Tracy Lawrence Explains Why The Ryman Auditorium Wasn’t Always The Most Desirable Place To Play

You’re telling me the place known as “The Mother Church” was undesirable at some point in time?

According to Tracy Lawrence, the Ryman’s charm wasn’t always enough to make up for its other faults. The ’90s country legend explained why in the latest episode of the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast, and also discussed his own venture into podcasting, why the ’90s era of music is as popular as ever, his songs getting a second life on TikTok, his passion for giving back to the less fortunate, and much more.

The topic of Ryman Auditorium came up in our conversation when we pointed out the wild fact that last year was the first time in Tracy Lawrence’s career that he had ever headlined at the historic Ryman. How’s that possible, you know? Fortunately we were able to ask him that very question, and he explained that he played a number of charity shows and did plenty of other industry performances in the Downtown Nashville venue… yet he never played it as the main act until 2024. And as you might imagine, when he eventually did so, he sold the place out.

Following that surprising revelation, we asked about some of the mixed stories we had heard about the Ryman, and how some claimed that intimate building wasn’t always the coveted or desirable venue to perform at from an artist perspective that it is now.

Tracy Lawrence confirmed that was indeed the case:

“No it was not. Until they updated it several years ago, there was no air conditioning. It was hot. All the dressing rooms were tiny. They’ve done a lot of renovation.

They still don’t really have a decent loading dock where you can get screens and stuff (in). That’s still a pain in the butt. It was not… it was just kind of an afterthought when the Opry needed some other place to go when they brought other stuff in.”

@whiskeyriff @Tracy Lawrence on why the Ryman Auditorium wasn’t always the most coveted venue to play. // Listen to the full podcast brought to you by @Rock the Country on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. Read More