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Story Summary
The first time George Rutherford ever sang in front of a crowd, he was a teenager at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry. His family lived in Tennessee at the time, and his father heard on the radio that the Opry was holding open auditions. Rutherford decided to give it a shot.
Now 93, he still clearly remembers that night in the early 1940s when he sang “My Main Trial is Yet to Come” by Hank Williams.
“I thought when I got up there to sing that there was a band that was going to help me out,” said Rutherford, a Fulton resident. “When I looked around, I didn’t see anyone, just a bunch of eyes in the audience. That felt like the longest song I ever sang in my life, but I got through it, and of course I got a hand. Everybody applauded.”
Rutherford was hooked for a lifetime. He still loves to play his acoustic guitar and sing, especially alongside brothers Don, 82, and Doug, 77.
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