Jon Pardi invited to be 225th Grand Ole Opry member while onstage at Stagecoach Festival

The first night of Indio, California's 14th Stagecoach Festival, received an unexpected trip to Music City when Alan Jackson, via a massive on-stage projection screen, invited Jon Pardi to become the 225th member of the cast of the Grand Ole Opry.

Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association award-winner Pardi will join comedians Henry Cho and Gary Mule Deer and performers Lauren Alaina, Jamey Johnson, Ashley McBryde, Charlie McCoy and Don Schlitz as new members of the Opry as the organization and program continues to experience an unprecedented membership surge.

During his penultimate Friday night set -- before headliner Luke Bryan -- on the T-Mobile "Mane" (Main) Stage from 8:30-9:20 p.m. PST, Pardi was joined by chef, entrepreneur and multimedia personality Guy Fieri (who has his own stage for cooking demos at the festival, at which Pardi had appeared earlier in the evening.

"Our good friend, Alan Jackson, from Nashville, Tennessee, has a message for you," stated Fieri.

"The Grand Ole Opry has always meant a lot to me and everyone in country music -- and I've been appreciating your music since you were touring with me a couple of years ago (the tandem toured in 2015). I get the honor to invite you in front of all your Stagecoach friends out there to be the first native of California to become an official member of the Grand Ole Opry."

Pardi was joined on stage by Opry vice president and executive producer Dan Rogers to extend the offer in person.

"This guy makes the Opry happen. He debuted on the Opry stage almost ten years ago, and we love it every time he comes onto the show and tonight is historic because Jon, not only are you the first person ever invited to become an Opry member here at Stagecoach, this guy is the first native Californian ever to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry," stated Rogers.

Before accepting, 37-year-old Dixon, California native Pardi took a shot of tequila in celebration and noted what being asked to join the cast of the program entering its 98th year meant to him.

"I moved to Nashville chasing a dream at 22 years old and now I'm here. I love you guys and I love country music. Thank you, everybody. This is an amazing night. I'll never forget it. I guess if you want to come visit Tennessee, I'll see you at the Grand Ole Opry now."

Opry membership is not typically offered to California natives because relatively few have moved to Music City, like Pardi. However, one of the still highly-regarded "requirements" of being a regular cast member of the Opry is being regularly featured. Of course, this requires being based within Nashville's area -- or at least in Nashville enough to fulfill that requirement.

There has been no announcement when Pardi's official induction at the Opry will occur.

Pardi is on the road on his "Mr. Saturday Night" tour, which features his first run of 13 global dates. Midland, Jackson Dean, Randall King, Ella Langley, and DJ Highmax are opening for him for select dates of this run.

His single "Your Heart or Mine" -- from his fourth studio album, also entitled "Mr. Saturday Night" -- is inside the top-20 on country radio, marking it as potentially his 6th overall No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay chart hit.

For more information on the Grand Ole Opry, visit http://www.opry.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jon Pardi invited to be 225th Grand Ole Opry member while onstage at Stagecoach Festival