Ole Red Gatlinburg Celebrates Grand Opening With Performance By Blake Shelton

Shelton Joined “Spring Blake” Festivities at New Ole Red Location with Private Concert Featuring Special Guests the Swon Brothers

https://youtu.be/EIl45dxOidc

Gatlinburg, Tenn. – Ryman Hospitality Properties (RHP) and Blake Shelton’s  long-awaited restaurant and bar Ole Red Gatlinburg is officially open in downtown Gatlinburg. The entertainment venue celebrated “Spring Blake” yesterday, March 13, with a full day of activity including a memorable performance by Shelton featuring special guests the Swon Brothers  on the Ole Red Gatlinburg stage. Photos from the performance are available for download.

The grand opening celebrations began with a ribbon cutting and donation ceremony moderated by 650 AM WSM’s Bill Cody featuring Shelton and RHP CEO Colin Reed. Gatlinburg-Pittman High School was the recipient of a $54,214 donation to support music education in the local community. The funds were raised by Ole Red Gatlinburg auctioning 70 tickets to last night’s private Blake Shelton concert. The auction raised a grand total of $29,214 which combined with Ryman Hospitality Properties Foundation’s match of up to $25,000, brought the total to over $50,000 for Gatlinburg-Pittman High School’s music programs.

Following the ribbon cutting and donation ceremony, the festivities continued at Ole Red where Shelton officially christened the venue’s stage, performing his extensive catalog of hits for a packed house of over 500 fans.

Shelton opened the show with hit songs “Neon Light” and “All About Tonight,” the latter a fitting start to what proved to be an unforgettable evening of music and fun.

“I feel like this place already has good vibes, we have started this off right,” Shelton shared with the rowdy Wednesday night crowd. “This will always be embedded in the walls and all the cracks and crevices in here. This night, the way it all started…thank you all for being here and having this much energy…I love this so much!”

Shelton closed the two-hour set with a collection of his hits including “Austin,” “Honey Bee,” and “Boys Round Here” before returning for an encore of “Footloose” and “God Gave Me You.

Week-long “Spring Blake” fun for the can’t-miss new destination will continue with Blake-approved performances from former contestants on NBC’s “The Voice” from March 14 – 17.

March 14: Lauren Duski
March 15: Pryor Baird
March 16: Red Marlow
March 17: Emily Ann Roberts

Visit olered.com/gatlinburg/ for complete event calendar, menu items and the full, daily line-up of live music. Ole Red Gatlinburg is located at 511 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738.

About Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.
Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE:RHP) is a REIT for federal income tax purposes, specializing in group-oriented, destination hotel assets in urban and resort markets. The Company’s owned assets include a network of four upscale, meetings-focused resorts totaling 8,114 rooms that are managed by lodging operator Marriott International, Inc. under the Gaylord Hotels brand. The Company is a joint venture owner of the 1,501-room Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, which is also managed by Marriott International, Inc. Other owned assets managed by Marriott International, Inc. include Gaylord Springs Golf Links, the Wildhorse Saloon, the General Jackson Showboat, The Inn at Opryland, a 303-room overflow hotel adjacent to Gaylord Opryland and AC Hotel Washington, DC at National Harbor, a 192-room hotel near Gaylord National. The Company also owns and operates media and entertainment assets, including the Grand Ole Opry (opry.com), the legendary weekly showcase of country music’s finest performers for over 90 years; the Ryman Auditorium, the storied former home of the Grand Ole Opry located in downtown Nashville; 650 AM WSM, the Opry’s radio home; and Ole Red, a country lifestyle and entertainment brand. For additional information about Ryman Hospitality Properties, visit www.rymanhp.com.

About Ole Red
Ole Red is a lifestyle and entertainment brand inspired by Blake Shelton’s clever, irreverent third-chart hit, “Ol’ Red.” You can currently find Ole Red entertainment venues and products in two locations in the United States, the flagship multi-story bar, restaurant and entertainment venue in the heart of downtown Nashville’s famed Lower Broadway, the very first location in Blake’s hometown of Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The Company has announced additional location in Orlando, Florida (2020). Ole Red is owned and operated by Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. as part of its Opry Entertainment division. For additional information about Ole Red, visit us online at olered.com.

About Blake Shelton
Country Music Association’s 2012 “Entertainer of the Year,” five-time Male Vocalist of the Year winner and GRAMMY nominee Blake Shelton continues to add to his superstar status. His most recent album Texoma Shore became his sixth record to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and marked his 11th all-genre Top 10. Texoma Shore features tracks including the GRAMMY-nominated “I Lived It” and “I’ll Name The Dogs,” a romantic tune that boasts more than 115 million streams and marked his 25th No. 1 song. In the week following album launch, Shelton became the first artist in Country Aircheck / Mediabase history to have six songs chart simultaneously. Texoma Shore follows 2016’s Gold-certified If I’m Honest, the best-selling country album release of the year, which spawned three chart-topping songs and earned him a No. 1 on both the Billboard Top Country Albums and the all-genre Top Album Sales charts.

A member of the Grand Ole Opry, Shelton has earned a host of honors throughout his career including 20 ACM nominations and both the male and overall Video of the Year trophies at the 2018 CMT Awards. As a coach for the Emmy Award-winning television show “The Voice,” Shelton is a six-time champion, most recently with his contestant Chloe Kohanski. Off stage, Shelton has teamed up with Ryman Hospitality to open a string of Ole Red entertainment restaurant venues, a nod to his 2001 hit of the same name. The first location in his hometown of Tishomingo, OK opened in September 2017, while the space on Nashville’s lower Broadway hosted a week-long grand opening in June of 2018. Locations in Gatlinburg, TN and Orlando, FL are due to follow.

For more information and upcoming tour dates, please visit www.BlakeShelton.com and follow @BlakeShelton.

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For Ole Red
Ebie McFarland
Essential Broadcast Media
ebie@ebmediapr.com
(615) 327-3259

Lisaann Dupont
Opry Entertainment Group
ldupont@ryman.com
(615) 319-3638

For Ryman Hospitality Properties
Shannon Sullivan
Ryman Hospitality Properties
ssullivan@rymanhp.com
(615) 316-6725

For Blake Shelton
Wes Vause
Warner Music Nashville
wes.vause@wmg.com