Hillbilly Thomists bluegrass band performs for Knights on Opry stage

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  — As a boy growing up in the Nashville area, Chris Gautsch never expected to perform on the most well-known stage in the city – the Grand Ole Opry – especially after becoming a Dominican priest.

But the unexpected came to fruition for him. Today he is Dominican Father Peter Gautsch, and he and six of his fellow Dominican friars graced the Opry stage as the Hillbilly Thomists Aug. 1 to perform the welcoming concert for the 140th annual Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention.

“It’s a dream, and growing up in Nashville, I never, ever imagined I’d be on that stage,” Fr. Gautsch said. “It was a total thrill.”

The priest graduated in 2011 from Notre Dame University with a bachelor’s degree in theology and music. He entered the novitiate for the Dominicans, formally known as the Order of Preachers, in Cincinnati, and was ordained in 2018.

During his time at the Dominican House of Studies, he and several of his brothers came together once a week to play some of their favorite tunes.

As word spread about their jam sessions, they began to play for receptions at ordinations and other small events, as well as recorded sacred music CDs to sell, with the proceeds benefiting the men in formation at the Dominican House of Studies. Eventually, they adopted the name Hillbilly Thomists to fit their bluegrass sound that started to develop and their training in Thomism.

Then, as CD sales went up, the group began receiving letters from people wanting them to come and perform for an event. So, they cleared their calendars for two weeks to tour the country fulfilling some of those requests, one of which was the invitation from the Knights of Columbus to perform for convention attendees.

“They said, ‘By the way, it’s going to be at the Grand Ole Opry’ and our jaws all dropped,” Fr. Gautsch recalled. “The exciting thing about it for me, aside from just being on that stage and playing, is this is my home, this is where I grew up, so to be able to have friends and family come join in that was amazing.”

“It was really neat to be able to bring that to that stage and share the music and the faith with so many people,” the priest added.

And through their music, Fr. Gautsch said, he hopes the band is carrying out its mission as preachers; their songs have themes about hope in God, the reality of grace and the goodness of creation.