#MusicIsFaith ▶ In the late 1950s, Grand Ole Opry linchpin Roy Acuff led an Australia-bred variety series called "Roy Acuff's Open House," sharing a stage with a mix of other Opry performers including the Wilburn Brothers, June Webb, and the Smoky Mountain Boys and Girls. Episodes offered playing, singing, and dancing (the latter from the Open House Square Dancers), mixing country, gospel, and pop standards. During this 1959 episode, Acuff and his "Open House" collaborators (including Connie Ell

Roy Acuff, known as the “King of Country Music” due to his long association with the Grand Ole Opry, was born in Maynardville, Tennessee, on September 15, 1903. Acuff is often credited with moving the Opry (and Country Music) from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the singer-based model. Acuff debuted at the Opry in 1938. He became the first living inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1962. He passd away on November 23, 1992 at age 89. | GatorRock