Interviews

Interviews

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum regularly hosts illuminating interviews with country artists, songwriters, and industry players, both in its Nashville home and on location.

The Museum’s regular interview series include Poets and Prophets, which spotlights the artistry and achievements of songwriters who have made significant contributions to American music, and Nashville Cats, which showcases musicians and singers who have played important roles in support of hit artists in either the studio or on tour.

The Museum's collection also offers thousands of video and audio interviews with country legends, mainstays, and rising stars, spanning from the 1920s to today.

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Interviews
  • Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum Interview: Liz Thiels

    Liz Thiels, influential public relations professional and former Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum executive, died Sunday, March 19, after an extended illness. She was seventy-eight years old.

    Thiels contributed to Nashville’s international reputation by helping launch the famed Exit/In, one...

  • Richie Furay • Live at the Hall, 2022

    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...

  • Martina McBride and Friends Songwriter Round • Live at the Hall, 2022

    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...

  • Rodney Crowell • ‘Poets and Prophets’ • Live at the Hall, 2022

    Songwriter Rodney Crowell performs and shares stories from his life and career on March 19, 2022, as part of the Museum's ‘Poets and Prophets’ series, which spotlights songwriters who have made significant contributions to country music.

    During the program, Crowell shares stories behind his hits...

  • Bobby Tomberlin, Buddy Cannon, and Erin Enderlin, 'Live at the Hall,' 2022

    Bobby Tomberlin, Buddy Cannon, and Erin Enderlin share songs and stories from their co-writes with Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson—in celebration of Anderson’s new exhibit, “Bill Anderson: As Far as I Can See.” Performances include chart-toppers such as George Strait’s “Give It Aw...

  • Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk • Live at the Hall, 2022

    Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk, who collaborated with Kacey Musgraves to write and produce both her CMA-, ACM-, and Grammy-winning album “Golden Hour” and her 2021 album, “Star-Crossed,” perform and answer audience questions during this program.
    Part of the Museum’s “Live at the Hall” series, thi...

  • Nicolle Galyon • Live at the Hall, 2022

    Singer-songwriter Nicolle Galyon takes questions from the audience, performs, and tells stories behind a selection of songs she’s written, including chart-toppers like Miranda Lambert’s “Automatic,” Kenny Chesney’s “All The Pretty Girls,” and Dan + Shay’s “Tequila.”
    Part of the Museum’s “Live at ...

  • The Jordanaires • Nashville Cats, 2008

    The Jordanaires’ Gordon Stoker and Ray Walker reminisce about the vocal group’s career highlights, sharing stories about recording with Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Tammy Wynette, and others.

    During the October 25, 2008, program—part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Nashville Cats s...

  • Frank Ray • ‘Live at the Hall,’ 2022

    Songwriter and recording artist Frank Ray shares songs and stories in this online episode of “Live at the Hall,” filmed April 23, 2022. The BBR Music Group Recording Artist’s singles include “Country’d Look Good on You,” “Streetlights,” and his 2018 song, “Tequila Mockingbird.” Having grown up in...

  • Jessi Colter • Songs and Interview, 2017

    Jessi Colter’s “The Psalms” album and her memoir, “An Outlaw and a Lady,” came out in 2017, and she digs deep into both during this in-depth discussion at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, before performing some familiar favorites (“Storms Never Last” and “I’m Not Lisa”) and a song from ...

  • Cindy Cashdollar • Nashville Cats • Live at the Hall, 2022

    Steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar performs live and shares stories from her life and career on May 14, 2022, as part of the Museum's Nashville Cats series, which spotlights musicians who have made significant contributions to country music.

    During the program, Cashdollar talks about her life and...

  • Little Big Town Interview • ‘The Power of Four,’ 2018

    The members of Little Big Town—Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook—discuss their lives and careers during an interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, held June 26, 2018, to support the exhibition “Little Big Town: The Power of Four.”

    Each member ...

  • Night Train to Nashville • Conversation and Performance, 2023

    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...

  • Dr. John Interview With Nick Spitzer, 2013

    Singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and producer Dr. John—one of the most colorful characters to come from New Orleans, Louisiana—is interviewed here by Nick Spitzer, producer and host of the syndicated radio show “American Routes.”

    During the 2013 interview, Dr. John, aka Mac Rebennack, sha...

  • Lee Ann Womack • Songs and Interview, 2017

    In conversation with the Museum’s Peter Cooper, Lee Ann Womack talks about her album “The Lonely, the Lonesome, and the Gone” (recorded at Houston’s legendary SugarHill studios, where Lightnin’ Hopkins, George Jones, Willie Nelson, and many others recorded), and about songwriting, her East Texas ...

  • Dylan Disc by Disc • Panel Discussion with Author Jon Bream, 2015

    For his book “Dylan: Disc by Disc,” music critic and author Jon Bream talked with fifty-five musicians, journalists, and scholars about every album recorded by Bob Dylan. Here, Bream hosts a conversation about the albums Dylan recorded in Nashville, including “Blonde on Blonde,” “John Wesley Hard...

  • DeFord Bailey Harmonica Salute • Live at the Hall, 2022

    Hosted by the Museum’s Adam Ollendorff, Carlos DeFord Bailey, grandson of DeFord Bailey; Ketch Secor, multi-instrumentalist and front man of the band Old Crow Medicine Show; and Jake Groves, harmonica player for Colter Wall and host of WXOX Louisville’s Faint of Harp Radio Hour, talk about the in...

  • Blake Shelton • Songs and Interview, 2016

    Multimedia star Blake Shelton, in a career-spanning interview with the Museum’s Michael McCall, tracks his evolution from a mullet-sporting country music hopeful from Ada, Oklahoma, to one of the genre’s most widely recognized stars.

    The award-winning recording artist details the years leading u...

  • Country Music Hall of Fame 2020 Class • Live at the Hall Encore

    The Country Music Hall of Fame’s 2020 inductees—Dean Dillon, Marty Stuart, and Hank Williams Jr.—are recognized in this “Live at the Hall” encore, featuring performance and interview clips from past programs at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    The compilation episode includes highligh...

  • Marshall Chapman • Songwriter Session, 2020

    Marshall Chapman takes the stage at the Museum to share stories and perform songs from a decades-spanning career as a singer-songwriter, including “Betty’s Bein’ Bad,” which was recorded by country group Sawyer Brown and taken to #5 in the country charts in 1985.

    Throughout her 2020 Songwriter ...

  • Vince Gill Donates Roy Acuff's Fiddle to the Museum's Collection

    Vince Gill shares the backstory of one of Roy Acuff's primary fiddles — how Acuff acquired it, how he treasured it, how the instrument came to Gill, and why he chose to donate it to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's permanent collection in 2021.

    The fiddle—a copy of the highly prized v...

  • Exit/In: Fifty Years and Counting • Live at the Hall, 2022

    To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Nashville club, Exit/In, Dianne Davidson, Jason Ringenberg, and Webb Wilder, all artists who performed there regularly, share memories of the legendary venue with the Museum’s Peter Cooper and perform live.

    Part of the Museum’s “Live at the Hall” seri...

  • The Rise of Alan Jackson • Panel Discussion, 2015

    A panel of Alan Jackson's collaborators and friends—including record label executives Tim DuBois and Mike Dungan, songwriter Jim McBride, and longtime bandmates Danny Groah and Roger Wills—come together to discuss the Country Music Hall of Fame member's rise during this 2015 program at the Countr...

  • Florida Georgia Line • Live at the Hall, 2022

    Florida Georgia line takes the stage at the CMA Theater for an interview with the Museum’s Michael Gray, followed by a performance of three of their hits: “Cruise,” “Meant to Be,” and “Long Live.”

    By pushing genre boundaries, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley—the duo known as Florida Georgia Line—h...