Brad Paisley spoke about the first Grand Ole Opry show since the COVID-19 pandemic.
What Brad Paisley Had to Say
The country hitmaker held a panel during Country Radio Seminar on Thursday (February 18). During the conversation, he shared that the Opry was one of his first times out of the house since quarantine.
“It was really imperative that we keep it going because the Opry I believe has not really stopped since 25 or 22, something like that,” he said. “The Opry it needs to happen on a Saturday night, even when we had the flood and it was destroyed we found other locations and did it until the Opryhouse could be rebuilt.”
“Cause the Opry could be anywhere, it doesn’t have to be… it’s like Air Force One,” he laughed. “The minute the president steps on its Air Force One. ”
Paisley’s first show back on the stage was alongside Vince Gill and Marty Stuart. Organizers told them that they couldn’t bring anyone else with them and it was just going to be the trio with three guitars due to safety concerns. “It was the most eerie, ghost-haunted thing to be in that place,” he admitted. Stuart brought Jimmy Rogers’ guitar from “The Dust Bowl” era to perform a song of Rogers’ about The Great Depression.
Life During COVID
“When you look back on the year there’s a lot of things that I would do differently, but at the same time there’s a lot I wouldn’t trade for anything,” he admitted.
Paisley hopes that things will turn around in time so he could play one proper concert sometime this year. “I really hope that we can be on a stage in some feeling of normalcy, whether it’s an outdoor show, by the late fall,” Paisley shared. “I would love to do a concert before this year’s up, a real one. Not a drive-in.”
At the end of the day, he hopes things will return to normal so crews can get back on the road. “I want us to be in a situation where, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s back.’ That’s the goal,” he explained. “We all need it. Our bands need it. We need it mentally; we need it for music in general. I think if we do the right things we can get there, but we have to do it right.”
