Reba McEntire photo courtesy of Valory Music Co. Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Artists, music industry elite and country music fans turned out for the Academy of Country Music’s 5th Annual ACM Honors, an evening dedicated to recognizing special honorees and off-camera category winners from the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on September 19. Hosted by Joe Nichols, the event was held at the historic Ryman Auditorium which was awarded with the ACM for Venue of the Year.

The evening was a mix of live music, historical video retrospectives and current video tributes and interviews. Garth Brooks, the late Hank Cochran, John Dorris, Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers, Tom T. Hall, Reba, Taylor Swift and the film Country Strong were the Special Award recipients of the night. The winners of the Musician, Bandleader, Instrumentalist (MBI) categories and Industry Awards were also honored.

Several performances honored artists during the event. Rodney Atkins and Jerrod Niemann honored Garth by each performing a song of his each. Brett Eldredge performed his current single “It Ain’t Gotta Be Love” which is featured in Country Strong while The Isaacs honored Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers with a medley of their hits. Dean Dillon, Jamey Johnson and Joe Nichols paid tribute to Hank Cochran while Montgomery Gentry and The Whites honored John Dorris. Buddy Miller and Lee Ann Womack honored Tom T. Hall. Randy Houser, Thompson Square, Jack Ingram and Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers, with Romain Virgo, also performed.

Presenters included Ronnie Dunn, Ralph Emery, John Michael Montgomery, The Oak Ridge Boys and the Academy’s Bob Romeo. Robin Meade presented Industry awards while Laura Bell Bundy handed out MBI awards. Continue Reading

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The Oak Ridge Boys Photo Credit: Jarrett Gaza

The Oak Ridge Boys, Brett Eldredge and Robin Meade have been added to the lineup for the 5^th Annual ACM Honors. Joe Nichols is set to host the event and will also perform. ACM Honors is an evening dedicated to recognizing special honorees and off-camera winners from the 46^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. This year’s event will be held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on September 19.

Artists previously announced include Ronnie Dunn, Rodney Atkins, Randy Houser, Jack Ingram, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, Jerrod Niemann, Thompson Square, Lee Ann Womack, Dean Dillon, Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers, The Isaacs, The Whites, Laura Bell Bundy, Ralph Emery, John Michael Montgomery and songwriter/producer Buddy Cannon. Continue Reading

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Ronnie Dunn photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Ronnie Dunn, Rodney Atkins, Randy Houser, Jack Ingram, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, Jerrod Niemann, Thompson Square and Lee Ann Womack are among the artists who have been added to the 5^th Annual ACM Honors lineup. Joe Nichols is set to host the event and will also perform. Other artists scheduled to perform include Dean Dillon, Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers, The Isaacs, and The Whites.

ACM Honors is an evening dedicated to recognizing special honorees and off-camera winners from the 46^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. This year’s event will be held at the Ryman Auditorum in Nashville on September 19. Laura Bell Bundy, Ralph Emery, John Michael Montgomery and Buddy Cannon are also scheduled to appear. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.com and are $37 each. Continue Reading

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Jean Shepard & Mandy Barnett

The Grand Ole Opry is inviting fans to set sail with classic country music artists aboard the Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager of the Seas. Famed country music broadcaster Ralph Emery, along with fellow Hall of Fame member Jean Shepard, Jan Howard, Jeannie Seely, T.G. Sheppard and Mandy Barnett will entertain fans on this year’s Opry Country Classics Cruise from January 28 to February 4, 2012. The cruise will leave from New Orleans with stops at three ports of call.

“We are delighted that the Grand Ole Opry is sailing with Royal Caribbean again,” said Vicki Freed, senior vice president of Sales, Trade Support and Services, Royal Caribbean International. “Every guest will enjoy Voyager of the Seas innovative onboard amenities and world-renowned Gold Anchor Service from our friendly and engaging staff and crew. Country stars and fans alike will have a great time aboard Voyager of the Seas, especially during our first season back in the exciting city of New Orleans.” Continue Reading

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New Hall of Fame members Jean Shepard, Bobby Braddock and Reba McEntire at the 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Ceremony, held on Sunday, May 22 at the Hall of Fame in Nashville. Photo by Donn Jones Photography (Donn Jones, Richard Suter, Terry Wyatt).

Members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and some of country’s biggest stars reunited at the Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum on Sunday, May 22, 2011 to salute Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Bobby Braddock, Reba McEntire and Jean Shepard. Click HERE to see our star-studded photo gallery from the night!

At the invitation of the Country Music Association, the private Medallion Ceremony became the official rite of induction for new members of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007.  The evening included musical salutes to Braddock, McEntire and Shepard. The new members were inducted and welcomed as peers by members of the Hall of Fame, who also presented keepsake medals:  Bill Anderson inducted Braddock; Dolly Parton inducted Reba; and George Jones inducted Jean.

Artists paying tribute to Braddock included Billy Currington, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, Tracy Lawrence, and George Jones with Jimmy Capps, Charlie McCoy and Millie Kirkham; artists saluting Reba included Garth Brooks, Kelly Clarkson and Martina McBride, Vince Gill, and Trisha Yearwood; and artists honoring Shepard included Bill Anderson and Elizabeth Cook, Vince Gill, and Ranger Doug Green of Riders in the Sky.  All the performers were backed by John Hobbs and the 2011 Medallion All-Star Band.  With ceremony musical director Hobbs on keyboards, the Medallion All-Stars included Eddie Bayers Jr., drums; Paul Franklin, steel guitar; Steve Gibson, electric guitar; Michael Rhodes, bass guitar; Deanie Richardson, fiddle; Dawn Sears, background vocals; Biff Watson, acoustic guitar; and Jeff White, background vocals. Vince and the McCrary Sisters sang the traditional opening hymn, performing “Down by the Riverside.”

In addition to Anderson, Braddock, Gill, Jones, McCoy, McEntire, Parton and Shepard, other Hall of Fame members who attended included Harold Bradley, Ralph Emery, Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers, Sonny James, Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires and Jo Walker-Meador.

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Harold Reid, Jimmy Fortune, Jamie Dailey, Darrin Vincent, Don Reid and Phil Balsley. Photo by Randi Radcliff.

The venue drips with history, but for large parts of Wednesday, the Country Music Hall of Fame was filled with laughter. Dailey & Vincent performed a half dozen songs from their new Cracker Barrel album Dailey & Vincent Sing The Statler Brothers. The Statlers themselves were on hand for the event, and the quartet’s unrelenting humor launched Darrin Vincent into high-pitched yelps of laughter.

A sample of the one-liners between Statler members — and real-life brothers — Harold and Don Reid:

Don: “[Humor] was very much a major part of our career. We always included humor on stage because we had Harold, and people were gonna laugh when they see him.”
Harold: “I don’t know if people are laughin’ at me or with me. I never did figure that one out.”
Don: “But we intertwined that with the music, which was also funny sometimes, until [Dailey & Vincent] got a hold of it and made it serious.”
Harold: “Now we’re gonna have to get a hold of it and make it funny again.”

The support for D&V is serious. The turn-out for the performance — which included such Statler classics as “I’ll Go To My Grave Loving You,” “Flowers On The Wall” and “The Class Of ‘57” — included Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner, Oak Ridge Boys Duane Allen and Joe Bonsall, Hall of Famer Ralph Emery, gospel icon Bill Gaither and bluegrass players Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury and Ronnie Bowman.

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Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Charlie McCoy, Barbara Mandrell and Roy Clark gather at a reception before the Medallion Ceremony at the Hall of Fame in Downtown Nashville on May 17, 2009. Photo credit: John Russell / CMA.

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2009 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

It was the kind of day that invites lingering outside: abundant sun, just enough breeze to keep the air fresh. But on this late afternoon of May 17, the place to be was past the red carpet that stretched from Demonbreun Street up the steps and inside its destination: the lobby of Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, where an Olympian assembly of music industry notables had gathered for the inductions of Roy Clark, Barbara Mandrell and Charlie McCoy as members of the Hall.

No greater distinction exists in the world of Country Music than membership in the Hall, founded by CMA in 1961 to honor the artists, songwriters and industry executives who had done the most to preserve and further this beloved genre. Continue Reading

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