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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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 ...
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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...
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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 ...
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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...
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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...
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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 ...
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Nashville Cats • Herb Pedersen • 2023
Multi-instrumentalist Herb Pedersen plays songs and 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 February 4, 2023, and is presented in supp...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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 ...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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 ...
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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...
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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...