As The Grand Ole Opry Reopens, What's Ahead For Country Music?

24:02

September 29, 2010

The legendary Grand Ole Opry reopens after Nashville’s flood. We look at where country music is headed.

Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Steve Wariner and Marty Stuart, from left, in the Grand Ole Opry House on Sept. 28, 2010, in Nashville, Tenn. The performance is the first session held in the Opry House since it was damaged by floodwaters in May. (AP)

The Grand Ole Opry House got washed right out in the flood that hit Nashville six months ago. Four feet of water on its famous stage. Last night, it re-opened with a big country concert - the House buffed up and the Opry back home.

But country is ranging far and wide these days. Kenny Chesney’s singing Hemingway and high school football. Everybody’s singing hard times. That’s something country can do. Put “foreclosure” right in the lyrics. And “pink slip." And, of course, “she’s gone.”
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:

Pete Fisher, vice president and general manager of the Grand Ole Opry.
Josh Turner, country singer, multiple CMA- and Grammy-nominee.
Paul Kingsbury, country music historian and critic. His book "Woodstock: Three Days That Rocked The World" comes out in paperback next week.
Neil Haislop, country music expert and author of "Giants of Country Music: Classic Sounds and Stars, from the Heart of Nashville to the Top of the Charts."

More:

The Grand Ole Opry House and the Opry Mills Mall surrounded by floodwaters in May. (AP)

This program aired on September 29, 2010.