From Lula to Emmylou: The Women Who Saved the Ryman

By Lane Vaughn

“A dark, haunting wreck of what once had been, it sat neglected…decayed…would anyone step up and save the Ryman?”

Guests on a daytime tour of Ryman Auditorium hear these words in the Soul of Nashville immersive theater experience, spoken by an actress portraying the Ryman’s formidable former manager, Lula Clay Naff.

Known as Tennessee’s First Lady of the Theater, Lula served as general manager from 1920 until her retirement in 1955. Passionate and shrewd, Lula carved her way through the male-dominated entertainment industry and left a lasting mark. She transformed the Ryman from an indebted, underutilized space into the Carnegie Hall of the South.

Years after Lula’s reign, when the Ryman again faced demolition, another female trailblazer brought it back from the brink. In front of an intimate crowd, Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers recorded their live album, At the Ryman, reigniting public interest in the iconic landmark.

Written into the Ryman’s history are the stories of the tenacious, talented women whose contributions forever changed the Mother Church and the course of music history. Discover their inspiring legacies and impact on this iconic venue when you take a daytime tour.

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LULA LEADS THE WAY

Lula C. Naff’s influence on the Ryman began before she was ever its manager. Newly widowed, the young single mother first stepped through its doors in 1904, sitting in the audience as Italian opera singer Adelina Patti took the stage. Lula had recently begun working for the Delong Rice Lyceum Bureau, booking entertainment for the Ryman—then known as the Union Gospel Tabernacle. When the agency dissolved in 1913, Lula scraped together enough money to secure the lease to the building and began renting it out herself.

When Lula officially took over as General Manager in 1920, the building was $6,000 in debt, with another $9,000 needed for improvements to heating, lighting, décor, sanitation, and building safety. The newly reorganized board absorbed the debt and invested the needed funds; Lula paid off their investment in only three years by resolving to bring the highest caliber talent through the auditorium’s doors.

And, that she did. During Lula's reign, the Ryman hosted theater, dance, magic, politics, opera, and of course, music, featuring stars like Anna Pavlova, Charlie Chaplin, John Philip Sousa, Harry Houdini, and Katherine Hepburn. Lula welcomed any artist who could draw a crowd, regardless of race, defying the norms of many southern venues by showcasing African American performers such as Marian Anderson, Duke Ellington, Charley Parker, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Dizzy Gillespie.

In 1943, Lula struck a deal that would change the Ryman, and Nashville, forever. Saturday nights saw the Ryman’s pews filled with the rowdy crowds of the Grand Ole Opry, which called the Ryman home for 31 years. As the Opry radio show introduced Nashville to millions of listeners, the Ryman was forever stamped as the Mother Church of country music.

Lula retired in 1955 and died five years later in 1960. Nashville mourned her passing, as local newspapers celebrated her long and storied career. She had kept the building afloat through difficult times, defended the Ryman against critics, and helped garner national recognition. She challenged the perception of women in the workforce, defied race-based prejudice in performance, and fought the authorities who tried to censor content from being shown to the public. She made the old tabernacle her world, and in doing so, solidified Nashville’s legacy as a hub of music and art.

Fourteen years after Lula’s passing, the Opry moved out of the Ryman. Without its regular Saturday night crowd, the Ryman sat empty and fell into disrepair. Nashville’s dignitaries, and even some Opry stars, debated over whether to tear the old building down.

Who would step up and save the Ryman?

A RAMBLIN' REVIVAL

In 1991, country and folk-rock pioneer Emmylou Harris and her newly formed backing group, the Nash Ramblers, were in search of a place to record a live album. She chose the Ryman, which, though dilapidated, still boasted legendary acoustics.

The Ryman opened its doors for three live shows—the building’s first public performances in over 20 years. A small crowd of 200 gathered on the lower level, as the balcony was deemed unsafe. The band played a setlist of country and bluegrass songs they had never played in front of a live audience.   

“Isn’t it wonderful to sit out there? Isn’t this a great place to sort of feel the hillbilly dust?” Emmylou says on the recording. “I’ve played a lot of different places in the last 16 years…this is the best.”

At the Ryman was released in 1992 and met with critical acclaim, winning a Grammy Award. And with magic in every note and pluck of the banjo strings, the album reignited interest in the Ryman. Soon, a multi-million-dollar renovation was underway.

Ryman Auditorium reopened in 1994, inviting crowds back into its wooden pews. And true to Lula’s vision, it welcomed a diverse array of performers.

Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, and Dolly Parton returned to the Ryman’s stage. Aretha Franklin headlined in 2010. The Foo Fighters sold out a Halloween show in 2014, despite announcing it just three days prior. In 2019, Wu-Tang Clan made history as the first hip-hop act to headline. Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Lizzo, Coldplay, and countless other superstars have praised the Ryman, honoring its legacy and the icons who preceded them. And in 2017, Emmylou Harris celebrated the 25^th anniversary of At the Ryman, reuniting with the Nash Ramblers on the stage she helped save as they performed the original setlist.

 

From Lula to Emmylou, the legacy of women shaping the success of Ryman Auditorium is undeniable. Lula’s vision and determination in transforming a struggling venue into a cultural landmark cemented the Ryman’s role in music history. Decades later, Emmylou Harris’s decision to record in the very space that Lula fought to preserve rekindled the spark that would save it from further decay. Both women ensured that “The Soul of Nashville” would not only survive but thrive.

Today, the Ryman stands as a tribute to their tenacity, welcoming artists from all walks of life, and remaining a place where history is written with every performance.

Step back in time and explore the rich history of the Ryman and the extraordinary women who shaped it on a daytime tour.

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