In His Own Words: Ray Fulcher Re-Lives His Grand Ole Opry Debut

Country music fans may not be entirely familiar with the name Ray Fulcher (yet), but they will certainly know his work as a songwriter. The rising hitmaker had a hand in penning eight songs on Luke Combs’ Platinum debut album, This One’s For You, and eight more on Combs’ sophomore release, What You See Is What You Get. After earning several Number One singles to his name, Fulcher signed a recording contract with Black River Entertainment and has since put out his own music as an artist. Just months after inking the deal, Fulcher was invited to make his debut at the Grand Ole Opry. To celebrate, Fulcher penned a blog entry exclusively for Sounds Like Nashville readers about his day, as he recalls all the little, special details that went into his debut. Re-live Ray Fulcher’s Grand Ole Opry debut in his own words below…

Man. The Grand Ole Opry. A couple of months ago, I found out that I would be playing the Opry on a Friday night.  June 25th. I immediately started imagining what it would like, but really that imagining had been going on for a decade. I grew up listening to country music and idolized guys like Alan Jackson, George Strait, Keith Whitley, etc., and from the moment I picked up a guitar in 2006, playing on THAT stage? Well, that was just some far distant dream. Until now. 

The emotions on the way to the Opry that day are really wide-ranging and hard to explain, but I would say the biggest thing I felt was just thankfulness and disbelief mixed with equal parts nerves and anxiety about the moment and how much weight it held with it. I pulled in, and it got really real, really quick when I saw my parking spot with a sign that read “Welcome to the Grand Ole Opry” and a space under it that read “Ray Fulcher.” I then walked inside and checked in with Mr. Jim up front, and he directed me to Dressing room 4, which is reserved for all the first-time Debut artists. When you walk in, there’s an old green couch that screams history and quotes all over the walls from many of my heroes about their first night at the Opry. The thing that struck me was how a lot of these legends were feeling the same way I was about my first time. “Do I belong here where all the greats have played?” “Am I gonna be too nervous to play on this hallowed stage?” It was hard not to get emotional in that room. I spent 10-15 minutes in that room, just kind of taking it all in.

After that, I got to stand on the stage without anyone in the seats to just kind of feel the aura. They said I could stand in the Circle, but I decided to wait ’til I was out there playing. I wanted my first time in the Circle to be when I strummed the first chord of the first song. After that, I got to go back and change and rehearse my songs with the Opry band (who are all top-notch and were pumped to play with me – which helped ease my nerves). We had a little meet and greet where people from my label and my publishing companies got to come back and say hey, and we got to take pictures. My parents finally came through the door too, and I spent a few minutes with them. Then I had about an hour in Dressing room 4 to prep my mind and heart for the show.

About 15 minutes before the show, I was as nervous as I’ve ever been in my life. The weight of the moment and all the work I had put into the last 14 years kind of hit me all at once. So, I practiced my songs, said a little prayer (a few of them), and told myself that all the work prepared me for this moment. It wasn’t until the curtain came up and I started my first song that the nerves subsided. I played two songs that I put out last Friday, “Girl In It” and “Bucket List Beers” (“Girl In It” will be my radio single), and by the start of the second song, I was just having fun. I took the band leader’s advice, and before each song, I took 10-15 seconds just to look around and take it all in. Wow, what energy and mystique that place has about it. You can almost smell the history. I had to fight through the second song because I was getting emotional just thinking about it all, and there is a part in the song about my Dad, and I knew he was out there watching. Then I got to play my 3rd song.

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A while back, I had decided I wanted to play my last song alone, solo, with just a guitar and microphone. I knew that I was taking a risk, but that’s how the dream started for me after I saw Eric Church play “lightning” solo back in 2006, and it was important for me to almost recreate that moment for myself 15 years later. A couple of years back, I had written a song called “Sellin’ Cars” with the Warren Brothers and Lance Miller, and it was kind of my story all wrapped into one song. After college, instead of taking a job that my degree was in, I decided to take a job that I could still play music on the nights during the weekends. One of those jobs ended up being a sales job at an auto dealer. I learned so much during that year, but it was definitely not what I had envisioned for my 24-year-old self, so I always said I would write a song about that one day. So we did. It’s about the journey of Music Row and how even if you don’t make it, even trying is worth it. So, I decided to play this song as my last song.

About halfway through it, the crowd was really into it, and it made me very emotional. At the beginning of the second verse, I had to step away from the mic because I could no longer sing through the tears. It was one of the most emotional experiences of my life having the crowd rally behind me, and after about 30 seconds, I was able to start the second verse. As I finished the song and hit the last chord, the crowd immediately roared and hit their feet.  It was a standing ovation. I remember thinking at first, “Am I dreaming?” and then immediately the competitor came out in me, and I was so pumped I could’ve run through a brick wall. That moment is easily the top 2 or 3 moments of my life up to this point and will probably only be surpassed when I get married and hopefully have children. I then went back to the dressing room and just took it all in. I sat on the couch and just soaked up what had just happened. All the hard work and all the years and all of the disappointments felt like they finally just paid off. I think I was one of the last people to leave that night because I didn’t really want it to end. It was only one night, after all, but what a night it was. I’m a very blessed man. 

-Ray Fulcher