Midmorning With Aundrea - August 19, 2020 (Part 2)

(Part 2 of 2) We visit Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium, former home to the Grand Ole Opry.

Wh what would america be without country music?

And what would country music be..without the grand ole opry?

Here's mark strassmann with some answers..

Okay folks if you have tickets go ahead and put your masks on.

Covid is a crisis.

And in a crisis, people need faith.

Thank you for being here.

We are officially open after three months and we are excited about it.

In late june, nashville's ryman auditorium began ministering again.

Morgan carter drove ten hours from lawrenceville, kansas.

This is the mother church.

Everyone is welcome here.

Step inside.

The stage is comically small.

The venue only holds roughly 23 - hundred people.

They sit in pews, which are not comfortable.

And yet& i've played on this stage with willie nelson, amd johnny cash, and keith richards.

We talked to singer-songwriter sheryl crow -- back before anyone knew a pandemic was coming.

What is it that makes this place hallowed ground?

I believe the wood in this room holds every moment of history it has endured.//and when you walk out on this stage on this stage and these old planks that have been tread by so many important people in our history-and in our evolution, you feel it.

Crow says she has played here more than a dozen times.

It's like your first date.

It's scary.

But then it's like, oh this is amazing.

Or awful.

Depending on the date.

Yeah, exactly.// this is the house that you come to hopefully like in church to lift up your voice with other people.

The ryman's history bears witness.

I've always felt the spiritual nature of this place.

Last september, before social distancing, ketch secor gave us a world-class ryman tour.

He fronts the old crow medicine show, which has played here a bunch.

This is my most treasured - locale to make music.// it's a resonant chamber.

Listen& ketch pulls out his fiddle and begins playing so you can hear the ryman's aucoustics it's like you're inside of a violin here at the ryman auditorium.

Like peering into the f- holes.

That's what the ryman looks like if you could, like, crack the ceiling open and look down.

And look back&125 years.

The union gospel tabernacle - built by divine decree by a steamboat captain who had fallen into sin and licentiousnesss.

Captain thomas ryman found the lord.

He built a tabernacle in 1892 to save souls.

It became the ryman.

Early performers included john phillip sousa's peerless band&enrique caruso&marianne anderson.

Teddy roosevelt, helen keller and charlie chaplin all spoke here.

But 1943 was the game-changer.

Grand ole opry the grand ole opry moved here.

Every week, country legends performed live on the wsm radio.

Minnie pearl.

Bill monroe.

Hank williams. in here was the greatest entertainment value.//and they bought popcorn for a nickel and they sat here, and they were mezmerized.

The ryman was transformative for the grand ole opry and the grand ole opry was transformative for the ryman.// they worked together.// a song can work for a singer, but a singer can work for a song.

Johnny cash in 1956, johhny cash joined the opry.

He met his wife june carter backstage.

Other legends include patsy cline, charley pride, and loretta lynn.

Lynn singing but by 1973, both nashville and the ryman were in decline.

The opry moved across the river.

The cashes sang the closer.

"will the circl be unbroken" for twenty years, the ryman sat dark and crumbling.

Nashville considered tearing it down.

Country star emmy lou ha and marty stewart led the fight to save it.

In 1994, the renovated ryman reopened -- re- born.

Music country music made it famous.

But dylan played here.

Springsteen, too.

And last year, wu-tang clan became the ryman's first hip-hop headliner.

They sit and listen.

They stand and stomp their feet.

And they - they feel thephysical part of music in this room, the part of music thatnge the molecules.// so the energy goes both ways?

The energy deefinitely goes both ways.

I think people who come in this room know that they're gonna be part of something that's just bigger than them.// they come to the ryman&for moments that feel this intimate.

Crow sings "all want to do" i front of an empty auditorium one day when covid goes away, the ryman's live acts will return.

And fans will re- experience a connection that's physical, emotional, and yes, spiritual.

It's like there's a fifth beatle.

And the fith beatle is the fact everyone is watching us and experiencing us,// coming together to unshoulder a litte bit of a burden and feel a little freer when they walk out of this place.

If the future could be that simple for theryman auditorium, then that's what the kind of//america i want to see auditorium, then that's what the kind of//america i want to see we'll be right back to wrap things