BB wakes up one sunny afternoon after a long nap. He stretches his fuzzy arms and legs, bumping his paw into… a potato? The dusty spud rolls down a tall pile of canvas bags, landing at BB’s feet. He looks around and remembers, he fell asleep in the back of a potato truck on the edge of a field earlier that morning. His fur blends in well with the brown potato sacks – apparently nobody noticed when he curled up for a nap. BB feels the potato truck bounce heavily and hears the wind whipping by overhead. He pokes his head up over the side of the truck bed to find it driving along a highway through a big busy city. He must have been asleep for miles and miles!

The potato truck pulls off the highway onto a smaller street, and BB sees it is lined with old looking brick buildings. As the potato truck comes to a stop at a traffic light, BB climbs down and hops off the back of the bumper, right next to a lavender colored building with the name “Tootsie’s” in the window. As the truck rumbles away, BB looks up at the brick buildings lining the street. He sees big, colorful metal signs in all kinds of shapes. BB sees one like a big red boot, another like a big cowboy hat, and lots and lots shaped like guitars. Everywhere from inside the buildings around him he hears the sound of music being played.

As BB looks around the street in wonder, a passing man in a big brimmed hat and sequined shirt notices and greets him.

“Hello there, little guy! My name’s Mike – Welcome to Nashville – Music City U-S-A! If you came here to take in a show, it’s a little early in the day for places along Broadway to be in full swing, but there’s lots to see just a couple blocks away! There’s museums, the Walk of Fame, really too much to do in one afternoon, but…”

The man in the big brimmed hat points BB around the corner and up another street.

“If you want to know what this town is all about, you have to see a show at the Ryman!”

BB shakes the man’s hand in gratitude and walks up the side street where he sees the biggest brick building yet! As he walks closer, he finds a crowd of humans standing in a long line, waiting to get in the big brick building. BB weaves his way through the crowd until he comes face-to-fuzzy-face with a big placard reading: “Special matinee show – tribute to the Grand Ole Opry!” Opry? BB wonders what that could mean…

Suddenly, the doors ahead of the line swing open, and the crowd starts to move forward – BB is swept along with them! As the crowd moves into the dim interior, BB can see colorful windows lining the back of a big theater. On the stage, he can see what looks like… a painting of a barn? What kind of show will this be? BB sees some of the crowd climbing steps up to a balcony overlooking the room, and follows them carefully.

BB looks out from the top of the tall balcony down at the stage far below, and the theater full of murmuring people. Just as he hops up into a creaky seat at the very back, the lights in the theater begin to dim, and the crowd grows quiet. BB squints his bright eyes as a figure walks out onto the wooden stage. It’s the same man in the big brimmed hat and sequined shirt he met on the street earlier! BB watches the man step up to a shiny microphone at the front of the stage and addresses the crowd.

“Welcome to our special retrospective this afternoon of the earliest days of the legendary Grand Ole Opry! More than 100 years ago, here, at the Mother Church of Country Music, the first broadcast of what would become the Grand Ole Opry radio show was held on this very stage, spreading the music of the heartland from coast to coast. Today we aim to give you a taste of what those first shows would have been like.”

BB watches and listens, fascinated, as first a man with an old violin steps up and plays a sweet, gentle melody, followed immediately by a blistering jig. 

The man in the big hat then introduces another player, who starts playing a small, shiny harmonica. 

Then a whole band steps out from backstage, playing all sorts of stringed instruments in a happy tune that has the whole auditorium clapping along – and BB along with them!

A banjo player steps forward from the group and plays another lightning fast tune – BB can barely keep track of his fingers! 

Then a lady in a flowery dress steps up to the microphone and sings “My Old Kentucky Home” with the audience joining in on the last refrain. 

BB sees the man in the big brimmed hat step back up to the microphone…

“We certainly hope you have enjoyed our humble tribute to the earliest days of the Grand Ole Opry. And now, as they say, it’s time for the tall pines to pine, and the pawpaws to pause, and the bumblebees to bumble all around, the grasshopper hops, and the eavesdropper drops… while gently the old cow slips away… Good night, good morning, and lots of good luck!”

The theater erupts in raucous applause from the audience, as BB claps his paws in delight as well. What an amazing performance! BB follows the crowd down from the balcony, through the theater, and out into the late afternoon air. He walks back down the street full of brick buildings and hears even more music spilling out from the buildings. BB yawns and stretches, he’s already tired from one show? Could he stay awake for another?

BB hears a squeal of brakes and a low rumble, as he sees the potato truck stopped at a nearby corner. There’s his answer! BB scurries up and sits on the bumper as the truck pulls away from the corner and drives up the street. BB can see the big colorful signs begin to light up in all sorts of flashing colors, as the sun begins to set. He sees many more people lining the sidewalk, waiting to get into the old brick buildings. BB thinks that he would have waited quite a while to get in for another show!

BB climbs back into the bed of the gently rumbling truck and lies back on a potato sack. As he watches the sunset-colored clouds overhead, he begins to whistle one of the tunes he heard at the show at the big brick theater. BB smiles at the thought of sharing some new melodies with the songbirds back in his home forest, as he drifts off to sleep, weary after such an exciting day, in Music City U-S-A.