A night at the (Lovingston) Opry

LOVINGSTON — Madison Beverly’s got her dancing shoes on.

On this particular Saturday night at the Lovingston Opry, they come in the form of a pair of sparkly silver flip-flops, paired with a long jean skirt and top.

The 6-year-old shimmies and shakes on the dance floor to the tunes of the Opry’s latest headliner, Lynchburg-based band Reckless Aband’n.

At different times throughout the night, Madison is joined by her older sister, Hannah, a 10-year-old sporting a Rascal Flatts T-shirt, and their pal Hannah Peters, also 10 and all cowgirl-ed out in brown boots, a jean skirt and short-sleeved flannel shirt.

For other patrons, the shoes have come off as they hoof around to songs like “Suds in the Bucket,” “Hurts So Good” and Sugarland’s “It Happens.”

Soon, the girls’ parents, Kim and Randy Beverly and Missy and Stacey Peters, hit the floor with them.

“They come ready to party, man,” co-owner Trish Becker says, looking down from one of the Opry’s three balconies.

The scene is exactly what she and co-founder Jode Shaw envisioned when they opened the venue, which used to be St. Mary’s Catholic Church, on Lovingston’s Front Street three years ago: a family friendly joint where you can get a good meal and enjoy a beer or two, and where kids can dance alongside their parents.

Here, Becker says, “it’s not about just sitting and drinking. It’s about performance and interaction.”

The Lovingston Opry, a nonprofit organization, is open for karaoke every Friday from 7 to 11 p.m. and a couple Saturdays a month for performances like the recent one by Reckless Aband’n (see front pagefor a schedule).

Bands, a mix of local and regional acts and beyond, perform on what was once the church altar, and the main room has about a dozen tables, with the original pews in the back for additional seating.

There, patrons can listen to the music and eat dinner courtesy of the Opry Basement Bistro, which Becker and Shaw opened downstairs in 2008. (It serves up diner fare like burgers, hot dogs, fries and wings, as well as entrees like chicken, steak, seafood and ribs; hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and until 11 p.m. on show nights.)

They only serve alcohol — beer, wine and mixed drinks — upstairs in the Opry.

Each of the three balconies, which used to be Sunday school rooms before Becker got her hands on them, has a different theme that reflects the kind of music they like to highlight at the Opry: blues, country and bluegrass.

From the floor, the blues room, lit by a fluorescent pink light, stands out the most. Becker says they wanted it to feel like a blues club, and it’s often used by couples coming to the Opry for a date night.

It was those balconies that cemented Becker’s vision for the place.

She and Shaw first found the church for sale online in 2006 and drove down from their homes in Northern Virginia to see it.

“I knew before I got here I was going to buy it,” says Becker, whose family is from Nelson County. “I brought my checkbook.”

During the drive, they brainstormed ideas for what it could be, and when Shaw suggested an opera house, a light bulb went off.

“I said, ‘No, no, Opry!” Becker says. “‘The Lovingston Opry.’”

When they arrived, she sent Shaw, a lawyer, to talk with the real estate agent while she checked out the sanctuary.

“I (had to) go up there and feel it,” Becker says. “I turned around, and I saw the three balconies, and I thought, ‘Ohmigod, this is a music venue.’

“You have that moment when you’re inspired, and we’ve continued to be inspired ever since.”

She says they lucked out with the 170-year-old building’s “phenomenal” acoustics.

“These acoustics are what people pay sound engineers hundreds of thousands of dollars to do,” she says.

From there, they say, the place created itself.

“We’re on a journey with this building, and we don’t know why,” Shaw says, laughing.

“I think,” adds Becker, “it owns us.”

As they began their journey, Becker says people told her that an old church couldn’t be a viable business.

Her response?

“Think outside of the box. They’re perfect restaurants, they’re perfect music venues. They have character.”

Pam Carter, an Altavista resident who came to see Reckless Aband’n last weekend, was in awe of that character as soon as she walked in.

“You just feel something special,” she says. “I usually don’t dance until the last set, but (here), I said, ‘I’m dancing.’

“The energy, I just love it. I have to come back.”

The Beverlys, who live in Schuyler, have been coming to the Opry since it opened and usually reserve the bluegrass balcony room, which has a large circular
table that’s perfect for some down-home group dining.

“I just think (Trish) goes out of her way to make everybody comfortable,” Kim Beverly says.

Ted and Marian Dixson, of Shipman, are regulars, too, and always reserve the same table in the main room.

“When you walk in the door, it’s like you are at home,” Marian says.

“This is a treasure. It’s just a wonderful place.”

By 9:30 Saturday, the dance floor is close to packed during Reckless Aband’n’s set. Even the Dixsons, who don’t usually dance, are up.

“It’s magical,” Becker says, “when the music starts, and I dim the lights and turn on the spotlight.

“Everybody just starts scooting around.”

The Lovingston Opry
ADDRESS: 632 Front St.
PHONE: (434) 263-8305
WEB SITE: www.lovingstonopry.com
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: The Sam Austin Band from 7 to 10 p.m. Aug. 15 and Nov. 7 (tickets to both shows are $15), and Hard Drivin’ Grass from 8 to 10 p.m. Sept. 5 (tickets are $12).