Opry Quest

With Montgomery Gentry the latest to receive an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry, it's led to a lot of discussion about who else should be invited. We've heard names like Jory & Rory and Ashton Sheperd tossed around, so we decided to throw in a few cents of our own.

One complaint is that MG hasn't been around long enough to deserve an invite to the Big Show. If that is a legitimate gripe, then please explain how Carrie Underwood managed an invite as early as she did. She has not proved her staying power, or really even her talent, as far as we're concerned.

This is how Opry members are chosen, according to the official web site:

The decision to increase the Opry’s ranks is, and always has been, made exclusively by the show’s management. The people who’ve been entrusted with the Opry’s tradition and future direction take into account all the standards of success in country music—radio airplay, album and ticket sales, industry recognition—when considering an act for membership. The Opry considers career accomplishment, as well as the potential for continued success.

To us, this sounds like one thing: Money! Who can make the most money, who has the potential to make the most money, who can sell the most tickets to an Opry show, thereby gaining the Opry - all together now! - MONEY!

Maybe that's cynical, and we're not saying there is anything wrong with wanting to make money. The Grand Ole Opry is a business as much as anything else and in order to stay open, it must have revenue.

It used to be that being invited to the Opry was an honor reserved for the most talented artists in country music, not flashes in the pan. Ashton Sheperd can hardly be called a star. Her album reached number 16 on the Billboard Country Music Charts and her singles have not broken the Top 20. She is a mostly a mediocre singer who decided to cash in on her ability to imitate "Redneck Woman" Gretchen Wilson, not counting on the fact that Wilson's popularity would quickly wane.

Joey & Rory haven't had much commercial success either, going by the charts. However, they definitely seem to have longevity. Rory Feek was already a successful songwriter in Nashville, having penned hits for Clay Walker, Blake Shelton and Jimmy Wayne, among others. Clearly, Feek has a bit of a magic touch when it comes to songwriting. Give them a few more years, another album or two under their belts, and Joey & Rory will be prime Opry material. Just not yet.

MG, on the other hand, released their seventh studio album last year and have had more than 10 Top 10 Billboard singles since being signed in 1999. They are consistent in their performances and in drawing crowds. Carrie Underwood, it seems, has peaked. Yet, she is an Opry member already and MG is not.