Sharon Vaughn—whose songwriting credits include the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Y’All Come Back Saloon,” Reba McEntire’s “I’m Not That Lonely Yet,” the Lorrie Morgan-Keith Whitley duet “’Til a Tear Becomes a Rose,” Patty Loveless’s “Lonely Too Long,” and Randy Travis’s “Out of My Bones,” among many others—performs live and shares creative and career insights during this 2017 program, part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Poets and Prophets series.

Accompanied by guitarist Mike Severs, Vaughn opens her Poets and Prophets program by performing “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” her first songwriting hit and a career maker. It appeared in 1976 on country music’s first certified platinum album, “Wanted! The Outlaws,” sung by Waylon Jennings. Four years later, Willie Nelson’s version went to #1 on the country charts when it was included in the soundtrack to the film “The Electric Horseman.”

The first part of her interview digs into the song’s creation and how Jennings and Nelson came to record it.

Sharon Vaughn also discusses her early years in Orlando; her start in music and songwriting; encouragement from Mel Tillis (the fellow Floridian who discovered her); working at Nashville’s WSM-TV and singing in a jazz band with the station’s weatherman Boyce Hawkins (brother of Jordanaires member Hoyt Hawkins); providing backup vocals on numerous recording sessions as a member of the Lea Jane Singers; developing her own career as an artist and recording a hit duet with Narvel Felts (“Until the End of Time”); dealing with the stigma of being a female songwriter in Nashville; marriage and working relationship with songwriter Bill Rice; writing with Al Anderson (of NRBQ acclaim); moving into song publishing and artist management (including guiding the early career of John Rich); and creating a musical with Melissa Manchester (“Sweet Potato Queens”).

Vaughn and Manchester (on piano) perform “That One Kiss,” and Vaughn pairs with Anderson (on guitar) for “Trip Around the Sun.” Sharon Vaughn also delivers live renditions of “Y’All Come Back Saloon” and “’Til a Tear Becomes a Rose.”

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