“I'm Here to Sing Your Praises”: Austin Snell Invites Hudson Westbrook to Make His Grand Ole Opry Debut During CMA Fest 2025

Hudson Westbrook received a heartwarming surprise during his Chevy Riverfront Stage set, with his River House label-mate, Austin Snell, inviting him to make his Opry debut.

Hudson Westbrook will step into the hallowed Grand Ole Opry circle on July 22nd, with Henry Cho and Tigirlily Gold currently scheduled to perform on the same evening.

During his CMA Fest 2025 performance, Austin Snell wandered onto the stage, leaving Hudson Westbrook visibly perplexed. Snell then began to explain why he was crashing his set, warmly outlining, “I'm not trying to ruin your show or nothing, but I'm here to sing your praises a little bit right now. I met this kid about a year ago, when he signed to the label with me, and [people] would say things like, ‘Man, this is the hardest-working dude, one of the hardest working dudes I've ever met’”.

Snell went on to pay tribute to Westbrook, “Y'all see the shows, y'all see the big shows and all the music, but what y'all don't see is all the hard work and dedication that happens behind the scenes and everything that goes in to make it all happen”.

Endearingly, the ‘House Again’ singer-songwriter then attempted to deflect Snell's praise, stressing that this rings true for all performers, not just him, before expressing his appreciation for the fans that keep turning out for him, “That's for every artist...but y'all show up so that makes it worth it every time. So thank you so much”.

Snell returned to the microphone, offering Westbrook the news he will no doubt have been aspiring towards ever since he first picked up a guitar, “Have you ever heard of the Grand Ole Opry? So on behalf of the Grand Ole Opry and all these people out here today, we would like to invite you to make your debut on July 22nd. Let's go!”

It's a colossal honour, but a deserved one, with the country prodigy firmly establishing himself as one of the genre's future stars, after dropping a flurry of viral earworms, such as ‘Weatherman’ and ‘Sober’. The timing of Hudson Westbrook's Opry debut feels apt, with the ‘Dressed Down’ crooner releasing his eagerly anticipated debut album, Texas Forever, just a few days later on Friday, July 25th.

Elsewhere during his stellar set, Hudson Westbrook gave attendees a welcome surprised by delivered a galvanising, crowd-pleasing cover of Taylor Swift's ‘You Belong with Me‘.

The fast-emerging artist also reeled off fan-favourites from his quickly burgeoning discography, such as ‘House Again’, ‘Texas Forever’, ‘Sober’, ‘Weatherman’ and more.

Watch the moment Hudson Westbrook received his coveted Grand Ole Opry invitation from Austin Snell below:

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