Luke Laird shares stories from his life and career as part of the Museum’s Poets and Prophets interview series, which highlights legendary songwriters. This live interview and performance was recorded on October 28, 2023.

During the interview with the Museum’s Dave Paulson, Laird shares about hi...

Mike Stoller shares stories from his life and career as part of the Museum’s Poets and Prophets interview series, which highlights legendary songwriters. This live interview was recorded on December 3, 2023.

During the interview with the Museum’s Michael Gray, Stoller shares about his childhood ...

Jackie DeShannon shares stories from her pioneering songwriting career as part of the Museum’s Poets and Prophets interview series, which highlights legendary songwriters. This live interview and performance was recorded on April 6, 2024.

During the interview with the Museum’s Michael Gray, DeSh...

Crickets member Sonny Curtis began his career in Texas as the lead guitarist for Buddy Holly, for whom he wrote “ Rock Around with Ollie Vee” in 1956. One year later Curtis scored his first chart hit as a songwriter with Webb Pierce’s “Someday.” Curtis toured with the Everly Brothers and wrote th...

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...

Mark D. Sanders—co-writer of country classic “I Hope You Dance,” among other hits—describes his journey to the top of the country charts during this May 26, 2012, edition of Poets and Prophets, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s ongoing series to honor songwriters.

A California native, ...

Allen Shamblin—the award-winning songwriter who co-wrote such classics as Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me” and Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” reflects on his career during this November 17, 2018, edition of the Museum’s ongoing Poets and Prophets series.

Born in Tennessee ...

Jerry Chesnut—the songwriter behind classic country hits including “A Good Year for the Roses” and “It’s Four in the Morning”—shares detailed, often funny stories about his work and his career during this September 26, 2009, program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Poets and P...

Jerry Foster—who, as a member of renowned songwriting team Foster and Rice, delivered country hits for stars including Charley Pride, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Paycheck—surveys his career and creative partnership with Bill Rice during a September 10, 2011, conversation at the Country Music Hall...

Hit songwriter Jeffrey Steele performs signature hits like “My Wish” and “What Hurts the Most” and talks about his songwriting process and inspiration during this September 27, 2008, program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s songwriting-focused Poets and Prophets series.

Steel...

Hank Cochran gives a spirited interview about his long career as a songwriter—with anecdotes about Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline, as well as stories behind country classics including “Don’t Touch Me” and “Ocean Front Property”—during a Poets and Prophets program at the Country Music Hall of Fame....

Craig Wiseman shares insights from his songwriting career and sings some of his biggest hits—including 2004 Tim McGraw chart-topper “Live Like You Were Dying” and award-winning Brooks & Dunn single “Believe”—during a Poets and Prophets program at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Held D...

Bob McDill shares memories from his lengthy career as a hit country songwriter and offers insights into classic hits he’s written for Alabama, Dan Seals, and Don Williams during this Poets and Prophets program, held March 1, 2008, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Texas native McDill...

Roger Cook traces his life from austere beginnings in Bristol, England, to writing hits for Crystal Gayle, The Hollies, George Strait, and Don Williams, during this Poets and Prophets interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, held on October 5, 2013. Accompanying himself on ukulele,...

Curly Putman—the writer or co-writer of hits including “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” “Green, Green Grass of Home,” “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” and “My Elusive Dreams”—surveys his catalog of country classics during this live interview, held March 28, 2009, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Par...

Dallas Frazier, the country songwriter known for “Elvira,” “Beneath Still Waters,” and “There Goes My Everything,” speaks about his best-known compositions and explains his thirty-year sabbatical from writing during this Poets and Prophets program, recorded December 10, 2010, at the Country Music...

On stage at the Museum, Al Anderson performs live and details his transition from decades as guitarist, singer, and songwriter in the rock band NRBQ to becoming a successful country songwriter.

Early in the program—part of the Museum’s Poets and Prophets series, recorded on February 6, 2016—Ande...

Bob DiPiero reveals the spark of inspiration that led him to write “American Made,” “Blue Clear Sky,” and other hits during this interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, held on February 5, 2014, as part of the Poets and Prophets series. He also explains how giving guitar lessons i...

In an interview for the Museum’s Poets & Prophets series, Bill Anderson, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, talks about his approach to songwriting, his formative years, some of his biggest hits as a songwriter (many recorded by other artists), and his comeback as a songwriter beginning ...

Hit-making songwriters Buzz Cason, Dallas Frazier, Dickey Lee, and Dan Penn come together to perform signature songs at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on April 1, 2017, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Museum’s Poets and Prophets series.

A Nashville native, Cason has written s...

Songwriter Pat Alger—known for writing hits recorded by Garth Brooks and many others—performs and shares memories from his musical education and career, live in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ford Theater.

Though Alger contributed significant hits to several artists, he made his big...

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...

Songwriter Billy Joe Shaver performs and shares stories from his colorful life and career live in the Ford Theater on September 15, 2018, as part of the Museum's Poets and Prophets series, which spotlights songwriters who have made significant contributions to country music.

Billy Joe Shaver op...

Norro Wilson, a leading Nashville record producer and songwriter from the 1970s through the ’90s, talks about his life and career in country music (with a focus on his songwriting) during this 2011 interview, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s signature interview series, “Poets &...