others. Pop into the venerable Gruhn’s Guitars, grab a bite at the Pancake Pantry, and pay respects at country music’s finest final resting place, Spring Hill Cemetery.
HOUR ONE
- Intro Bed: Grand Ole Opry Song Jimmy Martin
Jimmy Martin, 1954-1974, Bear Family - Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy Uncle Dave Macon
Oxford American: 2006 Southern Music, CMT - CLIP: Opry employee Jo Walker and visitors
- CLIP: Ray Charles
- It Makes No Difference Ray Charles
The Complete Country & Western Recordings 1959 - 1986, Rhino - CLIP: George Jones
- The Great Speckled Bird Roy Acuff
The King of Country Music, Bear Family - CLIP: Charlie Louvin
- When I Stop Dreaming The Louvin Brothers
Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection, Smithsonian - SEGMENT: Eddie Stubbs
Listen - Honky Tonk Blues Hank Williams
Live at the Grand Ole Opry, Mercury - Instrumental: Green, Green, Grass of Home Appalachian Pickers
Old Timey Country, K-Tel - SEGMENT: Porter Wagoner
Listen - Green Green Grass of Home Porter Wagoner
Greatest Hits, BMG - SEGMENT: Marty Stuart
Listen - Excerpt of "Girl from the North Country" Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash
The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show, Sony (DVD) - Instrumental: Sunny Booker T. & The MG's
Hip Hug-Her, Atlantic - Excerpt of "Fox Chase" DeFord Bailey
From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music, Warner Bros. - SEGMENT: Bobby Hebb
Listen - Night Train to Memphis Bobby Hebb
Bobby Hebb: The "Sunny" Anthology 1960-1976, World in Gold - Excerpt of "Cotton Fields" Charley Pride
In Person, KOCH - I Fall to Pieces Patsy Cline
The Patsy Cline Collection, MCA - excerpt of "Three Days" K.D. Lang
Absolute Torch and Twang, Sire - CLIP: K.D. Lang
- CLIP: Tessa Swinehart portraying Minnie Pearl at the Opry
- Excerpt of "Comedy with Minnie Pearl" Hank Williams
Live at the Grand Ole Opry, Mercury - End Bed: Midnight Silence Lloyd Green
Lloyd Green and his Steel Guitar, Americana
HOUR two
- Open Bed: I'll See You In My Dreams Merle Travis
Strictly Guitar, Sundazed - Open Bed: Nashville Cats The Lovin' Spoonful
Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful, Buddha - CLIP: Pancake Pantry (Nashville, TN)
- Milwaukee, Here I Come George Jones and Brenda Carter
40 Years of Duets, Time/Life - Me and Paul Willie Nelson
Nite Life: Greatest Hits & Rare Tracks 1959 - 1971, Rhino - SEGMENT: Elizabeth Cook
Listen - Don't Come Home A Drinkin' Loretta Lynn
The Nashville Sound - Owen Bradley, MCA/Decca - Instrumental: Stand By Your Man Hits of Western Swing
Hits of Western Swing, CMH - Excerpt of "Tear Down the Grand Ole Opry" John Hartford
Aereo-Plain, Rounder - CLIP: Broadway, Downtown Nashville
- Guitar Town Steve Earle
Ain't Ever Satisfied: The Steve Earle Collection, Hip-O - SEGMENT: George Gruhn at Gruhn Guitars
Listen - Uncle Pen Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
From the Vaults: Decca Country Classics 1934 - 1973, MCA - Blue Moon of Kentucky Elvis Presley
The King of Rock 'N Roll: The Complete '50s Masters, RCA - Instrumental: Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia Auldridge, Brozman & Grisman
Tone Poems III, Acoustic Disc - The Golden Rocket Hank Snow
RCA Country Legends, Buddha - CLIP: Charlie Louvin on the Grand Ole Opry
- SEGMENT: Les Leverett, official Opry photographer
Listen - CLIP: Spring Hill Cemetery (Nashville, TN)
- Will The Circle Be Unbroken Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Capitol