Mandolin player C. J. Lewandowski performs songs and shares stories from his career as part of the Museum’s weekly Musician Spotlight series. This program, recorded on March 3, 2024, was presented in support of the 2024 edition of the Museum’s exhibition “American Currents: State of the Music,” w...

Recording artist and songwriter Ashley Cooke performs songs she’s written and recorded and shares the stories behind them as part of the Museum’s Songwriter Session series. This program was recorded on March 23, 2024.

Accompanied by guitarist Chauncey Arner, Cooke performs songs included on her ...

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members Chris Hillman and Bernie Leadon share stories from their music careers, from their beginnings in California as bluegrass musicians to their pioneering songwriting and time making music in the folk-rock and country-rock scenes. This conversation was recorded on Oct...

Jackie DeShannon shares stories from her pioneering songwriting career as part of the Museum’s Poets and Prophets interview series, which highlights legendary songwriters. This live interview and performance was recorded on April 6, 2024.

During the interview with the Museum’s Michael Gray, DeSh...

During this songwriter round, recorded on March 16, 2024, Marta Albarracin, Brenda Coulter, Marcela Pinilla Eicher, Rachel Rodriguez, and Rosa Rodriguez perform original songs with hit songwriter and mentor Pat Alger and share the stories behind them.

In 2021, Alger became a mentor with the Tenn...

Mike Stoller shares stories from his life and career as part of the Museum’s Poets and Prophets interview series, which highlights legendary songwriters. This live interview was recorded on December 3, 2023.

During the interview with the Museum’s Michael Gray, Stoller shares about his childhood ...

Kostas Lazarides, known professionally as Kostas, performs and shares the stories behind some of his hit songs as part of the Museum’s Songwriter Session series. This live performance was recorded on October 14, 2023, and presented in support of the exhibition “Patty Loveless: No Trouble with the...

Deke Dickerson discusses his book “Sixteen Tons: The Merle Travis Story,” which paints a vivid and unvarnished portrait of the guitar innovator, hit songwriter, and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Joining him to share music and memories are master guitarists Tommy Emmanuel and Eddie Pen...

Luke Laird shares stories from his life and career as part of the Museum’s Poets and Prophets interview series, which highlights legendary songwriters. This live interview and performance was recorded on October 28, 2023.

During the interview with the Museum’s Dave Paulson, Laird shares about hi...

To celebrate his achievement as the longest tenured member in Grand Ole Opry history (sixty-two years as of 2023), Bill Anderson is joined by fellow members Jeannie Seely and Mark Wills, and E.W. “Bud” Wendell, former Grand Ole Opry manager and CEO of radio station WSM and Gaylord Entertainment, ...

In honor of influential country recording artist and songwriter Hank Williams and marking the 100th anniversary of his birth, “Hank’s 100th: A Concert in Celebration of Hank Williams” showcases a wide variety of country and Americana artists influenced by Williams’s music. The show’s cast include...

CMT executive Leslie Fram hosts this showcase and discussion featuring Kimberly Kelly, Catie Offerman, MaRynn Taylor, Kasey Tyndall, and Julie Williams, all involved in the media brand’s Next Women of Country franchise, which launched in 2013 and highlights up-and-coming country artists. This liv...

Dave Alvin joins the Museum’s Michael McCall to discuss growing up in Downey, California; forming the acclaimed roots-rock band the Blasters with his brother Phil; embarking on a solo career to emphasize his songwriting; and playing a pivotal role in the roots-rock and punk-rock communities in Lo...

Oh Boy Records President Fiona Whelan Prine, Oh Boy Records Director of Operations Jody Whelan, current Oh Boy Records artist Emily Scott Robinson, and former Oh Boy Records artist R. B. Morris discuss the past, present, and future of the independent record label, founded by John Prine, his manag...

Award-winning author Peter Guralnick, who guest co-curated the Museum’s exhibition “Dick Curless: Hard Traveling Man From Maine” and wrote a lengthy profile on him for his 2020 book, “Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing,” joins the Museum’s Michael Gray to discuss Dick Curless’s ...

Frank Howard and Peggy Gaines Walker, artists instrumental in Nashville’s soul music scene of the 1960s, join the Museum’s Michael Gray and the National Museum of African American Music’s Dr. Bryan Pierce, to share their memories of the city’s vibrant R&B community. That community included pionee...

Pedal steel players Dan Dugmore, Steve Fishell, JayDee Maness, and Al Perkins, all influential musicians in the Los Angeles country-rock scene, join this panel discussion. This program was recorded on October 2, 2022, and is presented in support of the exhibition “Western Edge: The Roots and Reve...

Panelists Rodney Dillard, Chris Hillman, John McEuen, and Herb Pedersen discuss their backgrounds in bluegrass and how their experiences affected the burgeoning Los Angeles country-rock scene in this program hosted by the museum’s Michael Gray. This program was filmed on October 1, 2022, during t...

One hundred years ago, two champion fiddlers, Eck Robertson of Texas and Henry C. Gilliland of Oklahoma, recorded what are now widely hailed as the first commercial recordings of country music. This interview and performance, recorded on October 28, 2022 as part of the Museum’s “Live at the Hall”...

Four-time Grammy winner Lyle Lovett sits down with Elizabeth Cook to discuss his new album, 12th of June, his first album in ten years. Lovett explains how growing up in Houston, Texas, and fatherhood affect his music, and performs songs including “Pants Is Overrated,” “12th of June,” and “Pig Me...

Richie Furay, a founding member of the bands Buffalo Springfield and Poco, performs, shares stories behind the songs he has written, discusses his career, and answers questions from the audience. Part of the Museum’s “Live at the Hall” series, this live performance was recorded on October 1, 2022...

These bonus tracks are part of a larger program featuring Martina McBride performing, discussing her creative process, and sharing the stories behind her music with songwriters and collaborators Leslie Satcher, husband-and-wife songwriters Chris Lindsey and Aimee Mayo, and Brett Warren. At the re...

Martina McBride performs, discusses her creative process, and shares the stories behind her music with songwriters and collaborators Leslie Satcher, husband-and-wife songwriters Chris Lindsey and Aimee Mayo, and Brett Warren, one half of the Warren Brothers with his brother Brad. Part of the Muse...

Black Opry founder and co-director Holly G and the Museum’s Angela Stefano Zimmer host this conversation and showcase featuring recording artists and songwriters the Kentucky Gentlemen, Nikki Morgan, Aaron Vance, and Julie Williams, all involved with the Black Opry. Founded in April 2021 as a dig...