Before he became manager of the Inn at Cross Keys Station in Madras — one of five hotels east of the Cascades owned by the Priday family — Court Priday worked in some of the most upscale hotels in Nashville, Tenn., while pursuing his dream of becoming a country music star.

Priday, 28, grew up in Prineville, graduated from Crook County High School in 2000, studied classical music on a scholarship at the University of Redlands in Northern California for two years, then packed up his guitar and headed to the University of Nashville, where he earned a bachelor’s degree focused on country music and the music business.

With a band called Headin’ South, Priday toured America’s heartland, playing at county fairs and festivals from Tennessee to Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.

Between gigs singing and playing his guitar at venues like the Country Music Hall of Fame and at events like the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Priday worked at some of the finest hotels in Nashville, including Loews Vanderbilt Hotel and the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University.

“I worked the front desk, and in administration and accounting,” Priday said. “As an employee at the hotels in Nashville, I learned about different management styles, and saw how employees and customers react to different approaches.

“There were some management styles that I admired, and I kept those that made sense for our hotels in rural Oregon.”

Priday said he also gained valuable experience working with a broad range of people in Nashville, “from movie stars to regular Joes.”

Learning how to relate and talk with people from different backgrounds “has definitely helped me here,” said Priday, who put his experience to good use when he returned to his roots in Central Oregon to manage the Inn at Cross Keys Station. He is also a part owner.

The hotel was built and opened in 2007 by his father, Richard Priday, and other members of the Priday family, who have been ranching in the area near the historic Cross Keys Station stagecoach stop, about 25 miles north of Madras, since the 1880s.

Richard Priday founded the hotel chain during his career of more than 30 years with Les Schwab Tire Centers in Prineville, where he was a senior vice president before he retired three years ago, Priday said.

“Our first hotel was the Best Western Prineville Inn, which my dad built 18 years ago because he felt there was a need for a hotel suitable for guests from around the world to stay when they came to town to do business with Les Schwab,” he said.

Next, the family built the Best Western Newberry Station in La Pine about 16 years ago, followed by the acquisition of the Best Western Rory and Ryan Inn in Hines 12 years ago and construction of the Inn at Cross Keys Station in Madras four years ago. The family purchased the Cross Keys Inn at Hines last June.

“The idea from the beginning was to try to get hotels in the smaller markets in rural areas with high traffic counts,” Priday said.

“When my family started out in the hotel business, most of the motels in these rural communities were at least 25 to 30 years old, and they lacked a lot of the amenities business travelers and business groups needed, like Internet services, large meeting rooms, desks, refrigerators and microwaves in the rooms,” Priday said. “We wanted to bring something to these small communities that would service a need.”

When the Inn at Cross Keys Station was built in Madras, Priday said the city wanted something that was new and included a conference center large enough to accommodate regional meetings and events that would bring in customers from business meetings, events and leisure travel, giving restaurants, gas stations, shops and other businesses in town a financial boost.

“This is a success story, but it’s not just about the hotel. It’s about the whole community,” Priday said. “This kind of hotel attracts all kinds of business to town.”

Despite opening in fall 2007, just before the recession began, Priday said the Inn at Cross Keys Station got off to a successful start because a large Hollywood film crew, including actors Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn, and actress Jennifer Aniston, filled the hotel for the first three weeks, and business has grown every year since.

The crew arrived for filming the movie “Management.”

“The town was buzzing there for a while. It brought a little bit of excitement to the little town of Madras,” he said.

Since then, he said, the hotel has attracted a steady stream of regional meetings, including the Pendleton Grain Growers, state prison officials, quarterly meetings of the Oregon Wheat Growers League, the Jefferson County Cattlemen’s Association, Oregon Association of County Treasurers and Finance Officers, and a variety of insurance, business and conservation groups.

The Western motif inside the Inn at Cross Keys reflects the family’s heritage, with sofas and lounge chairs covered in smooth leather or natural cowhide, and historic photos, including a 1907 shot of a stagecoach stopped at the old-time Cross Keys Station. That’s where Priday said passengers typically climbed out of the stagecoach, stretched their legs and enjoyed a meal or beverage while ranch hands and stage drivers changed teams before the afternoon leg of the journey to Madras.

“My great-great-grandfather, John Priday, homesteaded in the Willowdale area about 25 miles north of Madras in the 1880s,” he said, and one of the photos on the wall features his grandfather, whose name was also John Priday, holding up a buck he’d shot during a hunting trip in 1940.

“Trout Creek runs through the ranch, so we have a Trout Creek meeting room,” Priday said.

Plaques on the wall also display the family’s Flying U cattle brand.

“We’re still involved in ranching,” Priday said. “On Saturday, we were out at the ranch branding 200 head of cattle. My family and my uncle’s family are still very much into ranching.”

Q: Are there many stories passed down in your family history about the early days on the ranch?

A: This was Indian country when my family homesteaded here in the 1880s.

Q: Was there any trouble between ranchers and tribes in those days?

A: I’ve heard stories of a few skirmishes in the area, but our family never had much trouble.

Q: Who runs the ranch?

A: My uncle, Annan Priday, and his family run the ranch.

Q: How big is the ranch?

A: Priday Ranch starts in the bottom of Cow Canyon and stretches across nearly 1,000 acres in Jefferson and Morrow counties.

Q: Who owns the hotels?

A: The hotels and the ranch are owned by the Priday family.

Q: Is Richard Priday involved in managing the hotels since his retirement from Les Schwab?

A: He still keeps an eye on the hotels and other real estate investments.

Q: How many employees do you have?

A: The Inn at Cross Keys employs about 16, with some seasonal fluctuation, and employment totals about 80 for all five hotels, Priday said.

Q: What about your music career?

A: I still play and sing at church. My band, the Court Priday Band, played at the Crook County Fair, Music in the Park in Redmond and other places.

Q: What kind of music do you play today?

A: We can do it all, a little bit of rock, but mostly country.

The basics

What: Inn at Cross Keys Station

Who: Court Priday, manager, part owner

Where: 66 N.W. Cedar St., Madras

Employees: 16 at Inn at Cross Keys Station, 80 overall

Phone: 541-475-5800

Website: www.innatcrosskeysstation.com