During this 2013 program, master guitarist and songwriter Mac Gayden reminisces about his influential career—which includes decades of laying down licks for countless pop, country, and R&B recordings, and co-writing multi-genre, multi-decade hit "Everlasting Love"—and performs a selection of song...

Four members of Buck Owens's band, the Buckaroos, join Owens's son Buddy Alan Owens and Owens biographer Randy Poe to reminisce about their role in the country legend's career at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum during this 2013 program.

Moderator Scott B. Bomar opens the event by intro...

Bonnie Bramlett, Charlie Daniels, publicist Mike Hyland, and Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Ed King reflect on the rise of the Southern rock movement in the 1970s. Held on October 29, 2011, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the panel discussion marks the fortieth anniversary of the death of...

Jerry Carrigan, one of Nashville’s most-recorded drummers, remembers his major country music sessions and his time in the primary rhythm section at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, during this interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, held February 21, 2009, as part of the Na...

Drummer D.J. Fontana—who played with Elvis Presley from 1955 to 1968—traces his long career in music during this interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, from playing in the Louisiana Hayride house band and working at clubs in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, to joining guita...

Pedal steel guitar great Weldon Myrick visits the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum for an in-depth interview, as part of the ongoing Nashville Cats series honoring influential musicians from Nashville’s early country music scene.

Myrick’s masterful musicianship can be heard on numerous coun...

Close friends of songwriter Guy Clark (1941-2015), including his biographer Tamara Saviano, offer insight into his life and career during a panel discussion at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, held January 14, 2017, and hosted by the Museum’s Peter Cooper. Frequent co-writers Shawn Camp...

Bill Walker, a formally trained musical arranger and conductor, traces his career from Australia to Nashville, where he helped artists such as Johnny Cash, Eddy Arnold, and the Statler Brothers sound their best on stage and in the studio. This interview, held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and...

Songwriter Gretchen Peters shares live songs and stories from her award-winning career during this January 2015 program at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, part of the ongoing Poets and Prophets series, which spotlights songwriters who’ve made significant contributions to the country mu...

Hit songwriter Paul Overstreet—who’s written hits for George Jones, Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, and many others—performs a selection of live songs and discusses his decades-long career during this 2016 program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s ongoing Poets and Prophets series...

Red Simpson, who became known as the Bard of Bakersfield for his songwriting ability, performs live and sits down for an hourlong interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum during this 2013 program, part of the ongoing Poets & Prophets series, centered on songwriters who have made sig...

To reflect on Loretta Lynn’s career as only family can, three generations of Webb and Lynn relatives join during this program to discuss the Country Music Hall of Fame member’s career and recall private family stories, all told with love and lots of laughter. Lynn’s younger sisters Crystal Gayle ...

During “Songs Fit for a King: Top Songwriters Remember Elvis,” Jerry Chesnut, Mac Davis, Dallas Frazier, and Billy Swan discuss and perform their original songs recorded by Country Music Hall of Fame member Elvis Presley.

“Songs Fit for a King” is part of a series of 2012 programs honoring Presl...

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Billy Edd Wheeler—whose many masterful compositions include “Coward of the County” (Kenny Rogers), “Jackson” (Johnny Cash and June Carter), “It’s Midnight” (Elvis Presley), and “Gimme Back My Blues” (Jerry Reed)—discusses his career and performs during a ...

In his first-ever interview before a live audience, acclaimed R&B songwriter and record producer Dan Penn talks about his formative years in the music business in Muscle Shoals and Memphis, his songwriting, and his memories of working with Rick Hall, Arthur Alexander, Chips Moman, Spooner Oldham,...

Hit country songwriter Red Lane visits the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2010 for an in-depth, one-on-one interview, part of the Museum's Poets & Prophets series featuring legendary songwriters.

Lane launched his songwriting career in the mid-1960s, with stars including Faron Young, W...

Jerry Foster—who, as a member of renowned songwriting team Foster and Rice, delivered country hits for stars including Charley Pride, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Paycheck—surveys his career and creative partnership with Bill Rice during a September 10, 2011, conversation at the Country Music Hall...

Mark D. Sanders—co-writer of country classic “I Hope You Dance,” among other hits—describes his journey to the top of the country charts during this May 26, 2012, edition of Poets and Prophets, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s ongoing series to honor songwriters.

A California native, ...

During this multimedia presentation, Gretsch Company president Fred W. Gretsch, executive vice president and CFO Dinah Gretsch, marketing specialist Joe Carducci, and thumbpicker Joe Hudson share the stage to trace the history of the innovative guitar maker. Held June 24, 2016, the event was pres...

Texas-based songwriting legend Sonny Throckmorton—whose credits include Merle Haggard’s “The Way I Am” and “If We’re Not Back in Love by Monday,” George Strait’s “The Cowboy Rides Away,” Moe Bandy’s “It’s a Cheatin’ Situation,” and Jerry Lee Lewis’s "Middle Age Crazy” and “I Wish I Was Eighteen A...

During his 100-minute Poets and Prophets program, songwriter Tom Douglas performs his hits “The House That Built Me,” “Little Rock,” and “Love Remains,” and talks about his upbringing; musical influences and beginnings; decision to leave a successful real estate career to pursue songwriting; stor...

Sanger “Whitey” Shafer—a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame who supplied songs for George Jones, George Strait, Keith Whitley, and many others—performs live and offers a life- and career-spanning discussion during this 2008 program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’...

Roger Murrah—who was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 on the strength of country chart-toppers such as “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” “High Cotton,” “I’m in a Hurry (and Don’t Know Why),” “If I Could Make a Living,” “Life’s Highway,” and many others—talks about his musical and...

April 18, 2015 - As a producer, songwriter, and music business entrepreneur, Rick Hall helped shape the sound of American music. At his FAME studios, in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Hall produced legendary recordings by Mac Davis, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and Jerry Re...