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
  • Jamie Floyd • Songwriter Session, 2018

    Jamie Floyd performs and shares the highs and lows of her songwriting career during a 2018 Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Fresh from her first nationally televised appearance on the USA Network’s singing competition show “Real Country,” Floyd sings “The Blade,” ...

  • Joe Ely • Songwriter Session, 2018

    Joe Ely makes a special appearance at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on May 26, 2018, in connection with the opening of the exhibition “Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ʼ70s.” The Texas music mainstay performs songs spanning his broad musical career and shares memorable experien...

  • Waylon Payne • Songwriter Session, 2018

    Waylon Payne performs eight original songs and a cover of “Help Me Make It Through the Night” during this intimate program, recorded August 8, 2018, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. He also speaks about how friends including Frank Liddell, Shelby Lynne, and Willie Nelson helped him a...

  • Ashley Monroe • Songwriter Session with host Tyler Mahan Coe, 2018

    Ashley Monroe performs songs from her 2018 album, “Sparrow,” and talks about the record with Tyler Mahan Coe, host of country music podcast “Cocaine & Rhinestones,” during a Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Among the songs Ashley Monroe performs: love song “Hands ...

  • Remembering Elvis Presley: Songs Fit for a King, 2012

    During “Songs Fit for a King: Top Songwriters Remember Elvis,” Jerry Chesnut, Mac Davis, Dallas Frazier, and Billy Swan discuss and perform their original songs recorded by Country Music Hall of Fame member Elvis Presley.

    “Songs Fit for a King” is part of a series of 2012 programs honoring Presl...

  • Richard Thompson • Songwriter Session, 2012

    Richard Thompson—singer, songwriter, guitarist, and founding member of the folk-rock band Fairport Convention—shares a nearly hourlong performance and question-and-answer session with an audience at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum during a 2012 Songwriter Session.

    Beyond Fairport Conv...

  • Ray Stevens • Songwriter Session, 2014

    Ray Stevens performs and tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including “Guitarzan,” “Everything is Beautiful,” “Mr. Businessman,” and “The Streak,” during a 2014 Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    The Country Music Hall of Fame member also performs sn...

  • Billy Joe Shaver • Songwriter Session, 2014

    Texas songwriter Billy Joe Shaver shares live songs and discusses his songwriting career during a 2014 Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in partnership with the Americana Music Association’s AmericanaFest.

    Recalling his arrival in Nashville and being grouped into ...

  • Jim Lauderdale • Songwriter Session, 2016

    Jim Lauderdale answers audience questions about songwriting (and conducts a brief comic mock-interview with himself) during this Songwriter Session at the Museum, held on September 24, 2016, during the annual AmericanaFest. Steel guitarist Tommy Detamore joins Lauderdale on three songs, and the p...

  • Luke Bryan Hits With Rhett Akins and Dallas Davidson, Live

    During a 2015 Songwriter Round at the Museum, country hit-makers Rhett Akins and Dallas Davidson perform songs they wrote for Luke Bryan, including “Play It Again,” “Huntin’, Fishin’, and Lovin’ Every Day,” “I Don’t Want This Night to End,” and “Country Girl Shake It For Me.”

    The songwriters di...

  • Larry Gatlin • Songwriter Session, 2015

    Larry Gatlin delivers jokes, anecdotes, and classic songs in this solo acoustic set at the Museum, recorded August 15, 2015, as part of the Songwriter Sessions series. Along with talking about his early days as a songwriter in Nashville, he sings “Help Me,” “Broken Lady,” “I’ve Done Enough Dying ...

  • Miranda Lambert Hits with Nicolle Galyon, Natalie Hemby, and Jimmy Robbins

    During a May 2014 Songwriter Round, Nicolle Galyon, Natalie Hemby, and Jimmy Robbins perform a mix of Miranda Lambert hits—songs they’ve written with and for the country star—along with tracks they’ve had cut by other artists. Work by all three songwriters appears on Lambert's album "Platinum," r...

  • Ashley Monroe • Songwriter Session, 2014

    During a 2014 Songwriter Session at the Museum, Ashley Monroe performs a mix of songs live, and talks about her solo albums, co-writing hits with Miranda Lambert, forming the Pistol Annies, and more.

    Monroe shares a selection of songs from her 2013 album “Like a Rose” (for which she co-wrote al...

  • Will Hoge • Songwriter Session, 2015

    Will Hoge shares live performances of his songs—including tracks from his 2015 album “Small Town Dreams”—and answers questions from members of the audience during this 2015 Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Hoge opens off-mic with “Small Town Dreams” track “Growing...

  • The Songs of Eric Church • Writers’ Round, 2016

    During this songwriter’s round at the Museum, Casey Beathard, Jeff Hyde, Luke Laird, and Jeremy Spillman—who have all co-written hit singles and album cuts with and for Eric Church—share stories of co-writing with the platinum-selling country singer. An Eric Church observation all four share: He ...

  • Adam Wright • Songwriter Session, 2015

    Adam Wright shares stories, answers audience questions, and performs a mix of songs he’s written, including new compositions and cuts by his uncle Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Joe Nichols, Lee Ann Womack, and others.

    The March 21, 2015, program, held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum ...

  • Rodney Clawson • Songwriter Session, 2016

    Rodney Clawson retraces his songwriting career from farming in Texas to placing songs with Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, and others, during this Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, held on August 20, 2016. In addition to taking fan questions about songwriti...

  • Mary Gauthier • Songwriter Session, 2015

    Mary Gauthier performs live and shares her difficult road to becoming a professional songwriter during a 2015 Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, presented in partnership with the Americana Music Association.

    Gauthier explains that she had trouble with drugs and alco...

  • Guitarist and Songwriter Red Lane • Songwriter Session, 2013

    Guitarist and hit songwriter Red Lane—who’s played with and written songs for country music legends including Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty, Dottie West, Keith Whitley, and George Strait, among others—joins the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum here for a Songwriter Session in...

  • Operation Song With Bob Regan and Friends • Songwriter Session, 2018

    During a Veterans Day Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, songwriter Bob Regan introduces special guests and performers who have collaborated with Operation Song, a non-profit organization focused on empowering veterans, active military, and their families to relay th...

  • Roland White and Jim Lauderdale • Musician Spotlight, 2019

    During a 2019 Musician Spotlight at the Museum, bluegrass mandolin master Roland White and his musical protégé, Americana singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale, perform a selection of bluegrass songs that span White's distinguished six-decade career. The two also reminisce about White's accomplishment...

  • Patsy Cline Tribute Concert 'Sweet Dreams of You'

    Country singer Patsy Cline’s music and legacy are honored during "Sweet Dreams of You: A Musical Tribute to Patsy Cline," held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2012. The concert features Emily West, Jessi Alexander, Striking Matches (a duo comprised of Sarah Zimmermann and Justin D...

  • Del McCoury Band, Amythyst Kiah Celebrate Dorothea Lange’s Photography, 2019

    Grammy-winning bluegrass group the Del McCoury Band and Americana singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah perform songs inspired by Dorothea Lange’s photography during a 2019 concert at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Kiah, of the supergroup Our Native Daughters, performs a carefully selected...

  • Justin Moses with Sierra Hull • Musician Spotlight, 2019

    During a Musician Spotlight at the Museum, Justin Moses shows his skillful playing on mandolin, guitar, and Dobro, and brings out his wife, fellow multi-instrumentalist Sierra Hull, for more music and audience questions. Both Moses and Hull were recognized in the Museum’s annual exhibition “Ameri...