Special Performance by two-time ACM New Female Vocalist nominee Raelynn to Take Place Nov. 10

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 14, 2019 –The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum will honor active duty and retired armed services members Veterans Day weekend with free admission and special programming Saturday, Nov. 9, through Monday, Nov. 11. Free admission is also extended to up to three immediate family members.

To thank the United States Armed Forces, past and present, the museum will offer a fun-filled weekend that includes featured activities and performances. This year’s Veterans Day activities are presented by DRI DUCK and Zaxby’s.

Performances and film screenings include:

• RaeLynn, whose hits include “God Made Girls” and “Love Triangle,” will take the CMA Theater stage Sunday, Nov.10, at 3:00 p.m. RaeLynn’s album WILDHORSE debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Country Albums Chart in 2017. Most recently, she released the song “Rowdy” and joined Maren Morris’ GIRL: THE WORLD TOUR. RaeLynn has also toured with Country Music Hall of Fame member Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line, Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton. RaeLynn’s husband currently serves in the United States Army.
• A screening of the film “Loretta Lynn: Follow the Flag” will be shown Sunday, Nov. 10, at 11:00 a.m.in the Ford Theater. This documentary on Country Music Hall of Fame member Loretta Lynn’s 1987 USO trip to the Philippines and South Korea explores local culture and shares messages home from the troops. Lynn visits the USS Carl Vinson, where she performs “America the Beautiful,” “Blue Kentucky Girl” and “I Wanna Be Free.”
• Ashleigh Caudill will be featured in the museum’s Musician Spotlight Sunday, Nov.10, at 1:00 p.m. in the Ford Theater. Western Colorado native Caudill moved to Nashville in 2012 and quickly found work as a touring and session musician. She appeared as a featured performer at the 2018 International Bluegrass Music Association’s annual convention, and has twice taken second place in MerleFest’s Chris Austin Songwriting Contest.
• Operation Song with Bob Regan and Friends is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. in the museum’s Ford Theater. Regan is founder and director of Operation Song, an organization that pairs professional songwriters with veterans, active duty military and their families to help them share their experiences through song. In this special songwriter round, Regan, with fellow songwriter Jenn Franklin and veteran and singer-songwriter Ian Wagner, will perform songs written by the Operation Song participants.

Family programs held in the museum’s Taylor Swift Education Center include:

• Song and Story Time: This Land Is Your Land will take place Saturday, Nov. 9, at 10:30 a.m. Little listeners, ages three to five, will hear the Valerie Pfundstein book Veterans in Our Neighborhood and the Woody Guthrie song “This Land Is Your Land.” Attendees will also create art inspired by the artists, objects and sounds featured in the museum’s galleries.
• The museum’s Musical Petting Zoo is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9, between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Budding musicians will have a chance to try new and familiar instruments—bang a drum, strum an autoharp and pick a banjo.
• In the Creative Zone, held between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day, children and families will be able to learn about country music connections to the military through hands-on family activities. Finding inspiration in military aircraft, young artists will create clothespin military airplanes.

Throughout the weekend, visitors can stop by the Mike Curb Conservatory (from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and the Taylor Swift Education Center (from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and write a letter that will be sent to a U.S. soldier.

A detailed schedule of events can be found here.

In addition to free museum admission, active duty and retired armed services members will receive a 10 percent discount at Circa, the Museum Store and the Hatch Show Print retail store Nov. 9 – Nov. 11.

“DRI DUCK is excited to partner with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum for their annual Veterans Day celebration,” said DRI DUCK’s Direct to Consumer Channel Manager Abby Young. “We will be present at the event passing out DRI DUCK giveaways to attendees to say thank you. We are also excited to launch our Ditch Diggers video. We worked with Eric Borden, a local Kansas City poet, to film a video highlighting the blue-collar workforce. Eric Borden and DRI DUCK are both passionate about workforce development and want to use this video to highlight and honor the importance of all of the trades and people mentioned, including military men and women.”

"Zaxby's is proud to once again be part of this great event with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which allows us to honor our military heroes,” said Zaxby's Nashville Co-op President Bonnie Ryan. “We give thanks to them and their families for their huge sacrifice and will continue to support America's military members."

Free admission is only available at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Hatch Show Print and Historic RCA Studio B tours may be purchased for additional fees. Valid military identification required.

Other programming on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, includes a special Out of School Day: Historic RCA Studio B Write and Record a Song, from 1 until 5 p.m. The programwill explore Historic RCA Studio B, the Music Row recording studio where the Everly Brothers, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley and many others recorded hits between 1957 and 1977. Participants will learn the basics of studio design and tracking, recording and engineering. Afterward they will return to the museum to write a song as a group and learn to record and produce it in GarageBand. Out of School Days requires advance registration and ticket purchase. Regular admission is $30.00. Reduced admission is available for museum members and locals at $15.00. Click here for more information.

For more information, visit www.countrymusichalloffame.org.

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Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Contact: 
Aubrey Miller 615.416.2098 agmiller@countrymusichalloffame.org

Media website: 
http://countrymusichalloffame.org/media

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum collects, preserves, and interprets country music and its history for the education and entertainment of diverse audiences. In exhibits, publications, and educational programs, the museum explores the cultural importance and enduring beauty of the art form. The museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and welcomes over one million patrons each year, placing it among the most visited history museums in the U.S. The Country Music Foundation operates Historic RCA Studio B®, Hatch Show Print®, CMF Records, the Frist Library and Archive, and CMF Press. Museum programs are funded in part by the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and the Tennessee Arts Commission.

More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org or by calling (615) 416-2001.