Jimmy Wayne

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will celebrate the holiday season with an assortment of programs and events for the entire family. They will also have limited edition holiday posters from the Hatch Show Print and special offers from the Museum Store, just in time for holiday shopping.

Jimmy Wayne will help kick off festivities on Friday, November 25 at 4 p.m. Central with the lighting of the Museum’s Christmas tree. He will also perform and sign copies of his new book, Paper Angels. The next day, November 26, Ricky Skaggs and The Whites will be in the Museum Store at 2 p.m. to sign copies of A Skaggs Family Christmas Volume 2.

For those who like to start their morning off with country music, the Museum will host a special breakfast with Bill Cody on Friday, December 2 as he broadcasts live from the Museum’s Curb Conservatory. Admission is $6.50 and includes breakfast, performances by Ronnie Milsap, Julie Roberts, Victoria Shaw and more and the chance to win a museum prize pack.

Saturday, December 3 is a busy day at the Museum. The day starts off with a cookie decorating class at 10:30 followed by a songwriter session with Deborah Allen at 11:30 p.m. She will sign copies of her new children’s book, The Loneliest Christmas Tree, following her performance. From 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. the Museum will hold the family program Make Letterpress Art with Hatch Show Print, where attendees will learn about letterpress printing straight from the staff of Hatch Print Show. The day will wrap with Phil Vassar signing copies of his Noel and Live on Broadway album at 3:00 p.m.   Continue Reading

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Marshall Grant, a member of Johnny Cash’s original band The Tennessee Two, pictured at rehearsals on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at the Johnny Cash Festival at Arkansas State University. Photo courtesy of Arkansas State University.

GAC extends condolences to the family, friends and fans of Marshall Grant, the last surviving member of Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two. The Associated Press reports Mr. Grant, 83, passed away Sunday, August 7 in Jonesboro, Arkansas after an aneurysm and stroke. He fell ill after rehearsing for a concert to raise funds for the restoration of Johnny Cash’s boyhood home, according to Johnny’s daughter, Rosanne Cash.

Marshall, Johnny Cash and guitarist Luther Perkins shaped the unique sound heard on songs like “I Walk the Line,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Ring of Fire,” “’Big River” and “Cry Cry Cry.” They happened upon their sound almost accidentally when Marshall and Luther, who were both mechanics in Memphis, were introduced to Johnny by his brother, Roy Cash. Since all three of them couldn’t play rhythm guitar, Luther borrowed a Fender Telecaster with the volume controls stuck in wide open, said John Rumble, senior historian at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, and Marshall bought a Kay bass. From there, their sound evolved.

The trio began recording in 1955 on Sun Records, a label that included Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins. They earned success quickly and appeared on first the Louisiana Hayride and then the Grand Ole Opry. “I think the word that comes to my mind is originality,” Marty Stuart once said in an interview. “They were pure American originals, all three of them.” Continue Reading

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Cowboy Jack Clement, famed musician and producer, lost his Nashville home of 40 years in a fire Saturday morning, reports The Tennessean. Jack’s girlfriend, Aleene Jackson, and others escaped the home unharmed. Priceless music memorabilia and memories were lost in the fire.

One possession was saved from the fire, however. “I got my baby,” Cowboy Jack said of a Gibson J200 guitar he bought in 1951 while still in the Marines. The guitar was scratched by Elvis Presley’s belt buckle.

Cowboy Jack has been the producer behind such music as Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” as well as sessions with Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Charlie Rich. He developed the careers of Charley Pride and George Jones and stepped outside the country genre to produce three tracks for U2’s Rattle and Hum album and also produced an album for Louis Armstrong. Continue Reading

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Brad Paisley photo by John Russell, courtesy of the CMA; Alan Jackson photo by Sara Kauss Photography.

Last week, the biggest names in country music were in Nashville for CMA Music Festival. In honor of the festival, the Nashville Scene pondered which acts of today will be legends tomorrow. Will your grandkids roll their eyes when you tell them about seeing Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and Trace Adkins all perform on the same night just as you might have rolled your eyes at your own grandparents re-living concerts by Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, or will they still be listening to them on the radio?

To answer the question of which of the artists who are hot right now will still be making music in 30 years, the Scene posed the question: Which of these artists will end up in the Country Music Hall of Fame? Reba McEntire, who was just inducted into the Hall of Fame, performed at LP Field on Friday night and is still making hits. The magazine believes there are two artists who are shoo-ins for the Hall of Fame down the road – Brad Paisley and Alan Jackson.

“They’re great singers, solid songwriters, consistent chart-toppers over a long time, genuinely popular figures on Music Row and critical favorites for the occasional left-field fling (“Murder on Music Row,” “Mercury Blues,” “Whiskey Lullaby” and “Welcome to the Future”),” Geoffrey Himes wrote in the article. “At this point, these guys would have to sign up with al-Qaeda to stay out of the Hall of Fame.” Continue Reading

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Carrie Underwood photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Thanksgiving is officially a holiday, but that won’t stop many of country music’s top stars from working while the rest of us eat.

Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and James Otto are a few of the artists who have Turkey Day activities planned. Some of those appearances — including Taylor’s first-ever network special — were already shot. But others, such as Gloriana’s appearance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, indeed occur in real time.

Here’s a roundup of country-related Thanksgiving stuff:

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Elvis Presley image used by permission, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

The King is gone, but he’s certainly not forgotten — especially in Memphis, where the city is gearing up for Elvis Week, the annual pilgrimage of fans marking the loss of a cultural icon.

This year’s Elvis Presley activities kick off Tuesday, Aug. 10, when an Elvis tribute artist (that’s a euphemism for Elvis impersonator) re-creates one of Presley’s first noteworthy concerts at a venue formerly known as the Overton Park Shell. It all wraps up Aug. 16 — the anniversary of Elvis’ 1977 death — with a concert at Graceland Mansion.

In between those bookends is a wealth of panel discussions, movie screenings and even a 5k run and walk. Naomi Judd’s husband, Larry Strickland, will take part in a performance during one event as a member of the Stamps Quartet. He was a part of the vocal group when it toured with Elvis during the 1970s.

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Loretta Lynn photo courtesy of Interscope Records.

This fall will mark a whopping 40 years since Loretta Lynn hit radio waves with “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” but the song is enduring enough that it made news in not just one, but two different ways on Wednesday.

For starters, the book that carried the same name, Coal Miner’s Daughter, will be reissued in September by Vintage Books, which will market the autobiography as a paperback, an e-book and an audio book, narrated by Sissy Spacek. Sissy is, of course, a natural for that job, since she won an Oscar for portraying Loretta in the movie that was built around the book and even got a Grammy nomination for her own recording of “Coal Miner.” The movie, in fact, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

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George Strait photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Some of the biggest stars in country music history — George Strait, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson and Tammy Wynette — are among a slew of Country Music Hall of Fame members who’ve made their way into the headlines of late.

George set an unprecedented mark on the country charts, Hank earned a prestigious honor and Willie went to a Texas courtroom, where he could have been called on to testify in a trial involving a shooting outside a bar.

Here’s a roundup of Hall of Famers who continue to make an impact in a variety of ways:

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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.

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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.

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