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.
-
Ashley Cooke • Songwriter Session • 2024
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 ...
-
Chris Hillman and Bernie Leadon • Conversation • 2023
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 • Poets and Prophets • 2024
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...
-
Gabe Lee • Songwriter Session • 2024
Singer-songwriter Gabe Lee performs his original songs on acoustic guitar and piano. During the program, recorded on February 24, 2024, he discusses his experiences growing up in Nashville, telling stories, and making music.
During the program, Lee performs “Rusty,” from his album The Hometown K...
-
Morgan Wade • Concert and Conversation • 2024
Viriginia-born songwriter and recording artist Morgan Wade, accompanied by Clint Wells, performs songs she has written and shares stories with the audience. This program was recorded on February 3, 2024, and was presented in support of the 2023 edition of the Museum’s exhibition “American Current...
-
Willie Cole • Artist Talk • 2024
To celebrate the opening of his Haley Gallery exhibition “Lyrical Reconstructions,” American sculptor and printmaker Willie Cole discusses his career and creative process and answers audience questions. Recorded on March 28, 2024, this interview was moderated by Anne Collins Smith, director of th...
-
Mike Stoller • Poets and Prophets • 2023
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 • Songwriter Session • 2023
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...
-
Tony Russell • Book Talk • 2023
Tony Russell discusses his book “Rural Rhythm: The Story of Old-Time Country Music in 78 Records,” explains how he came to write the book, and recounts the stories behind some of the most iconic country records of the 1920s and ’30s. This program was hosted by the Museum’s Patrick Huber and was r...
-
Interview and Performance: A Celebration of Merle Travis
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 • Poets and Prophets • 2023
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...
-
Opry Memories: Bill Anderson, Jeannie Seely, Bud Wendell, and Mark Wills • 2023
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, ...
-
Where the Action Is • Americana Artists and Activism • 2023
During this conversation and performance moderated by music journalist Jewly Hight, Americana artists Adeem the Artist, Mya Byrne, Autumn Nicholas, and Allison Russell perform and discuss how they use their platforms as songwriters and musical artists to affect change. This program was recorded o...
-
The Bob Pinson Recorded Sound Collection at Age Fifty • 2023
This program celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Museum’s acquisition of record collector Bob Pinson’s matchless collection of country music recordings. In the program, Nathan D. Gibson, folklorist and University of Wisconsin-Madison’s audio-visual preservation archivist; Bill Ivey, folklo...
-
William Prince • Songwriter Session • 2023
Hailing from Manitoba, Canada, singer-songwriter William Prince shares songs he’s written and the stories behind them during 2023’s AmericanaFest. His performance was recorded on September 23, 2023, and presented in partnership with the Americana Music Association.
William Prince has released fo...
-
Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum • Lorianne Crook • 2023
Lorianne Crook is one half of the broadcast hosting duo Crook & Chase, as well as a television and radio producer, a writer, and the president of Jim Owens Entertainment. She was inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2013; received the Grand Ole Opry’s Bob Kingsley Living Legend Award i...
-
The Black Country Music Association and the Black Opry • 2023
Black Opry founder Holly G and her co-director, Tanner Davenport, along with Frankie Staton—who led the Black Country Music Association from the mid-1990s into the early 2000s—discuss their organizations’ histories and impact, as well as their future goals for representation and expanding diversi...
-
Conversation with Rhiannon Giddens • 2023
Grammy-winning singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens joins the Museum’s Patrick Huber to discuss her musical career, which often explores Black musicians’ contributions to country music and other American roots-music traditions. This event—a live conversation and performanc...
-
Patty Loveless • Interview and Performance • 2023
Country Music Hall of Fame member-elect Patty Loveless sits down for an interview to discuss her decades-long music career, and she performs a few of her favorite songs. This live performance was recorded on August 26, 2023, and offered in support of the Museum’s exhibition “Patty Loveless: No Tr...
-
Songs of Eric Church • Luke Laird and Jeremy Spillman • 2023
Songwriters Luke Laird and Jeremy Spillman share songs they have written with Eric Church and the stories behind them. This live performance was recorded on July 15, 2023, and offered in support of the exhibition “Eric Church: Country Heart, Restless Soul,” presented by Gibson.
During the progr...
-
Interview: Vince Gill and Paul Franklin • 2023
Vince Gill and Paul Franklin join the Museum’s Dave Paulson to discuss the music of Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys. In 2023, the musicians released a new collaborative album, “Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys,” which digs deep into the repertoire of Price and his ...
-
David Hood • Nashville Cats • 2023
Renowned bassist David Hood shares stories from his life and career as part of the Museum's “Nashville Cats” series, which spotlights musicians who have made significant contributions to country music. This program was recorded on July 8, 2023.
In this interview, led by the Museum’s Michael Gray...
-
CMT’s Next Women of Country • Conversation and Performance • 2023
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...
-
Interview: Los Lobos • 2023
Los Lobos members Steve Berlin, David Hidalgo, Conrad Lozano, Louie Pérez, and Cesar Rosas join the Museum’s Michael McCall to discuss their history as a band and the cultural impact of their music. This program was recorded on May 11, 2023, and is offered in support of the Museum exhibition “Wes...