Grand Ole Opry Tent Theater makes visit to Rhea County

During the 1940’s, the Grand Ole Opry Show from Music City USA, Nashville, Tennessee made guest appearances in various communities throughout the south eastern United States. This show was known as the “Grand Ole Opry Tent Theater”. Each week various stars and celebrities from the WSM Radio Show would be the featured guests. During the week of October 5, 1944, the show made their way to Rhea County putting on two performances one on Monday in Spring City at the High School football field and the other on Tuesday at the High School grounds in Dayton. The program here featured many radio stars who had long been favorites of the Grand Ole Opry, including Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys; Zeke Clements, the Dixie Yodler, singing “Smoke On The Water”; Clyde Moody, the world’s fastest guitar player; Chubby Wise, the Suwannee River champion fiddler: Little Sally Ann, the Kentucky Song Bird; Curley Bradshaw, king of the harmonica; String Bean Long and many others. The big tent show was presented only once each night and only once in each community. The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio “barn dance” on WSM. The show continues today.

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