While Nashville’s contributions to country music have been documented extensively, the city’s far-reaching rhythm & blues legacy is not as well known. The pioneering R&B activity played a significant role in building Nashville’s worldwide reputation as “Music City” in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, a...

Novelist and songwriter Alice Randall tells stories of her career in music and discusses her newest book, “My Black Country,” and the companion album of songs she’s written. The Museum’s Paul Kingsbury moderated this conversation, which was followed by performances of two of Randall’s songs by ar...

The story of Cortelia Clark, from Nashville busker to Grammy-winning artist, is an unlikely one. It’s the story of a blind blues singer who made a living performing on the streets of downtown Nashville in the 1960s, supplementing his earnings by selling shopping bags—but it’s also the story of se...

Keyboardist Bobby Wood retraces the steps of his historic music career from Mississippi to Nashville, including collaborations with Garth Brooks, Neil Diamond, Elvis Presley, and others. This in-depth discussion with the Museum’s RJ Smith was recorded live on August 17, 2024, as part of the Museu...

Songwriter Trannie Anderson performs songs she has written, shares the stories behind them, and answers audience questions as part of the Museum’s Songwriter Session series. This program was recorded on June 8, 2024.

During this program, Anderson performs three songs she co-wrote with Lainey Wil...

Grammy-winning musicians Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal share stories of their creative collaborations throughout their thirty years together and discuss their record label, RumbleStrip Records. This live interview and performance was presented in partnership with the Americana Music Association...

Acclaimed singer-songwriter John Hiatt performs and shares stories from throughout his fifty-year career as part of the Museum's Poets and Prophets series, which honors songwriters who have made notable contributions to country music. Museum writer-editor Dave Paulson moderates this edition, whic...

For six decades, recording artist, songwriter, and visual artist Terry Allen has been sharing his various forms of conceptual art. This program, recorded on July 20, 2024, and hosted by the Museum’s RJ Smith, digs into Allen’s career and discusses and showcases multiple works.

Allen and musician...

: Recording artist, songwriter, and CMT Next Women of Country mentor Kimberly Perry hosts this showcase and discussion featuring CMT Next Women of Country acts Tanner Adell, Mae Estes, Kylie Frey, Emily Ann Roberts, and Tigirlily Gold. This program was recorded on June 7, 2024, during CMA Fest 20...

The city of Chicago, Illinois, has supported a diverse arts and entertainment landscape, including singer-songwriter John Prine. Recorded on October 8, 2023, during the annual “You Got Gold: Celebrating the Life and Songs of John Prine” event, this program shares the impact Chicago had on Prine’s...

To coincide with Black Music Month, the Museum and co-producers Rissi Palmer and Shannon Sanders organized a multi-artist concert celebrating the many ways Black Americans have created, contributed to, and been influenced by country music, as documented and shared through the Museum’s multi-facet...

North Carolina native Carter Faith performs songs she’s written, answers questions, and shares stories from her songwriting career during this Songwriter Session, recorded on February 10, 2024. Faith has co-written songs with Tofer Brown, Kat Higgins, Lauren Hungate, Lori McKenna, Ashley Monroe, ...

British-born Dave Barnes began acquiring records as early as the 1930s and ‘40s and spent decades assembling the vast collection that became the British Archive of Country Music (BACM). This conversation about Barnes and the archive and its accompanying listening session were recorded on April 16...

Tuesday, August 20, 2024, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum celebrated the addition of the Marty Stuart Collection to the Museum's permanent holdings. Stuart's collection of more than 22,000 items is the largest private assemblage of country music artifacts in the world, joining the worl...

East Tennessee native, bassist, and producer Mark Fain performs songs and shares stories from his career during this Musician Spotlight program, recorded on April 14, 2024. He is accompanied by Brent Rader on keys and John Leventhal on guitar.

During this program, seven-time Grammy-winner Fain a...

R&B singers Jimmy Church and Frank Howard, along with Katie Blackwell—wife of the late Noble Blackwell—and Tracye Blackwell, Noble and Katie’s daughter, recount the origins and cultural impact of Noble Blackwell and his creation, “Night Train,” the nation’s first syndicated R&B television series ...

Many of the same musicians have backed Eric Church, both on his albums and during live performances, since he got his start as a signed artist. In this program, Church’s current band—Jeff Cease, Lee Hendricks, Jeff Hyde, Billy Justineau, Driver Williams, and Craig Wright—discusses working with Ch...

Thomas Hart Benton—lauded American painter, muralist, and print maker—and his iconic mural “The Sources of Country Music” are expertly examined fifty years later in this fascinating, in-depth panel discussion. Moderated by Seth Feman, executive director and CEO of Nashville’s Frist Art Museum, th...

Masters of traditional Irish folk music Altan and world-renowned dobroist Jerry Douglas bring together their deep collective knowledge of Celtic musical traditions for an insightful conversation and powerful musical performance. This program, which took place in the museum’s Ford Theater, was rec...

Recording artist and songwriter Kelsey Waldon performs songs she has written and recorded and shares the stories behind them as part of the Museum’s Songwriter Session series. This program was recorded on March 2, 2024, in support of the Museum’s exhibition “American Currents: State of the Music....

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...

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...

Accomplished fiddler and violinist Andrea Zonn—who has toured with Vince Gill, James Taylor, and Lyle Lovett, among others—discusses her career as a backing musician and solo artist during this June 17, 2017, program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Nashville Cats series.

The...