They may not be the actual performers from the Grand Old Opry, but as far as their fans are concerned the Lakeside Strings are every bit as entertaining.
The five-member musical string ensemble from Birmingham’s Lakeside Baptist Church has been performing its country and western music for the past 15 years. The players have mainly entertained groups of senior adults from Baptist churches throughout the state but also occasionally performed for other groups.
Bass player and spokesman for the Lakeside Strings, Gordon Graham, said the group just fell into place more than a decade ago. “Someone started playing his guitar, someone else grabbed a banjo, I grabbed my bass, and the next thing you know we had a band,” he said with a chuckle, explaining that the original focus of the group was a ministry to nursing homes. “This group is a ministry for us,” he said, noting that even though their audiences are now largely made up of senior groups from all over the state, they still enjoy performing in area nursing homes. “Occasionally we are asked to provide the entire evening worship services at some churches,” he said.
In addition to Graham, the group is composed of Bill Burdette who plays the banjo, guitar and mandolin; Barney Perkins who plays lead guitar, Felix Hitt who plays the electric guitar; and the only female member, Levis Barton, who plays the guitar and dulcimer. Burdette is the only member who is not a senior adult.
According to Graham, the group’s repertoire includes 400–600 country and western songs. “Between the five of us it’s hard to find a song that we don’t know,” he said.
Graham recalls the first time the Lakeside Strings played for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions senior retreat at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center a number of years ago.
‘Didn’t know what to expect’
“It was the first time we had played in front of a group of 600 people,” he said. “We really didn’t know what to expect. The reception was overwhelming. They took us to heart and didn’t want us to stop. This performance led to invitations from across the state — from Mobile to Fort Payne. We were even asked to come to Meridian, Miss.,” he said.
Several years ago Graham was asked to develop a show with a Grand Old Opry flavor.
He took the challenge to heart and sought out look-alike performers from the members of the senior adult choir that he leads. The matches were on target and the Lakeside church members he approached all agreed to join the cast. The Lakeside Grand Old Opry was born and the 17 performers have entertained appreciative audiences on three separate occasions.
Wanting the show to look as authentic as possible, the performers decided to dress in look-alike costumes of the country and western performers they were impersonating. That meant — to the delight of the audiences — that sequins, poofy hair and glitter as well as comic skits, were part of the show.
Not surprisingly, Graham adopted the role of Porter Waggoner complete with blond hair and glitzy jacket. “I just went down to Goodwill and purchased the jacket and then went to a local fabric store and bought sequins and sewed them on myself,” he said matter-of-factly. The hour performance includes visits from 20 famous Opry singers such as: Johnny Cash, Minnie Pearl, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, George Jones and Kitty Wells. “We just never know who’s going to show up,” Graham said, jokingly.
The Lakeside Grand Old Opry doesn’t perform on a regular basis because of the logistics, although Graham said he was told the senior adults group at Lakeside had already booked a performance for the spring.
The Lakeside Strings have slowed down their booking engagements, only performing 25–30 times a year. “For old folks who don’t know what we’re doing, we sure have a whole lot of fun,” Graham said.
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