Hay's first program was the WSM
Barn Dance, a copy of the WLS show in Chicago which featured just two performers, 77-year old fiddle player Uncle Jimmy Thompson and his niece, pianist Eva Thompson Jones. The hour-long show consisted of nothing more than fiddle tunes with piano accompaniment, but the show drew such a favorable response that the format was continued for several weeks. Soon, however, the roster and the repertoire broadened, as other local musicians, including banjo and guitar players, came to perform on the show. Most were amateurs and none were paid. The image of
Barn Dance as a rural program was important, and Hay made sure his performers kept things "down to earth."
The show's success continued, and in 1927 George D. Hay changed the name of the show to the Grand Ole Opry. The name "Opry" was an intentional jibe at the world of classical music, often perceived as pretentious, and the Grand Ole Opry followed NBC's national Musical Appreciation Hour, a show devoted to classical music and opera. Hay announced one evening that although listeners had spent the last hour hearing grand opera, he would now present what he called the "Grand Ole Opry." The name proved popular, and it became the official name of the show that year.
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