Live Music

Live Music

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum hosts live music throughout the year, including its regular Songwriter Sessions and Musician Spotlights and stylistically varied performances in its 800-seat CMA Theater. The Museum's unparalleled collection of historically and culturally unique resources includes classic and current country music film and TV performances and more, ranging from the 1920s to the present.

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Live Music
  • Hank Williams Tribute, Led By Rodney Crowell • Concert, 2011

    Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell leads this tribute concert honoring Hank Williams, country music's "Hillbilly Shakespeare," held on April 16, 2011, in conjunction with the Museum's 2008 – 2011 exhibit "Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy." Rounding out the bill are singer...

  • Shawn Camp • Songwriter Session, 2017

    Singer-songwriter Shawn Camp—who has written hits for Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, and Josh Turner, among others—shares stories and performs nine of his songs for the Museum’s Songwriter Session series. Camp has collaborated extensively with Country Music Hall of Fame member Loret...

  • Gary Allan • Songwriter Session, 2016

    Singer-songwriter Gary Allan performs live alongside some of his co-writers during a Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, held during the 2016 CMA Music Festival.

    After opening the program with “Right Where I Need to Be,” written by Casey Beathard and Kendell Marvel, ...

  • Chris Gantry • Songwriter Session, 2018

    This interview and performance presents a unique window into the life and times of singer-songwriter Chris Gantry, one of Nashville’s great characters and true artists. Gantry—among the artists featured in the Museum’s exhibition “Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s”—expounds here on his...

  • Adam Wright • Songwriter Session, 2018

    Adam Wright—who’s written songs for Lee Ann Womack, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, the Lonesome River Band, and many other major country and bluegrass names—shares some of his songwriting highlights and intimate details about his music career during this 2018 Songwriter Session at the Country Music ...

  • Darryl Worley • Songwriter Session, 2017

    Singer-songwriter Darryl Worley performs hits from his lengthy career and answers audience questions during this January 2017 Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Opening with 2009 hit "Sounds Like Life to Me"—which he explains was inspired by his father's response to...

  • Songs of Brad Paisley • Ashley Gorley, Kelley Lovelace, Lee Thomas Miller

    Three of Brad Paisley’s frequent songwriting collaborators—Ashley Gorley, Kelley Lovelace, and Lee Thomas Miller—talk about their friendship with the country artist and tell stories behind their songs he’s recorded.

    Part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Songwriter Sessions series, ...

  • Natalie Hemby • Songwriter Session, 2017

    Songwriter Natalie Hemby performs her #1 hits, personal favorites, and cuts from her album “Puxico” during this 2017 Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Hemby opens with "You Look Like I Need a Drink," a #1 hit recorded by Justin Moore, and over the course of the pr...

  • Dillon Carmichael • Songwriter Session, 2019

    Dillon Carmichael performs five original songs and answers questions about songwriting technique, musical heroes, and his favorite guitars during a January 10, 2019, Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. He also talks about working with producer Dave Cobb in Studio A in...

  • Pat Alger • Songwriter Session, 2018

    Songwriter Pat Alger—a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member and frequent Garth Brooks co-writer—performs and shares stories behind some of his songs during this 2018 program, part of the Songwriter Sessions series at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Alger collaborated on four of G...

  • Ray Benson • Songwriter Session, 2018

    Ray Benson, leader of the long-running western swing band Asleep at the Wheel, discusses his fifty-plus year career with the Museum’s Michael McCall and offers a rare solo performance of songs he has written.

    During the 2018 program, held during AmericanaFest, Benson discusses how a Philadelphi...

  • Charlie Worsham • Songwriter Session and 'Follow Your Heart' Book Talk

    Songwriter, musician, and producer Charlie Worsham shares songs, talks about the inspiration for his 2018 book, "Follow Your Heart: A Guitar, A Tattoo, and One Man’s Country Music Journey," and reads excerpts from that personal project.

    Among the songs Worsham performs during this 2018 Songwrite...

  • Eddie Pennington, Joe Robinson, Tommy Emmanuel, Striking Matches • Guitar Pull

    Eddie Pennington, Joe Robinson, Tommy Emmanuel, and Striking Matches share solo performances and pick together to show the versality and vintage sound of Gretsch guitars. Held on July 16, 2016, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the program was presented in support of the exhibition “A...

  • Bill Anderson • Songwriter Session, 2016

    Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson performs live and shares the stories behind some of his hit songs in this intimate Songwriter Session, held October 22, 2016, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Anderson kicks off the program with a performance of his 1965 hit “Bright Li...

  • Chris Janson • Songwriter Session, 2017

    Chris Janson performs live, answers numerous audience questions, speaks about his small-town roots, and gives advice to frustrated songwriters during this September 23, 2017, Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    At the beginning of the program, Janson tells the audien...

  • Hilary Williams • Songwriter Session, 2018

    Hilary Williams—granddaughter of Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Williams, and daughter of fellow member Hank Williams Jr.—carries on her family’s musical traditions, sharing live songs and stories as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Songwriter Sessions series.

    Througho...

  • Angaleena Presley • Songwriter Session, 2017

    Angaleena Presley performs songs from her second album, “Wrangled,” and original material recorded by Pistol Annies (the dynamic ensemble that also includes Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe) during this Songwriter Session, held June 3, 2017 at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Early in...

  • Lindsay Ell • Songwriter Session, 2016

    Singer-songwriter Lindsay Ell performs a mix of her singles and unreleased songs, including “By the Way,” “Criminal,” “What Does You Good,” and “Don’t Call Me Lonely,” and answers audience questions during a 2016 Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    The program is pre...

  • Bruce Robison • Songwriter Session, 2017

    Texas singer-songwriter Bruce Robinson discusses his creative process and performs a selection of his hits—including “Desperately” (George Strait), “Travelin’ Soldier” (the Chicks), and “Angry All the Time” (Tim McGraw and Faith Hill)—during a special Songwriter Session, presented in partnership ...

  • Rodney Crowell • Songwriter Session, 2013

    Rodney Crowell opens a dialogue about songwriting and the creative process in this informative program, recorded September 21, 2013, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. He also performs a handful of songs including “It’s Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night,” “I Know Love Is All I Need,” and ...

  • RaeLynn with Nicolle Galyon • Songwriter Session, 2017

    Recording artist RaeLynn and songwriter Nicolle Galyon perform a selection of songs during this Songwriter Session, held July 29, 2017, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum—four months after RaeLynn released her Galyon-co-produced debut album, “Wildhorse.”

    During the performance, RaeLynn...

  • Tony Arata • Songwriter Session, 2017

    Songwriter Tony Arata—who wrote Garth Brooks's hit "The Dance," along with songs recorded by Patty Loveless, Lee Roy Parnell, and many others—sings, shares the stories behind his songs, and answers audience questions during a Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Arata...

  • Josh Kear and Tenille Townes • Songwriter Session, 2018

    Songwriters Josh Kear and Tenille Townes perform live and talk about the stories behind their songs during this 2018 program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Songwriter Sessions series.

    Canadian-born Townes reminisces about attending Songwriter Sessions at the Museum when she...

  • Josh Osborne • Songwriter Session, 2018

    Hit songwriter Josh Osborne sings five of the most popular songs he’s written—“Body Like a Back Road,” “Setting the World on Fire,” “Drinkin’ Problem,” “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” and “All the Pretty Girls”—during this solo set at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. He also talks...