The Tennessean
NextStage celebrates future of country music
Opry program, now in third year, focuses on emerging artists with goal of making the genre more inclusive
[edited for Morgan’s comment only]
Artists -- and the Opry itself -- extensively building their social media presences via constant live and online content development has been one of the program's early hallmarks. For example, Pettit notes that 2021's "Opry NextStage: Live In Concert" featured only artists in the program and sold 80% of the Opry's 4400 seat house. Plus, the event had 400,000 overall live streamers via Twitch.
"The Opry doesn't just put your name on a flyer -- they actually do the work of promoting you as an artist, and that's important," says Morgan Wade. Wade's currently achieving greater renown as her indie-to-Sony Music Nashville-signed artist story now sees her debut album "Reckless" receiving a renewed push.
Like Elvie Shane, Wade is an honest, earnest, tattooed free-thinker whose art reflects traditional country values but perhaps with a renewed focus on expanding past preconceptions of what successful artists look and sound like in the genre.