Museum

Irene Kelley wrote "A Little Bluer Than That" (Alan Jackson); "Don't Waste My Time" (Little Big Town); "Love Can't Ever Get Better Than This" (Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White); "O Mexico" (Trisha Yearwood); and "Second Chance" (Trisha Yearwood). Bernie Nelson wrote "Any Ole Stretch of Blacktop" (Shenandoah); "Betty's Got a Bass Boat" (Pam Tillis); "Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind" (Confederate Railroad); and "It's Never Easy to Say Goodbye" (Wynonna, Kenny Chesney). Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.

Mandolin player and guitarist Bob Grant has played with the Bad Livers, Gail Davies, and others. Banjoist Ned Luberecki plays for Chris Jones & The Night Drivers and Nedski & Mojo. He is an on-air host of SiriusXM Satellite Radio's Bluegrass Junction. Luberecki also teaches banjo lessons and conducts banjo workshops and clinics throughout the US, Canada and Europe. Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.   Made possible by Gibson Guitar Corporation.

Victoria Shaw wrote "A Good Man" (Emerson Drive); "I Love the Way You Love Me" (John Michael Montgomery); "I Was Here" (Lady Antebellum); "Myself Without You" (Reba McEntire); "Never Alone" (Lady Antebellum with Jim Brickman); "Outside My Window" (Sarah Buxton); "She's Every Woman" (Garth Brooks); "The River" (Garth Brooks); "Two Pink Lines" (Eric Church) and many more. Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.

Shane Adkins is a guitarist devoted to preserving the fingerstyle and thumbstyle guitar traditions of Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, and Doc Watson. Adkins was the 2003 International Thumbpicking Guitar Champion (Muhlenberg County, Kentucky) and the 2005 International Fingerstyle Guitar Champion (Winfield, Kansas). He also has been a featured performer at the annual Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention. Presented in support of the exhibit Chet Atkins: Certified Guitar Player, made possible by the Gretsch Company. Additional support provided by GAC. Included with museum admission. Free to members.

January 21, 2012
To celebrate publication of the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Country Music, music executive Scott Borchetta sat down on January 21, 2012, for an interview with museum staffer Michael McCall. Borchetta is one of ninety-two new entries in the encyclopedia, compiled by the staff of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and published by Oxford University Press. McCall served as an editor of the book, along with Paul Kingsbury and John W. Rumble.

Marc Beeson wrote "Phones Are Ringin' All over Town" (Martina McBride); "This Love" (LeAnn Rimes); "When She Cries" (Restless Heart); and songs recorded by Trace Adkins, Reba McEntire, Ronnie Milsap, and Kenny Rogers. Mike Reid is a Grammy award-winning songwriter and member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Reid penned his #1 hit "Walk on Faith," as well as the songs "Everywhere" (Tim McGraw); "Forever's as Far as I'll Go" (Alabama); "I Can't Make You Love Me" (Bonnie Raitt); and "Stranger in My House" (Ronnie Milsap). Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.

Sandy Conatser is an adjunct instructor at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, member of the Nashville Dulcimer Quartet, researcher on the development of the dulcimer in Tennessee, and organizer of Nashville's annual Grand Old Dulcimer Day. Included with museum admission. Free to members.  Made possible by Gibson Guitar Corporation.

Families will enjoy this simple introduction to the music of Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers (the Singing Brakeman) by Conductor Jack, a singer, songwriter, and early childhood educator. Conductor Jack will bring his banjo, guitar, and ukulele for a program full of train songs, dancing, and grooving to the music of these country pioneers. Ages 2-7. 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.

Craig Carothers wrote "Little Hercules" (Trisha Yearwood) and songs recorded by Kathy Mattea, Lorrie Morgan, and Peter, Paul & Mary. Fred Knobloch wrote "Back in Your Arms Again" (Lorrie Morgan); "If My Heart Had Wings" (Faith Hill); "Meanwhile" (George Strait); "Used to Blue" (Sawyer Brown); and songs recorded by Rosanne Cash, Ray Charles, Confederate Railroad, Delbert McClinton, Neal McCoy, and Trisha Yearwood.  Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.

Roy Harper is a singer and guitarist who performs traditional country music, preserving the work of Uncle Dave Macon, Sam and Kirk McGee, Riley Puckett, Jimmie Rodgers, and Arthur Smith. In 2003, Harper received a prestigious Tennessee Folklife Heritage Award. Johnny Bellar was the 2005 National Resonator Guitar Champion. From 1974 to 1984 he performed with the Stoneman Family and appeared with them on Hee Haw, the Ralph Emery Show, and the Tommy Hunter Show. Bellar has also performed with Tommy Cash, Wilma Lee Cooper, and Boxcar Willie, to name a few. Included with museum admission. Free to museum members.