Country Music Hall of Fame member Bobby Bare has championed up-and-coming songwriters—including Tom T. Hall, Kris Kristofferson, and Shel Silverstein—throughout his career. In celebration of his ninetieth birthday, Bare’s son, Bobby Bare Jr.; songwriter Buddy Cannon; and singer-songwriter Todd Snider perform some of Bare’s most beloved songs during this program, recorded on April 12, 2025, in the Museum’s Ford Theater.

During this program, the artists take turns performing in a traditional, Nashville-style round and telling stories in between songs. Bare Jr. kicks the show off with “Streets of Baltimore” and later performs “Daddy What If” and “Visit Me in Music City,” which he co-wrote. Cannon performs “(Margie’s at) the Lincoln Park Inn,” “Detroit City,” and a song he co-wrote, “Dream of Me,” joined by his daughter, Melonie Cannon. Snider performs “The Winner” and “Brian Hennessey,” both written by Shel Silverstein, a close friend of Bare’s. The whole ensemble closes the show with a rousing rendition of “Marie Laveau,” led by Snider.

Before he began his own music career as an adult, Bare Jr. earned a Grammy nomination with his father for “Daddy, What If,” from the 1973 album “Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies.” Cannon co-wrote the George Strait song “Give It Away,” an Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Song of the Year; has written songs recorded by Vern Gosdin, Willie Nelson, and Mel Tillis; and has produced hit albums for Nelson and Kenny Chesney, including Chesney’s “When the Sun Goes Down,” the CMA’s 2004 Album of the Year. In addition to his solo career, Snider has collaborated with Bare Jr. several times, including in the band Elmo Buzz and the Eastside Bulldogs.

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