'Landlocked' surf rock at the Opry? Colony House makes debut on famed country music stage

A wave of so-called 'landlocked' surf rock took the Grand Ole Opry by storm this week.

Colony House — a Franklin-born indie rock outfit known for slick riffs and boisterous singalongs — made an Opry debut Tuesday, a rare achievement for a rock band on a stage typically reserved for country crooners and bluegrass pickers.

The band played a rockabilly take of 2023 song "Landlocked Surf Rock" — a rendition inspired by honky-tonk nights at classic country bar Robert's Western World, frontman Caleb Chapman said backstage Tuesday.

"We're wannabe rockabilly players," Chapman said moments after walking off stage. "It was, like, the simplified version."

With much of Music Row decamping to Texas this week for the ACM Awards, Colony House joined an eclectic Opry lineup Tuesday night: Americana songsmith Marcus King, tenured country storyteller Don Schlitz and Christian hitmaker Steven Curtis Chapman — father to Caleb Chapman and Colony House drummer Will Chapman — rounded out the bill.

The debut took place during a year of homecoming achievements for Colony House. The band headlined a sold-out show at the Ryman Auditorium in February; next month, the landlocked quartet hits the so-called "Farm" in Manchester, Tennessee, for a set at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

Earlier this year, Colony House released "Cannonballers," a buzzed-about full-length album named in-part after "Wabash Canonnball," a roller coaster (and signature Roy Acuff tune) at Opryland USA, a former theme park that neighbored the historic concert hall.

"Roy Acuff would've been singing that song on this stage," Caleb Chapman said. "It's crazy."

More: Colony House: Nashville rock band's new album is a love letter to Tennessee (and Opryland)

On stage at the Opry, the band felt a warm embrace from the audience — including a few show-goers sporting Colony House t-shirts near the stage, Will Chapman said. To close the two-song segment, Steven Curtis Chapman joined the band for "Moving Forward," a 2014 tune played at virtually all Colony House gigs, said guitarist Scott Mills.

As for bringing a taste of the band's "landlocked" tunes to the Opry stage?

"Everyone feels the weight of the history and the magic of the moment," said bassist Parke Cottrell.

Will Chapman added, "We just appreciate it."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Colony House brings 'landlocked' surf rock to the Grand Ole Opry