Dear reader, I must make a confession to you before we proceed any further. When I arrived at the Ryman Auditorium with my family in tow, my intent was not to spend huge swaths of my afternoon considering ways I can help my kids actualize their dreams. Nor was my plan to reflect on the horror a middle aged person must feel upon realizing he never took the first steps needed to bring a dream into existence. While I am pouring out my confessions to you, it was never my ambition to feel sadness for those who chose safe paths and quit on dreams too soon. However, inside that stately brick building on a chilly December morning, that is exactly what happened.
Matilda knows how to say “howdy” properly after her visit.
There’s something very democratic about the Ryman. No skyboxes or VIP section. Everyone sits shoulder to shoulder with their neighbors.
The woodwork reflects over a hundred years of audiences passing through.
In all honesty, my motivations for visiting the Ryman were probably the same as many other life long music fans. Seeing cases full of memorabilia from the theater’s past would have been fine for me. I was hoping to lay eyes on Hank William’s handwritten lyrics to “Your Cheatin' Heart” and to point out Dolly Parton’s shiny dress to my daughter. Maybe, I would be able to take a look at Johnny Cash’s ostrich skin boots. For those with similar goals, I am happy to report the good people in charge of the Ryman were able to deliver on all counts.
It hasn’t just been the home of Country music.
Get a load of those shiny clothes.
Hank Williams’ hand written lyrics to Your Cheatin’ Heart.
However, within that old church, I encountered an experience that was not in any of the guidebooks. After a multimedia presentation that established the Ryman’s importance in making Nashville the music city, we were free to wander through the theater on a self-guided, self-paced tour. While sitting on one of those well-worn wooden pews, a thought occurred to me. If a person ever needed evidence that dreams can come true, the Ryman is it. To walk through its doors is to realize all that is possible if a person does the work to see one through.
I saw the light . . .
Jacque did too.
The Ryman as it was originally envisioned.
The theater itself was nothing more than a dream in the late 1890’s when Captain Tom Ryman had a spiritual conversion at a tent revival. His ambition was to build it so that others hear the words of Reverend Sam Jones. A hundred years later, its preservation was nothing more than a dream after it was left standing empty and dilapidated. Yet, Emmylou Harris had the vision and the drive to rally the community to renovate and reopen the Mother Church of Country Music. Not to mention that this was the home of the Grand Ole Opry for thirty years. It was here that on a Saturday night, aspiring singers were able to step out onto stage and have America hear their voices for the first time. To sit in that old church is to feel the potency of a person with a dream and is willing to put the work in to make it an actuality.
Jacque being nonchalant in the presence of Louis Armstrong’s trumpet and Johnny Cash’s boots.
Matilda taking it all in.
As someone who arrived at parenting somewhere near the end of the second act, I have witnessed the dead eyes of those who quit on a dream too soon. There is a danger in arriving at middle age with a “what if” in your heart. That is something I would never want my own kids to feel. As soon as my daughter could articulate a thought, she made it very clear that her ambition is to be a singer when she grows up. While it’s a fairly common career aspiration for a seven year old girl to have, she has been so persistent about her vision of the future that as a parent, I feel it is my responsibility to feed the fire inside of her. What was affirmed to me in the Ryman auditorium is that if she believes in the beauty of her dream, and if she puts in the work to achieve it, she can turn a possibility into an actuality. She has the potential to fulfill a dream, just like all those who stepped out onto this stage before her.
Where a dream begins.
The Mother Church of Country Music stands just a few blocks off of Broadway in downtown Nashville. With an Old Town Trolley Tour stop right out front, the good people of Nashville could not have made it more accessible to tourists like yours truly.
This post was based on a visit to the Ryman Auditorium on December 27, 2019
116 5th Ave N.
Nashville, TN 37219
615 889-3060
Interested in taking a trip to Tennessee? Don’t miss out on the Adventure Science Center or Rock City. Interested in finding out more about the Ryman’s history? Make sure to watch Ken Burns Country Music and look at the timeline in the Ryman’s website.