Darius Rucker Opry Induction

Living so close to Nashville, I guess we sometimes take for granted how close we are to some cool stuff. 

Like the Grand Ole Opry... 

On October 16th, Darius Rucker (previously of Hootie and the Blowfish fame for you 90s music lovers) was inducted into the Opry. 

And we were there.

They had some other folks there to fill the time. Would have been fine with me if it had been all Darius, but they didn't ask me. 

The lineup was Clint Black, Whisperin Bill Anderson, Elizabeth Cook, Connie Smith (Marty Stewart's wife and Opry member since the 50s), Vince Gill and Martina McBride
Poor little Jimmy Dickens was feelin poorly that night and couldn't make it. At 91, who could be surprised?  

Martina not only sang beautifully, she looked gorgeous. 

Martina had two sets that night - the first time out she sang This One's For the Girls, one of her early hits. Then she did Walkin After Midnight - a Patsy Cline classic. Martina is no Patsy Cline obviously, but I think she did Patsy proud. Martina got pipes.

Her second set was Independence Day and that sad song about breast cancer I'm Gonna Love You Through It. Good song but :-(

However this guy was the man of the night. . .  

Yeah, smile Darius - you are THE MAN !!!

Sadly, Darius only sang two songs - Don't Think I Don't Think About It and his new release True Believers.  

Vince sang a song but I can't remember what it was. His voice is so purty though! 
He's also the fella who got to do all the talkin and stuff and presented Darius his Opry thingamabobber.

Then they showed us a video that was supposedly a live feed of Keith Urban in Vegas. Then BA BOOM Keith walked out on stage. 
I was so excited I might have jumped up, screamed my head off missed taking the pic. All I got was a blurry shot of him huggin Darius. And to add insult to injury, my dang camera focused on the microphone. As if. 
But I like how this shot shows Vince grinnin behind em. So whatev.
Darius is only the second African-American to be inducted into the Opry. So he sits in a real special spot with Charlie Pride. Cool.

One of the funniest things Darius said when he was accepting, thanking, etc. was something about Hootie. He said back in the Hootie days he never could get an invite to the Opry but maybe now that he's IN the Opry he could work somethin out. 

Hey Darius - we are SO there ! ! ! Make it happen!

They told us football Hall of Famer Dan Marino was in the crowd. At the end he was on stage with Keith, Darius's family and whoever the other special folks were. I have no idea why Anthony and I weren't asked to join them. 

And just because I know y'all already think I'm crazy. . . 

This is the camera that might have startled me... zooming around right over my head. Sheesh!