Kind of a shame

I read something similar a couple of months ago, but here's another story about the Grand Ole Opry and how some feel they are squeezing out the faithful old-timers in favor of the younger glitzy group of performers.

The Grand Ole Opry showcases old-time country music every week, but some older country stars complain they are being shuffled off the stage at the historic radio show.

Charlie Louvin, Stonewall Jackson and others say they joined the Opry cast decades ago with an understanding: Faithfully make appearances at the Grand Ole Opry at the peak of your career for less than you could earn elsewhere, and the Opry would offer security and a place to perform when the hits stopped coming.

Now they say the Opry has reneged on that unwritten deal and is pushing older stars out. Jackson, 74, has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the owners of the Opry, the storied home of country music.
[...]
“The only ones they want to see in the audience and on stage are young people,” said Joe Edwards, a musician in the Opry’s house band for about 45 years before he says he was asked to leave along with a number of other veteran musicians in 2000.

Now I'm sure there are two sides to the story, but any policy that results in Charlie Louvin and Stonewall Jackson being bumped from the Opry in favor of Trace Adkins and Brad Paisley sucks. Yes, I know the latter are more popular today than the former, but I don't think of the Opry as the place to see the hottest contemporary country stars. I think of it as a place to hear Charlie and Stonewall. Of course I realize that's what Gaylord is trying to change, but I just don't like it. I do realize I really have no dog in this fight as I don't think I've ever purchased a single ticket to, nor watched a telivised episode of, the Opry. Still, I have fond childhood memories of the radio show. I'd listen to it most every Friday and/or Saturday night (in season) riding home with Caffeine Dad after a night of coon hunting. [He'd hunt, I'd hang out with my aunt and cousin.]

Of course I may not be the best judge of all this as I tend to resist "nudges" to the future. I don't have a cell phone and I still use a chalkboard in class. To quote from my favorite episode of Newhart, "The country's goin' to hell; I move we secede!"