Roy Acuff, known as "The King of Country Music," is considered by many to be the father of the genre. Acuff and his band, the Smoky Mountain Boys, joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1938 and became one of its most popular acts, helping bring what was then known as "hillbilly music" into the mainstream. His popularity continued to grow, and in 1948 he ran for governor of Tennessee. That same year, he planned to open a country music park near Nashville, purchasing the already popular Dunbar Cave resort and reshaping it with his own vision. A 1,300-seat arena served as the main venue of Roy Acuff's Dunbar Cave, where Grand Ole Opry stars performed on Sunday afternoons, square dances were held in front of the cave on Tuesday and Friday nights, and popular music dances took place on Saturdays.