Museum

Don Henry wrote "Blue Highway" (John Conlee); "To See My Angel Cry" (Conway Twitty); and songs recorded by Beth Nielsen Chapman, Ray Charles, Lonestar, the Oak Ridge Boys, Jimmy Wayne, and Bryan White. Henry won a Grammy for co-writing "Where've You Been" (Kathy Mattea). Lauren Braddock, daughter of legendary country songwriter Bobby Braddock, wrote songs for her debut album. Together, Henry and Lauren Braddock wrote "If I Was Your Man" (Blake Shelton). Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.

Complete schedule http://www.nationalfolkfestival.com/tnFolklife.php

Complete schedule http://www.nationalfolkfestival.com/tnFolklife.php

Jon Weisberger plays bass with Chris Jones & the Night Drivers and the Roland White Band. He has performed with the Harley Allen Band, Melonie Cannon, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, Hazel Dickens, Jimmy Martin, the Tony Trischka Bluegrass Band, and others. John Frazier plays mandolin with Jim Lauderdale. Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.  Made possible by Gibson Guitar Corporation.

In 1965, the National Life and Accident Insurance Company sponsored the syndicated TV series National Life Grand Ole Opry. WSM-TV produced the shows (WSM Radio and WSM-TV were owned by the insurance company at the time), which featured performances by Opry members and invited guests. By 1967, the program had reached at least eighteen major cities, including Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Houston. Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys are featured in this screening of three episodes from the 1960s. Funded in part by the Foundation for Bluegrass Music. 75 minutes. Free.  Made Possible by Iron Mountain Film and Sound Archives.  

Join us for Cookin' Out Country, an all-inclusive lunch including cookout favorites, live entertainment, autograph signings, and your chance to win a gas grill, courtesy of Embers Grill & Fireplace Store! You won't want to miss our guest cook, Jamie O'Neal, flipping a few burgers! She'll also entertain the lunch crowd with a performance and autograph the new CD My Country Smash Hits 2.

Jay Knowles wrote "Love You" (Jack Ingram); "Self Made Man" (Montgomery Gentry); "She Don't Love Me" (Blake Shelton); "She'll Leave You with a Smile" (George Strait); and songs recorded by Trace Adkins, Luke Bryan, Alan Jackson, Chris LeDoux, Julie Roberts, and others. Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.

September 10, 2011
Their songwriting prowess has prompted comparisons to powerhouse creative teams such as Rodgers and Hammerstein or Leiber and Stoller, but Jerry Foster and Bill Rice worked in country music, their fame spread through recordings by the likes of Charley Pride, Jerry Lee Lewis, Nat Stuckey, Hank Williams Jr., and Ferlin Husky. Though not as well known as those other songwriting collaborators, Foster and Rice were elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994.  Watch the complete program video here.

Andy May is a guitar and mandolin player as well as a singer, songwriter, and music educator. May is a past winner of the guitar grand championship at the Old Time Fiddler's Convention (Union Grove, North Carolina) and he has appeared with Brownie McGee & Sonny Terry, Merle Haggard, Nickel Creek, Mike Seeger, Pete Seeger, and others. Kenny Malone is a percussionist who has performed or recorded with Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Alison Krauss, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and others. Included with museum admission. Free to members.  Made possible by Gibson Guitar Corporation.

Austin City Limits aired a special tribute to Bill Monroe following his death in 1996 at age 85. The show compiled footage from Monroe's 1981 and 1986 appearances on the program. The set includes Monroe compositions and bluegrass standards "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Bluegrass Breakdown," "Uncle Pen," and others. Big Mon's performance of "The Old Crossroads" is a highlight, as is his duet with Ralph Stanley on "Can't You Hear Me Callin'."  Jim & Jesse and Mac Wiseman also perform. Funded in part by the Foundation for Bluegrass Music. 60 minutes. Free.  Made Possible by Iron Mountain Film and Sound Archives.  

September 12, 2011
Connie Smith shared the stage with some of her favorite female country artists during her third and final show as the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's 2011 artist-in-residence.

Club Nokia
September 13, 2011
Zac Brown looked across at the two Country Music Hall of Famers and two veteran rock stars who shared the Club Nokia stage with him as part of the All for the Hall Los Angeles fundraising concert. He then modestly suggested that he didn't belong in such esteemed company.

Join us for Cookin' Out Country, an all-inclusive lunch including cookout favorites, live entertainment, autograph signings, and your chance to win a gas grill, courtesy of Embers Grill & Fireplace Store! You won't want to miss our guest cook, Mark Wills, flipping a few burgers! He'll also entertain the lunch crowd with a performance and autograph his new single Looking for America.

Joe Doyle wrote "Back in This Cigarette" (Jason Aldean); "Blossom in the Dust" (Mallary Hope); "Buying Her Roses" (Reba McEntire); "Forever Seventeen" (Tim McGraw); "In Pictures" (Alabama); and songs recorded by Luke Bryan, Linda Davis, Kenny Rogers, Dan Seals, and others. Included with museum admission. Free to members.

Relished for his casual interview style, Bobby Bare hosted a weekly television show on The Nashville Network in the early 1980s. In this episode, Bare features bluegrass legends Bill Monroe and Mac Wiseman as well as then-newcomer Mike Snider. Monroe talks about his Kentucky roots and creating his own style of music in 1938. "I put some blues, little bit of jazz, Scotch bagpipe, old-time fiddle music, and a lot of gospel," Monroe explains to Bare. Late fiddle legend Kenny Baker is also prominently featured. Funded in part by the Foundation for Bluegrass Music. 50 minutes. Free.  Made Possible by Iron Mountain Film and Sound Archives.  

Meagan Taylor, guitarist and great-niece of Chet Atkins, performs in the style of her Uncle Chester. In 2007 she released Revival, an album that reinforces her musical heritage. The record includes songs made famous by Atkins and was recorded at Historic RCA Studio B, home of many of Atkins's hit records as a session musician and producer. Robert Anderson, guitarist, was the 2003 Georgia Fingerstyle champion and was named the 2004 Thumb and Fingerstyle Guitar Champion by Tennessee Valley Old-Time Fiddlers Convention. Offered as part of the special exhibition Chet Atkins: Certified Guitar Player. Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.

Join us for Cookin' Out Country, an all-inclusive lunch including cookout favorites, live entertainment, autograph signings, and your chance to win a gas grill, courtesy of Embers Grill & Fireplace Store! You won't want to miss our guest cook, Ty Herndon, flipping a few burgers! He'll also entertain the lunch crowd with a performance and autograph his CD Journey On.

Professor Smartypants stops by the museum to sing his favorite songs by Johnny Cash, Tom T. Hall, Johnny Horton, Roger Miller, Hank Williams, and more. Listen, clap, dance, and sing along. Professor Smartypants is a fine banjo player, singer, and songwriter but he is also known for telling stories that will make you laugh for days. Come ready for fun. Ages 2 to 8. No reservations required. Free. Families are encouraged to tour the museum at a discounted rate following the program. Visit the information desk or ticket window for more information.

In anticipation of the International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass Week (September 26-October 2 in Nashville), the museum presents a full day of bluegrass performances and workshops, featuring top players and a salute to Bill Monroe. Organized by Jim Hurst, an IBMA Guitarist of the Year recipient, the day will alternate between performances in the museum's Ford Theater and more intimate instrument workshops in the museum's SunTrust Community Room. In addition to Hurst, performers will include Chris Jones & the Night Drivers and IBMA award-winning bassist Missy Raines and her band, the New Hip. The day honors late country radio pioneers George and Marjorie Crump. For more details and a schedule of events, visit www.countrymusichalloffame.org. Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.

The documentary film Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music offers an intimate and detailed portrait of one of the true architects of American music, told in his own words and through his own music. This 1993 film features performances and/or interviews by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, Lester Flatt, Ranger Doug Green, Emmylou Harris, John Hartford, Paul McCartney, Del McCoury, the Osborne Brothers, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and others. Hosted by music journalist Larry Nager, writer and co-producer of the documentary. 60 minutes. Funded in part by the Foundation for Bluegrass Music. Free.  Made Possible by Iron Mountain Film and Sound Archives.  

Blake Williams is a Grammy Award-winning banjo player who performed with Bill Monroe for nearly ten years. He has also performed with Lester Flatt, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Mike Snider, and others. Today he leads the bluegrass group The Expedition Show. Included with museum admission. Free to members.  Made possible by Gibson Guitar Corporation.

Ingram Hall, Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music
This special program celebrates Bill Monroe's centennial. The Father of Bluegrass Music would have turned 100 years old on September 13, 2011. In his honor, some of the best players in the genre, including alumni of Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys, will be on hand to contribute to a program tracing Monroe's history from his birth in Rosine, Kentucky, to his work with brother Charlie as the Monroe Brothers, his arrival at the Grand Ole Opry, the birth of bluegrass with the 1946 band, the evolution of his sound, and his final days. The Del McCoury Band will anchor the evening which will also include guest performances by Dale Ann Bradley, Matt Combs, Mike Compton, Claire Lynch, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Ricky Skaggs, and Roland White. Co-presented by Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music and the Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum. Funded in part by the Foundation for Bluegrass Music.