Dolly Parton
Did you know October was proclaimed Country Music Month in 1970? Let’s spend some time with your communities celebrating all things country music this October!
Country Music Photo Booth
Set up a fun photo booth for the month. Provide some cowboy hats, bandanas, and cardboard cutouts of guitars or banjos (or a real guitar/banjo if you can!). For the background, add bunches of straw/corn stalks and a red and white gingham check fabric hanging. If you can, add bales of straw to sit on. Take some photos with groups of your community members, and encourage family members visiting your community to take photos with their loved ones.
Take a Virtual/Armchair Visit to Nashville’s Country Music Scene
Nashville is considered the home of country music. Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and the Bluebird Cafe are two famous performance spaces in the country music scene: Tootsie’s a classic honky-tonk, the Bluebird a listening room. Many country artists got their start performing at one or both of these venues. You can put together presentations on their history using Wikipedia, or stream one of the documentaries about these places; the Bluebird documentary is available for streaming. You may be able to find a copy of Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge: Where the Music Began on eBay or from other used video retailers.
Reminisce: What were some favorite places that members of your community went to to listen to live music? What type of musical performances do they like to hear live? Have they ever been to Tootsie’s, the Bluebird Cafe, or another country music venue in Nashville?
Bring the Country Music Scene to Your Community
Invite a local country music singer to perform some country standards for your community. Lean into the seating style of the Bluebird Cafe and have your community sit “in the round.” Put seating around the singer for an intimate music performance, much like the Bluebird Cafe. Ask for a few standards made famous by classic country artists such as Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, or Patsy Cline.
Host a Horseshoe Toss
There are both indoor and outdoor versions of this game you can purchase from online retailers, as well as rubber options that may be lighter and easier to throw. Think about what will work best for your community setup and purchase a set or two if needed. Divide your group into 2-4 teams, and allow each person on each team 2 to 3 throws. Horseshoes landing one horseshoe width or less away from the stake score 1 point; horseshoes hooked around the stake score 2 points. The team with the most points wins!
Learn to Play Country Music Instruments
Common rhythm instruments used in country music include musical spoons, washboards, and the washtub bass. You can purchase wooden spoons, washboards, and washtub bass kits from online retailers or a local music shop. You can also make musical spoons as a group to play! Work with your community’s kitchen staff to borrow spoons.
Supplies: You will need 2 spoons, 2 rubber bands, and 1 eraser per person. Parks Canada has a nice set of instructions (PDF download) to follow for making a set. Help your community members put together their playing spoons. Here is a quick tutorial with three basic rhythms from Heritage Spoons. Practice each rhythm as a group a few times.
Now you can have your community play along to this playlist, or you can make a playlist of these songs for your community members:
- “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” by John Denver
- “Rocky Top” by the Osborne Brothers
- “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” by Brooks & Dunn
- “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band
- “Callin’ Baton Rouge” by Garth Brooks
Have Workouts Go Country
Choose a few different playlists for your workout sessions this month, or you can use this Spotify list of 50 country songs for working out. Use the country songs during your community’s workout sessions. Include some toe tapping or clapping as part of your workouts to help your community get into the country music spirit.
Learn About the History of the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium
The Grand Ole Opry is the longest-running radio show in the USA, with the Ryman Auditorium serving as the home of that radio show for many years. You can read more about the history of the Grand Ole Opry to your group from History Makers, Volume 2, this month’s featured ElderSong title (see more info about the book at the end of this newsletter). You can also show these two short documentaries: The Scene Nashville: The Ryman Auditorium and Grand Ole Opry Documentary. The Opry still has shows on weekends that you can stream. Check their website for more information.
Reminisce: Have any of your residents listened to the Grand Ole Opry radio show? Who was in the cast at the time? Has anyone in your community seen a show live at the Grand Ole Opry or the Ryman Auditorium? What other famous concert venues have your community members visited to hear country music singers? Who are their favorite country music stars to see or hear perform?
Learn About and Listen to Famous Country Singers
Choose your favorite country stars to learn about. The Country Music Hall of Fame has good short biographies for each of their inductees. I have picked Dolly Parton and a playlist of some of her work on Spotify and Johnny Cash as well as a playlist of his work on Spotify, but there are many more country music singers and songwriters to choose from if your community has another favorite!
Country Music Sing-Along/Name That Tune Session
Have a country-themed sing-along or Name That Tune music session with your community. You can use this playlist from YouTube with karaoke lyrics for your community members to sing along to or have your group listen to the songs and try to guess the name of the songs. You can split them into two teams to add a little more of a competitive spirit and let them help each other figure out the titles.
Popular songs to include in your sing-along:
- “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash (1956)
- “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash (1963)
- “Crazy” by Patsy Cline (1961)
- “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones (1980)
- “Stand by Your Man” by Tammy Wynette (1968)
- “Jolene” by Dolly Parton (1973)
- “Coal Miner’s Daughter” by Loretta Lynn (1970)
- “Hey, Good Lookin'” by Hank Williams (1951)
- “Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford (1955)
Have a Reminiscing Session About Playing in a Band or Singing
Print some photos of bands or singers for your community to pass around as part of the discussion. Who taught them how to play or sing? What was a favorite song they performed? What is a favorite story from a performance or practice session? What inspired them to play or sing? Did they teach or mentor any singers or instrumentalists, and what was that like?
Line Dancing Happy Hour
Host a line dance afternoon or happy hour for your community. Speak with your community chef to have a few snacks and drinks available. Snacks could include pretzels, a veggie tray, pulled pork sliders, and banana pudding cups. Drinks could include iced tea and lemonade. You can choose your own music or use this Spotify playlist. If members of your community cannot stand up for line dancing, see if other members of your community’s staff would be willing to dance a couple of songs, or you can try a seated line dance class here. Encourage everyone to do some boot scootin’ boogie!
COUNTRY MUSIC MONTH TRIVIA
1. The Grand Ole Opry is the longest-running radio show in the US. In what year did this iconic broadcast first hit the airwaves?
Answer: 1925. It originally debuted as the WSM Barn Dance before changing its name in 1927.
2. Which famous Nashville venue served as the official home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974?
Answer: The Ryman Auditorium (often referred to as the “Mother Church of Country Music”).
3. Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge is a famous honky-tonk where many artists got their start. Who was the actual “Tootsie” the lounge was named after?
Answer: Tootsie Bess (Hattie Louise “Tootsie” Bess, who bought the lounge in 1960. It was called Mom’s before she took it over).
4. “Crazy” was sung in 1961 by Patsy Cline. Which other legendary country star actually wrote this classic song?
Answer: Willie Nelson.
5. What specific, grueling profession is “Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford about?
Answer: Coal mining.
6. Which member of the famous Carter family (who later married Cash) co-wrote Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”?
Answer: June Carter Cash (co-written with Merle Kilgore).
7. In the song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” which instrument does the character Johnny use to defeat the devil in the musical duel?
Answer: The fiddle.
8. What was the inspiration behind the name “Jolene” in Dolly Parton’s smash hit of the same name?
Answer: A young, red-haired fan who asked Dolly for an autograph. Dolly loved the name and promised to write a song about it. The song’s story came from somewhere else: a red-haired bank teller who had taken a shine to Dolly’s husband!
9. What everyday household item do musicians traditionally wear on their fingers to scrape against a washboard to create a rhythm?
Answer: Thimbles (metal sewing thimbles).
10. The Osborne Brothers’ “Rocky Top” is one of the official state songs of which US state?
Answer: Tennessee (adopted as a state song in 1982).
THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” —Dolly Parton
“There’s a reason why it’s called ‘country music.’ It’s from the country.” —Willie Nelson
“You’re only as good as your last song.” —Loretta Lynn
“I can’t keep a job, so I keep singing.” —Hank Williams
“I always try to learn something from every single person I meet.” —Reba McEntire
“Country Music Month” was written by Emily Wang. Copyright 2026 Emerald Workshop LLC. All rights reserved. Visit us at www.eldersong.com
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