Alex Miller Makes His Grand Ole Opry Debut

Thursday June 27, 2024

@ Grand Ole Opry House  in Nashville, TN

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

There are historic stages around Nashville that carry the core foundations of country music within the footnotes that they’ve added to the genre’s fabrication, from Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge to The Nashville Palace, The Station Inn, The Bluebird Café, and the Ryman Auditorium.

However, it’s the show that made country music famous that still stands tallest some 99 years since its inception.

Playing the Grand Ole Opry is the monumental goal for any artist to reach. The wooden circle that anchors center stage holds the impact of years gone by, the created moments by the legends who laid the groundwork of the genre.

On a Thursday night show that included performances from the likes of Jimmy Fortune, Brennley Brown, Sam Williams, Kelly Lang, and Opry Members Eddie Montgomery and Dailey & Vincent, 21-year-old, modern era traditionalist Alex Miller added an incredible accolade to his resume when he placed his feet in that famous circle and made his Opry debut.

“Well buddy, I’m ready to go. I’m ready to get out there and pick and grin and sing my songs,” Alex enthusiastically told me about an hour before he was scheduled to take the stage, shifting then to his thoughts of what it means to be able to step inside that circle:

“That circle symbolizes what I’ve worked for. Since I was a little kid…this is the dream, this is the goal, the Opry is the pinnacle for me.”

“4 minutes,” whispered the artist liaison to Alex as the intermission clock was ticking down to the start of second half of the show. The otherwise very jovial Miller, in that moment, took a few steps forward toward the stage as the room momentarily stopped spinning for him while he quietly soaked it all in.

Leaning into the addictively catchy drive of the barn burning “Puttin’ Up Hay,” the first of his two songs on the night, Miller instantly had the entire place hooting and hollering as he energetically rollicked through the song with a big smile on his face and a heavy dose of down-home, farm raised charm giving immediate definition to his country boy personality.

“He’d be wandering the halls and lookin’ at all the pictures of the old Opry stars,” Alex laughed when talking with us backstage about what his late grandpa, GB, would be doing if he were there to be a part of this night. “But if he were standing right here with us, he would just say he was very thankful for the opportunity to have me get out there and play and then he would probably be asking everyone here if they were an Alex Miller fan!”

With his current single, “My Daddy’s Dad,” Miller delivered his snapshot Opry moment as he lyrically turned the pages of a Polaroid filled photo album to tell the life story of his granddad while outlining the impact that he made on him, eliciting nostalgic tears from the crowd as he himself choked up by the time the song rolled through the bridge and into its final chorus.

“He's the reason why I play and sing

To me that old man means everything

Growing up he was the greatest grandpa any boy could have

My Daddy's Dad”

“My grandpa used to tell me all these old stories from the Opry. But my favorite Opry memory with him…he got to come see me here for a Gospel program called ‘Sunday Morning Country’ and this was the last place he ever got to see me play before he passed,” shared Alex.  “But when I’m out there tonight, I’m still gonna get to bring my granddaddy with me for this. He’ll be there!”

In a span of ten minutes Alex Miller secured a milestone moment in his career, one which he couldn’t even describe the emotional impact of when Opry announcer Bill Cody asked him how it felt to get to make his Opry debut. But moments later, after soaking it all in one last time and walking off the stage to the cheers of his tremendous support system, Miller was back to being his jovial self, breathing it all out with humble gratitude.

Having a handwritten list with him backstage that his grandpa had made of all the shows that he had ever played since 2011, Alex retrieved that list from inside his guitar case and proudly looked it over in a shared moment between just him and the dressing room mirror, cracking a misty-eyed smile knowing that he was about to add another performance to that list…His Grand Ole Opry debut!

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