On this day (November 9) in 1895, George Dewey Hay was born in Attica, Indiana. While Hay never sang a note or played an instrument, he is largely responsible for the booming industry that is country music today. Every time you see your favorite country performer sing under the dazzling lights of the Grand Ole Opry or tune into a Saturday night broadcast, you have Hay to thank. After beginning his career in print journalism before shifting to radio, the businessman launched what would morph into one of country music’s most cherished institutions on November 28, 1925.
In his later years, George D. Hay relocated to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he died on May 8, 1968, at age 72. Today, we’re reflecting on the man who birthed the Grand Ole Opry in honor of what would have been his 131st birthday.
George D. Hay Enjoyed a Successful Radio Career
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War I, George D. Hay made his way to Memphis, Tennessee, landing a reporting job with newspaper The Commercial Appeal.
It was through a 1919 reporting assignment in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, that Hay was first exposed to rural mountain music, which still remained a closely guarded secret among the hollers of Appalachia and the Deep South.
While there, he met a man who invited him to a hoedown at a neighbor’s cabin. Watched roughly 20 people sing, stomp, and dance until the wee hours of the morning, Hay realized that listeners needed an outlet for traditional mountain music and old-time tunes.
He would soon find himself uniquely poised to faciliate this.
He Founded the WSM Barn Dance
In early 1923, The Commercial Appeal branched out into radio with its own station, WMC. George D. Hay pivoted to radio, working as an editor and late-night announcer for the station.
He soon discovered he had a flair for broadcasting, and his popularity exploded. A little more than a year later, Hay left WMC behind for a larger station in Chicago. There, he worked on a show that served as a precursor to the National Barn Dance.
Working his way up the ladder, Hay soon accepted a job as radio director for WSM, a brand-new radio station in Nashville. He relocated to Music City on his 30th birthday — November 9, 1925 — to begin his new role.
Hoping to recreate the kind of barn dance he had worked on in Chicago, Hay invited the 78-year-old fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson to perform on WSM. Calls and telegrams poured in with praise for Thompson’s performance, prompting Hay to announce that the station would dedicate “an hour or two” to old-time music each Saturday night.
Initially dubbed the WSM Barn Dance, Hay later rechristened the program as The Grand Ole Opry in 1927. In the meantime, he tirelessly promoted the show’s down-home image, encouraging performers to dress in overalls and straw hats.
After the Grand Ole Opry
George D. Hay’s hold on the Grand Ole Opry began loosening significantly in the 1930s, as his lackluster managerial skills prompted the station to hand off many of his responsibilities to professional managers.
However, he remained an announcer with the show throughout the 1940s, also touring with some Opry regulars. By the end of the 1950s, however, Hay had grown disillusioned with the more modern direction of the Opry and decamped from Nashville altogether.
He relocated to Virginia Beach, where he lived until his death in 1968.
Featured image by Bob Grannis/Getty Images
The post Born 131 Years Ago Today in Indiana, the Father of the Grand Ole Opry Who Helped Lead Country Music Into the Mainstream appeared first on American Songwriter.