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.

Share
Interviews
  • Merle Haggard and the Strangers Interview • The Bakersfield Sound

    Merle Haggard joins Norm Hamlet and Don Markham, longtime members of Haggard’s band the Strangers, for a 2012 program at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum dubbed "My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers: A Conversation with Norm Hamlet, Don Markham, and Fuzzy Owen."

    The program also features a...

  • Hank Williams Jr. • Interview and Performance, 2008

    Hank Williams Jr. visits the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to perform and answer questions about his life and career, his father’s legacy, and his family’s ongoing dedication to creative endeavors.

    Recorded on March 29, 2008, the live program was held to mark the opening of the Museum’s ...

  • Dean Dillon • Poets & Prophets, 2008

    Dean Dillon—one of the most successful and influential songwriters in country music, and a major source of hits for Country Music Hall of Fame member George Strait—talks about his career during a 2008 “Poets and Prophets” interview at the Museum, augmented by live performances, video and audio cl...

  • Jim Lauderdale • Live at the Hall, 2021

    In partnership with AmericanaFest, Jim Lauderdale joins the Museum’s Peter Cooper for a conversation marking the thirtieth anniversary of “Planet of Love,” Lauderdale's major label debut, produced by Rodney Crowell and John Leventhal and featuring harmony vocals from Shawn Colvin and Emmylou Harr...

  • Bob Moore • Nashville Cats, 2007

    During an interview with Bill Lloyd, veteran session bassist Bob Moore speaks about his career and his contributions to such standards as Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces,” Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry,” Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Roger Miller’s “King of the Road,” Elvis Presley’s “Are You...

  • Live at the Hall: Kenny Lovelace, “Nashville Cats,” 2022

    Kenny Lovelace, who has been Jerry Lee Lewis’s bandleader and right-hand man, shares stories about his career and his relationship with Lewis in this interview and performance. Lovelace and a small band perform four musical numbers following the interview: “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made ...

  • Sarah Buxton • Songwriter Session, 2021

    Singer-songwriter Sarah Buxton joins the Museum remotely for a 2021 Songwriter Session, sharing memories of her songwriting education and development and live versions of a mix of her songs, including hits she's written for major country stars (Keith Urban and Lady A among them) and selections fr...

  • Erin Enderlin • Songwriter Session, 2020

    During a 2020 Songwriter Session, singer-songwriter Erin Enderlin—who's written songs for Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, and Luke Bryan, among others—performs live and reflects on the musical journey that brought her to Nashville.

    As a little girl, Arkansas native Enderlin saw Country Music Hall o...

  • Hannah Dasher • Live at the Hall, 2021

    On stage at the Museum, recording artist and songwriter Hannah Dasher performs a selection of songs she’s written, including the autobiographical tune “You’re Gonna Love Me,” “The Tree,” co-written with Casey Beathard, and her first cut by a major artist, “Go to Bed Early,” recorded by Brad Paisl...

  • Chip Young • Nashville Cats, 2010

    Session guitarist and producer Chip Young details his experiences of playing on sessions with Elvis Presley, his friendship with Country Music Hall of Fame member Jerry Reed, and the notable records he produced at his studio, Young’Un Sound. Young wraps the October 9, 2010, program—part of the Co...

  • Ray Edenton • Nashville Cats, 2007

    Ray Edenton—part of the small group of revered session musicians known as the Nashville A-Team, and one of the most recorded guitarists in American history—describes his career recording with artists such as the Everly Brothers, Marty Robbins, and many others during this October 6, 2007, program,...

  • Jeffrey Steele • Poets and Prophets, 2008

    Hit songwriter Jeffrey Steele performs signature hits like “My Wish” and “What Hurts the Most” and talks about his songwriting process and inspiration during this September 27, 2008, program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s songwriting-focused Poets and Prophets series.

    Steel...

  • Hank Cochran • Poets and Prophets, 2007

    Hank Cochran gives a spirited interview about his long career as a songwriter—with anecdotes about Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline, as well as stories behind country classics including “Don’t Touch Me” and “Ocean Front Property”—during a Poets and Prophets program at the Country Music Hall of Fame....

  • Lauren Alaina • Live at the Hall, 2021

    Lauren Alaina discusses her ten-year anniversary as a country hitmaker while displaying the powerful, wide-ranging voice that led to her becoming a favorite duet partner for other country artists. Appearing with her guitarist, Tico Hernandez, Alaina presents a solo version of “Getting Over Him,” ...

  • Craig Wiseman • Poets and Prophets, 2007

    Craig Wiseman shares insights from his songwriting career and sings some of his biggest hits—including 2004 Tim McGraw chart-topper “Live Like You Were Dying” and award-winning Brooks & Dunn single “Believe”—during a Poets and Prophets program at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Held D...

  • Dallas Frazier • Poets and Prophets, 2010

    Dallas Frazier, the country songwriter known for “Elvira,” “Beneath Still Waters,” and “There Goes My Everything,” speaks about his best-known compositions and explains his thirty-year sabbatical from writing during this Poets and Prophets program, recorded December 10, 2010, at the Country Music...

  • Rissi Palmer • Live at the Hall, 2021

    For the “Live at the Hall” series, Rissi Palmer—a singer, songwriter, and host of Apple Music’s “Color Me Country”—talks about her life and career and performs “Summerville” and “Country Girl,” backed by Charles Newkirk on guitar.

    Palmer debuted on the record charts with the single “Country Girl...

  • Jon Langford • Live at the Hall, 2021

    Musician and visual artist Jon Langford joins the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Warren Denney to discuss his varied career, and performs a selection of songs live.

    Langford is a founding member of the punk band the Mekons, the post-punk group the Three Johns, and the alternative-count...

  • Bill Anderson • Live at the Hall, 2022

    Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson joins the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in for an intimate interview and performance, tracing his lauded, decades-long career as a recording artist, songwriter, TV host, and actor.

    Recorded live at the Museum on December 4, 2021, the progra...

  • Vincent Neil Emerson • Live at the Hall, 2021

    Recording artist and songwriter Vincent Neil Emerson performs and tells stories behind a selection of songs he’s written, including “Ripplin’ and Wild,” “Learnin’ to Drown,” “The Ballad of the Choctaw-Apache,” “7 Come 11,” and “High on Gettin’ By,” during this episode of the “Live at the Hall” se...

  • The Black Opry: Conversation and Performance • Live at the Hall, 2022

    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...

  • Jerry Chesnut • Poets and Prophets, 2009

    Jerry Chesnut—the songwriter behind classic country hits including “A Good Year for the Roses” and “It’s Four in the Morning”—shares detailed, often funny stories about his work and his career during this September 26, 2009, program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Poets and P...

  • Martina McBride • Live at the Hall, 2021

    Martina McBride discusses her life and career in-depth as part of the opening weekend of her Museum exhibition, "Martina McBride: The Power of Her Voice," and closes with a full-band performance of four of her biggest hits. The Museum’s Michael McCall conducts the interview, taped live on August ...

  • Jenee Fleenor • Live at the Hall, 2021

    In this “Live at the Hall” episode, Jenee Fleenor—a two-time Country Music Association Award-winning instrumentalist of the year, and the first woman to ever win that prize from the CMA—performs live and talks about her journey from a precocious child in Springdale, Arkansas, to becoming one of N...