HOLLYWOOD - JUNE 5: Musician/actor Dwight Yoakam (L) and country western music legend Buck Owens attend a ceremony honoring Yoakam with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame June 5, 2003 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will open their new exhibition, The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and California Country, on March 24, 2012 for a nearly two-year run. Narrated by Dwight Yoakam, the exhibit explores the roots, heyday and impact of the Bakersfield sound, the loud, stripped-down and radio-ready music Buck Owens and Merle Haggard are known for.

“From its earliest chapters on through to today, California has played a significant role in country music history,” Museum Director Kyle Young said. ”Long before the Outlaws or alternative country, the Bakersfield Sound evolved specifically to suit a time and a place, made an indelible mark on popular music, and spawned two of the most charismatic stars in the firmament.”

Buck and his band, the Buckaroos, first popularized the Bakersfield sound with 1960s hits like “Act Naturally,” “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” “Together Again,” “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” and “Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line.” Merle wasn’t far behind with songs like “Sing Me Back Home,” “Mama Tried,” “Hungry Eyes,” “Workin’ Man Blues” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me.”  Between the two, they had almost 60 No. 1 hits.

The Hall of Fame’s exhibit will focus on the Bakersfield music businesses that evolved in the 1960s such as Buck Owens Enterprises which was owned and operated by Buck. It will also look at the impact the sound has on subsequent generations of artists from the Flying Burrito Brothers to Dwight Yoakam and many others.

The exhibit will also focus on the importance of Capitol Records producer Ken Nelson who recorded numerous Bakersfield Classics a well as the role of backing bands such as the Buckaroos and the Strangers in developing the Bakersfield sound with emphasis on on key sidemen such as steel guitarist Ralph Mooney, Telecaster player Roy Nichols and lead guitarist/harmony vocalist Don Rich.

The Bakersfield Sound exhibit will run through December 31, 2013 and will be accompanied by a series of ongoing school and family programs. The exhibit will follow the four-year run of Family Traditions: The Williams Family Legacy exhibit, which closes on December 31.

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clockwise (l-r): Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Zac Brown & Sheryl Crow.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s ‘All for the Hall’ fundraiser will return to Los Angeles for the third straight year on Tuesday, September 13. Held at Club Nokia, the event will again follow a “guitar pull” format with performances and stories by Country Music Hall of Fame members Vince Gill and Emmylou Harris, and also Sheryl Crow and Zac Brown.

The Museum launched ‘All for the Hall’ in 2005. The campaign addresses the Museum’s need for long-term financial security and provides a safety net for the Museum and its work. This marks the fifth year the Museum has taken the event on the road, hosting ‘All for the Hall’ events in New York in 2007 and 2008 and Los Angeles in 2009, 2010 and now 2011.

“California, with its rich country music history, has proven to be a supremely appropriate and welcoming location for this event,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “Our 2009 All for the Hall Los Angeles debut gave us an opportunity to focus on West Coast country music history and remind our guests that these artists and executives and their songs are a part of the story we both preserve and teach at the Museum.”

Vince Gill and Emmylou Harris as well as Kris Kristofferson, Lionel Richie and Taylor Swift performed at last year’s event which was also held at Club Nokia. To purchase tickets, contact Rachel Shapiro at rshapiro@countrymusichalloffame.org or by telephone at (615) 416-2069 or (800) 852-6437.

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Taylor Swift will be inducted into the International Bowling Hall of Fame. Photo courtesy of gobowling.com.

Taylor Swift is best known for her songwriting and her singing, but that’s not what has propelled her into a hall of fame.

Taylor has been added to the International Bowling Hall of Fame in a popularity vote that had her competing against pop singer Justin Bieber, sports star Dwight Howard and comedian Bill Murray, among others.

Jim “Moose” Brown, a songwriter known for “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” is also getting a place in the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame, and Buck Owens has been permanently installed in a sidewalk hall, the Bakersfield Walk of Stars.

Details on these Hall of Fame inductions:

• Taylor secured her place in the International Bowling Hall of Fame by picking up more than 613,000 votes, outpacing Justin by 5,000 in a contest that appears to have been created just to build awareness of the IBHF. She was nominated simply for making the gossip columns by bowling with celebrity pals Selena Gomez and Cory Monteith. Behind Taylor and Justin, none of the other seven candidates drew as many as 25,000 votes.

• Jim “Moose” Brown is both a songwriter and a keyboard player. In addition to writing the Alan Jackson/Jimmy Buffett duet, he’s played on such singles as Jamey Johnson’s “In Color,” Brad Paisley’s “Online” and Darius Rucker’s “It Won’t Be Like This For Long.” According to thecabin.net, Jim’s entering the Arkansas Entertainers Hall on Sept. 9, the same day as “American Idol” winner Kris Allen and country singer Barbara Fairchild, best known for her No. 1 1972 release “The Teddy Bear Song.”

• Buck was enshrined in the Bakersfield Walk of Stars at the Fox Theater on Wednesday in front of about 100 people, including Darryl Worley, KGET-TV reported.

• The Country Music Hall of Fame reopened the Ford Theater Tuesday night with an artist-in-residence concert by Buddy Miller. The venue, which was closed for three months for repairs after the Nashville floods in May, is the room where most Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held. Two Hall members who’ve been officially added in that very theater — Emmylou Harris and Tom T. Hall — both took part in Buddy’s show. He’ll do two more, Aug. 17 and Aug. 24.

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The 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees, clockwise from upper right: Don Williams, Ferlin Husky, Billy Sherrill and Jimmy Dean. Photos courtesy of the CMA.

Don Williams, Jimmy Dean, Ferlin Husky and record producer Billy Sherrill are the latest additions to the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Country Music Association announced the honor Tuesday via press release, with a formal induction ceremony promised later this year.

“I thought I was already in there!” Jimmy joked. “Seriously, it brought a huge grin to my face. I am honored.”

Each of the four has contributed significantly to the genre. Jimmy, whose name is synonymous with a line of sausage, gave country music plenty of TV exposure as the host of several different programs, most notably “The Jimmy Dean Show,” a 1960s ABC variety series. He often featured the likes of Roger Miller, Buck Owens or Faron Young. One 1964 episode aired live from the Grand Ole Opry, while a 1965 installment captured Eddy Arnold’s recording session for “Make The World Go Away.” The CMA also used “The Jimmy Dean Show” as a vehicle to announce the Hall of Fame inductees in 1966. As a recording artist, Jimmy is best known for “Big Bad John,” a recitation about a coal-mining accident that sold a million copies after crossing into the pop charts.

Ferlin’s hit “Gone” is often credited as the first example of “the Nashville Sound,” a recording approach that softened hillbilly twang in favor of string sections and/or lilting background singers. His “Wings Of A Dove,” which spent a whopping 10 weeks at No. 1 in 1960, has become a gospel standard. Ferlin has been hospitalized numerous time with heart problems — most recently in July — but has become a symbol of both faith and persistence.

“I’d like to thank my Lord Jesus Christ for dying for me, saving my soul and bringing me into the world as a country boy,” Ferlin said. “And also for giving me the talent to sing, entertain and help convert millions around the world to country music. I’m still a country boy and proud of it. In the words of my close friend, the late Stringbean, ‘I sure am glad I’m me!’”

Don is the most recent hitmaker of this year’s crew, having last occupied a Top 10 slot in 1991. He routinely couched his rich, masculine vocals in understated productions, putting the focus of his work squarely on the material he selected. And those songs were inevitably intelligent and mature, including the crossover ballad “I Believe In You,” the roots-aware “Tulsa Time” and the tale of a Southern man’s self-acceptance, “Good Ole Boys Like Me.” Don went into retirement following a 2006 tour, though he is still revered among the current generation of stars. Keith Urban has repeatedly cited Don as an influence, and Josh Turner — who duetted with the Gentle Giant in his final Nashville concert — included a remake of Don’s hit “I Wouldn’t Be A Man” on the new Haywire album.

“It is unbelievable,” Don said, “that CMA thought about me in this manner.”

Billy Sherrill might not be a household name, but he enters the Hall for his work behind the scenes as a record producer, songwriter and executive. He produced such hits as George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” David Allan Coe’s “The Ride” and Johnny Paycheck’s “Take This Job And Shove It.” He also wrote or co-wrote Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man,” Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl,” David Houston’s “Almost Persuaded” and Keith Whitley’s “Ten Feet Away.”

“Anything I have ever accomplished,” Billy said, “would have been totally impossible without the help and support of the greatest songwriters and musicians in the world — and, of course, what I stole from [producer] Owen Bradley!”

The new members bring the total number of Hall of Famers to 112. They will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame’s Rotunda with bronze plaques alongside such fellow inductees as Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson.

So…who do you think should be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame next year? Click here to see who’s already in it.

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Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Keith Urban, the Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley and Martina McBride are among the first round of acts who’ve been revealed for the annual CMA Music Festival June 10-13, a weekend that promises to bring plenty of tourism to Tennessee.

The Nashville-centered festival — which also promises Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker — occurs the same weekend as the ninth annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 65 miles away in Manchester. That event is a multi-genre draw, though country music plays a role, too. The Zac Brown Band is booked, as it was last year, for both festivals. Bonnaroo also lists Miranda Lambert, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band among this year’s attractions.

The CMA Festival is particularly beneficial to country artists. Some of the money raised by the event is donated to Nashville music education programs — last year’s festival generated more than $1 million for schools. In addition, highlights from the festival’s stadium concerts have for several years formed the backbone for an ABC special in the late summer or early fall.

Carrie became the first artist to publicly acknowledge her part in the 2010 CMA Festival when she called a 15-year-old Nashville-area fan, Riley Ahlstrand, earlier this month to announce her participation while the local ABC affiliate caught Riley’s surprise.

“I always look forward to the excitement of CMA Music Festival,” Carrie said. “It’s fans like Riley that make the week so much fun.”

The downtown CMA Fest has a completely different vibe than the Bonnaroo event, which has many fans camping outside and exploring a range of acts, from new alternative bands to established legends. A number of bluegrass and Americana artists are booked for the 2010 lineup, including the Avett Brothers, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Hot Rize, the Dave Rawlings Machine and Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers.

Kings Of Leon and Stevie Wonder are among Bonnaroo’s headline attractions, and many of its mainstream attractions — including Dave Matthews, John Fogerty and Norah Jones — have enough ties to country music that they can be expected to toss an appropriate Tennessee-associated song or two into the mix during their sets.

That’s particularly true of John Fogerty, who last year released his second album of country covers, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again. John’s already toured behind that project, but he loves the idea of throwing songs by the likes of Buck Owens, the Compton Brothers and Ray Price into the mix in his future concerts.

“The fun thing is that all these songs now become sort of part of my catalog,” John says. “At any time I’m liable to pull out ‘Haunted House’ or ‘I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me)’ right in the middle of a concert that up to that point might’ve been straight-ahead rock. Who knows? Because I really love these songs.”

More acts will be announced for both festivals in the coming months.

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John Fogerty photo courtesy of Shore Fire Media.

He’s a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but that doesn’t mean John Fogerty doesn’t know a little somethin’ about country music.

His latest album, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again, is dominated by classic country songs, including John Denver’s “Back Home Again,” the Kendalls’ “Heaven’s Just A Sin Away,” Ray Price’s “I’ll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)” and Buck Owens’ “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me).” He enlisted a band that includes Americana stalwart Buddy Miller and standup bass player Dennis Crouch, and it actually leans closer to pure country than a lot of the material that’s now accepted as commercial country.

“It’s been a part of me since I was a baby,” John notes. “I daresay I certainly heard country music before I ever heard rock ‘n’ roll because rock ‘n’ roll didn’t exist yet. [I liked] the sound of the instruments, first of all, and then — I’m goin’ way, way back, I’m thinkin’ into the ‘50s — I liked the style. I liked the attitude and the presentation.”

A couple Blue Ridge tracks fold in guest appearances from some of John’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame comrades. Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit provide backing vocals on a cover of Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party,” and Bruce Springsteen adds his voice to a version of “When Will I Be Loved,” a song originated by the Everly Brothers and made a hit again in the ’70s by Linda Ronstadt.

It’s an appropriate link of the two genres. The Eagles, Linda and Rick all had a hand in the rise of country/rock in the early 1970s. And Bruce’s songs have such a heartland thread in them that they’ve been covered by the likes of Johnny Cash, Kenny Chesney and Emmylou Harris.

It was the artists who had their feet in both genres — country and early rock music — who particularly appealed to John.

“So many of them were what we now call crossover artists and basically they were just doin’ what they did,” John says. “Carl Perkins sang ‘Blue Suede Shoes.’ Rock ‘n’ rollers loved that, but Carl himself, I think, thought of himself as rock ‘n’ roll, but everything he knew up to that point was sort of blues and country. Elvis Presley was in the same boat. So many of those guys were just doin’ what they did, and it ended up being this new thing that was country and rock ‘n’ roll at the same time.”

The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again is a long-overdue sequel to a 1973 album that marked John’s first solo project after leaving Creedence Clearwater Revival. On The Blue Ridge Rangers, he played every instrument and covered some of the most important acts in country music history, including Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Jones and Jimmie Rodgers.

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Carl Smith photo courtesy of Marty Martel.

Country Music Hall of Fame member Carl Smith, one of the genre’s dominant stars in the 1950s, died Saturday at his home in Franklin, Tenn., according to The Tennessean.

Carl, 82, operated his career in a much different manner than many of his peers. While most country stars continue to record and tour as long as they’re able to find a market, he rather quietly retired from the music business once his hit-making prowess cooled in the late 1970s and lived off his investments with wife Goldie Hill, who had her own recording career in the ‘50s.

During that decade, Carl ranked No. 4 among the top-charting country stars in Billboard, according to Joel Whitburn’s Billboard Hot Country Songs 1944-2008. Only Webb Pierce, Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow outperformed Carl, who accrued 31 Top 10 hits in that period, including five No. 1 singles — “Are You Teasing Me” and “Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way,” among them.

Several of his songs were recirculated by other acts in future years. Gail Davies had a 1981 hit with a remake of “It’s A Lovely, Lovely World”; Moe Bandy & Joe Stampley retooled Carl’s hit “Hey Joe!” as a 1981 novelty duet, “Hey Joe (Hey Moe)”; Buck Owens & Rose Maddox brought new life to “Loose Talk” in 1961; and Sonny James scored with a 1974 remake of “You’re Free To Go.” “I Overlooked An Orchid,” a song Carl wrote and first recorded two months after signing his first recording contract in 1950, would also top the charts in a 1974 version by Mickey Gilley.

Despite his impact on the genre, Carl’s retreat from the spotlight likely affected his place in history. He waited decades for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, finally landing his plaque in the rotunda in 2003.

A member of the Grand Ole Opry from 1950-1956, Carl married June Carter in July 1952, eventually divorcing in December 1956. The couple had one daughter, Carlene Carter, who also had a handful of hits — including “I Fell In Love” and “Every Little Thing” — in the early 1990s. Carl married Goldie Hill, best known for the No. 1 single “I Let The Stars Get In My Eyes,” in September 1957. She pulled back from touring after that to tend to their home life. Carl and Goldie were married until her death in 2005.

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Jeff Bridges visits with Nan Kelley on the set of Top 20 Country Countdown.

Jeff Bridges is getting huge Oscar buzz for his performance in the movie Crazy Heart, while Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett have a Golden Globe nomination for writing the picture’s theme song. All three of them will visit host Nan Kelley on this weekend’s edition of GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown.

The film is about a former country star who’s down and out, playing small dives and drinking too much whiskey. Jeff’s character, Bad Blake, is a rough-edged singer built artistically around such iconic stars as Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, and Jeff’s acting drew a comparison from New York magazine to the alcohol-fueled guy Nicolas Cage played in the depressing Leaving Las Vegas. Nicolas apparently drank between takes so he could play the part as realistically as possible in that film, though Jeff declined to go that far to develop his role in Crazy Heart.

Drinking that much “doesn’t work for me,” he told New York. “I want to have all of my faculties. Even when I was preparing for the part, I didn’t drink as heavily as he did, but I’d have that extra drink and eat as much as I wanted. When I got the part I thought, ‘Oh, I get to get fat?’ It was exciting at first, but after a couple of weeks you say, ‘Oh… I feel terrible.’”

The movie is showing only in select markets, though beginning Tuesday, you can buy the soundtrack through most music outlets. In addition to performances from Jeff, it features a couple of Ryan’s songs — including the nominated “The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart)” — plus music by Buck Owens, the Louvin Brothers, Townes Van Zandt, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Waylon Jennings.

Top 20 Country Countdown counts down the week’s top country videos from No. 20 to No. 1 as voted by viewers on each week on GACtv.com. A new countdown premieres every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on GAC and airs again Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET; Sundays at 1 p.m. ET; and Mondays at 10 a.m. ET. Viewers can vote for their favorite videos, as well as purchase Top 20 artists’ albums and ringtones at GACtv.com.

THIS WEEK’S CHART:

1. Carrie Underwood “Cowboy Casanova”
2. Kellie Pickler “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You”
3. Miranda Lambert “White Liar”
4. Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins “Hillbilly Bone”
5. Lady Antebellum “Need You Now”
6. Reba McEntire “Consider Me Gone”
7. Toby Keith “Cryin’ For Me”
8. Bucky Covington “Gotta Be Somebody”
9. Jason Aldean “The Truth”
10. Josh Turner “Why Don’t We Just Dance”
11. Taylor Swift “Fifteen”
12. Trace Adkins “All I Ask For Anymore”
13. Keith Urban “Only You Can Love Me This Way”
14. Chris Young “The Man I Want To Be”
15. Gary Allan “Today”
16. Luke Bryan “Do I”
17. Chris Young “Gettin’ You Home”
18. Tim McGraw “Southern Voice”
19. Jimmy Wayne “Sara Smile”
20. Billy Currington “That’s How Country Boys Roll”

Preview and buy this week’s entire Top 20 playlist now »

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Bucky Covington and GAC's Storme Warren at the Country Weekly 15th Anniversary Party at Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010.

A 15-year anniversary is definitely worth a party, and Country Weekly’s big event Tuesday at the Hard Rock Café brought out a load of stars — including Trace Adkins, Josh Turner, Bucky Covington, Aaron Tippin, Darryl Worley, Steel Magnolia and the Oak Ridge Boys’ Duane Allen — to mark the occasion for one of the genre’s best-known publications.

“Is there cake in there?” Steel Magnolia’s shivering Joshua Scott Jones asked at the red carpet.

“Are you planning to jump out of it?” I asked.

“If it’s big enough!” he insisted.

Forget the cake, though there were multi-flavored mousses, shrimp, chicken, bruschetta and wine and beer.

And, of course, stars — and hints of stars — everywhere. The Hard Rock’s walls are adorned with guitars owned by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Carl Perkins and Buck Owens. Country Weekly covers featuring George Strait, Toby Keith, Patty Loveless and Johnny Cash flashed in video boxes. And the visitors ranged from newer acts — including Emily West, Whitney Duncan, former “Nashville Star” contestant Gabe Garcia, the Roys and Burns & Poe — to hit-makers Aaron Tippin, Tammy Cochran and Ira Dean (formerly of Trick Pony) and to award-winners Lee Greenwood and Bill Anderson.

Country Weekly has “always taken such good care of us, and young artists from the very beginning, even when we’re nobody,” said Lee Brice, whose “Love Like Crazy” is in the Top 40 on the Country Aircheck singles list. “We just wanna return the favor, come hang out, party and just enjoy our time with ‘em.”

CW still maintains a strong presence at check-out counters and ‘zine racks around the U.S., particularly impressive since the public’s conversion to the Internet has had a huge negative effect on circulation for magazines. It’s one of the few country publications that’s been able to survive, and its presence is welcome by those acts that braved the cold to help celebrate.

“One of the biggest charges is going through the airport and looking in the newsstand and there’s Country Weekly,” the Oaks’ Duane Allen said. “It’s the People magazine of country music, and it’s always a pleasure to see it.”

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John Fogerty photo courtesy of Shore Fire Media.

Thanks to his role as the primary singer and songwriter for Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty’s name is permanently etched in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But his first post-CCR project, 1973’s Blue Ridge Rangers album, put him on the pop charts with a cover of Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya (On The Bayou).” John went back to the country well in 2009 with a sequel, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again.

As with the original Rangers release, John covers a series of country music classics: Buck Owens’ “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me),” the Kendalls’ “Heaven’s Just A Sin Away,” John Denver’s “Back Home Again” and Ray Price’s “I’ll Be There (If You Ever Want Me),” to name a few.

There are no Hank songs this time, though the singer-songwriter remains one of John’s biggest influences. Hank is always remembered this time of year because his life ended in a mysterious ride that began in Knoxville on New Year’s Eve 1952 and ended with a visit to a hospital in Oak Hill, W.Va., where he was pronounced dead on New Year’s Day 1953. Hank was in a bad way — he was taking medication for severe back pain, had a noted alcohol problem and was on his second marriage. His first was pockmarked with arguments and violence, and many of his ballads were as tortured as his personal life.

“I love that mournful kinda thing,” John says of Hank’s work. “I’m a sucker for that feel with somebody playin’ probably an arch-top guitar. I think they used to call that sock rhythm, and Hank made so many of those things… I’ve read several different biographies of Hank and I’m not sure how much of it is real, but Fred Rose was apparently responsible for havin’ Don Helms play [steel guitar] ‘up there where only the dogs can hear.’”

The authentic, mostly acoustic Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again demonstrates John’s affection for traditional forms of country, though that’s not what the Recording Academy embraced when it set the ballot for January’s Grammy Awards. John’s new version of his own “Change In The Weather,” originally included on the 1986 album Eye Of The Zombie, is a finalist for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance — ironic recognition for a track from an album that’s ostensibly country.

“Don’t ask me to try and figure out the Grammys,” John laughs. “There’s no way I can. I’m flattered obviously and honored, but… that’s a convolution, isn’t it?”

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