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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 21, 2018) - The Americana Music Association® and the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum will partner once again to offer one-of-a-kind programs during the 19th annual AMERICANAFEST®: The Americana Music Festival & Conference, which will take place Sept. 11-16.
“This year’s slate of AMERICANAFEST® programming at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum represents some of the best curation on the planet,” said Americana Music Association® Executive Director, Jed Hilly. “It’s a thrill to be working with Kyle Young and his team for the 12th straight year to bring incredible, educational, historical and of course, unforgettable musical experiences that you will not find elsewhere. We are honored to partner to present these wonderful programs to the community.”
“Country music and the roots-oriented sounds that are gathered under the Americana name blend to create a tasty, down-home gumbo. At the museum, we embrace such a melding of musical styles, and our participation in AMERICANAFEST® reflects that orientation,” said museum CEO Kyle Young. “It has been completely natural and right for us to partner with the Americana Music Association® for 12 consecutive years to bring educational programming to their members, who come to Nashville from all over the world.”
AMERICANAFEST® activities at the museum begin Wednesday, Sept. 12 in the Ford Theater with a special conversation between Houston outlaw Robert Earl Keen and museum Senior Director, Producer and Writer Peter Cooper, which will be followed by an intimate performance chronicling Keen’s over three-decade career in song.
On Friday, Sept. 14 in the museum’s Taylor Swift Education Center, author Bill C. Malone offers insight into his comprehensive book, Country Music, U.S.A., which traces the genre’s rich musical landscape as it evolved from its humble, rootsy beginnings to the radio-ready chart-toppers of today. Malone will be joined by Jay Orr, executive senior director for research, editorial and content at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, to discuss writing his book, the revisions it has undergone and what the future holds for both his book and the country music genre.
Asleep at the Wheel founding member Ray Benson kicks off Saturday morning with performances of his GRAMMY® award-winning songs while sharing unforgettable stories with Museum Editor Michael McCall.
On Saturday afternoon, widely acclaimed singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver comes to Music City for a cannot-miss interview and performance with film footage, vintage photos and recordings that showcase his career at the forefront of the Outlaw country music movement. The inaugural Americana Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting recipient will be joined by Senior Museum Editor Michael Gray in the Ford Theater as part of the museum’s signature interview series, Poets and Prophets.
Sunday rounds out the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s AMERICANAFEST® activities with esteemed drummer and 2018 Americana Instrumentalist of the Year nominee Jerry Pentecost in a Musician Spotlight session. Pentecost will delve into highlights of a career that has included playing in the Americana Honors & Awards house band and backing artists such as The McCrary Sisters, Lori McKenna, Van Morrison and Amanda Shires.
AMERICANAFEST® 2018 will feature more than 250 acts performing in over 50 venues across Nashville with multiple educational workshops and panels, making it Nashville’s most comprehensive music education event. Conference Registrations may be purchased here at the current standard rate of $399 ($299 for Americana Music Association® members) until Monday, September 3. Rates will increase to $499 on September 4 for walk-up admission.
Program dates, times, and additional information are included in the detailed schedule below. Several programs will be streamed live (check schedule below) at countrymusichalloffame.org, and all are presented in partnership with the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum.
Attendees must have a program pass to guarantee admission to each event. Program passes are free with museum admission or membership and to AMERICANAFEST® Conference Registrants. Museum members and AMERICANAFEST® Conference Registrants may reserve their free pass in advance here starting on Fri., Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. CDT.
Advanced reservations are limited, but additional passes will be available on the day of program. Festival Wristband holders must purchase museum admission day of to attend program, and will receive $3 off museum admission.
For more information on AMERICANAFEST® and the Americana Music Association, visit www.americanamusic.org.
Additional programming information for this slate of events can be found at www.countrymusichalloffame.org.
AMERICANAFEST® AT THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME® AND MUSEUM
Wednesday, September 12
Interview: Robert Earl Keen
10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Ford Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
Program will be streamed live at countrymusichalloffame.org/streaming
A Houston kid who followed in the Lone Star songwriting tradition of Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Nanci Griffith, and Townes Van Zandt, Robert Earl Keen is a master songsmith whose works have been recorded by artists including the Dixie Chicks, Joe Ely, the Highwaymen, Lyle Lovett, Todd Snider, George Strait, and Gillian Welch. Jeff Gage of Rolling Stone wrote of Keen, “A homespun outlaw, he carried on the renegade spirit of the seventies by sidestepping the establishment rather than defying it.” In conversation with Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum's Senior Director, Producer and Writer Peter Cooper, Keen will detail his journeys. He’ll punctuate the visit with songs from a career that spans more than three decades. This program is presented in support of the exhibit Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s.
Friday, September 14
Book Talk: Country Music U.S.A. with Bill C. Malone
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
Bill C. Malone’s complete history of country music, Country Music, U.S.A., was published 50 years ago, and the study—updated in several subsequent editions—remains a basic, detailed, and reliable catalog of the music’s movement from Southern rural folk idiom to pop culture favorite. Malone will discuss writing the book, the revisions it has undergone, and what the future holds for the book and for country music with Jay Orr, the museum’s executive senior director for research, editorial, and content.
Saturday, September 15
Songwriter Session: Ray Benson
11:30 a.m. - 12:15pm
Ford Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
Program will be streamed live at countrymusichalloffame.org/streaming
Philadelphia native Ray Benson has served as an ambassador for Western swing since forming Asleep at the Wheel in Paw Paw, West Virginia, in 1970. The band spent a couple of years in Berkeley, California, before relocating to Austin, Texas, in 1974, at the encouragement of Willie Nelson. The nine-time GRAMMY® winner’s songwriting credits include “Am I High?,” “Boogie Back to Texas,” “Bump Bounce Boogie,” “Feelin’ Haggard,” and “The Letter That Johnny Walker Read.” A forthcoming Asleep at the Wheel album, New Routes, due September 14, will include several Benson originals. Benson will perform and share stories with Museum Editor Michael McCall. This program is presented in support of the exhibit Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s.
Saturday, September 15
Poets and Prophets: Salute to Billy Joe Shaver
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Ford Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
Program will be streamed live at countrymusichalloffame.org/streaming
After growing up in hardscrabble Corsicana and Waco, Texas, aspiring singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver set out for greener pastures, hitching a ride to Nashville on the back of a cantaloupe truck. Shaver rose to prominence as a songwriter when Waylon Jennings recorded nine of his songs for “Honky Tonk Heroes,” an album released by Jennings in 1973, and a prime example of the music made in country’s Outlaw movement. Shaver’s songs also have been recorded by John Anderson (“I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal”), Bobby Bare (“Ride Me Down Easy”), Tom T. Hall (“Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me”), Kris Kristofferson (“Good Christian Soldier”), Elvis Presley (“You Asked Me To”), and Johnny Rodriguez (“I Couldn’t Be Me Without You”). Shaver’s own recordings of his songs “Black Rose,” “Live Forever,” “Georgia on a Fast Train,” and “Old Five and Dimers Like Me” are well known and highly regarded. In 2002, he received the Americana Music Association’s first Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting. He was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004. Now 79, Shaver lives in Waco and will make a special trip to Nashville for this interview and performance, hosted by Senior Museum Editor Michael Gray. This program will be illustrated with vintage photos, film footage, and recordings. After the program Shaver will sign commemorative Hatch Show Print posters. This program is presented in support of the exhibit Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s.
Sunday, September 16
Musician Spotlight: Jerry Pentecost
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Ford Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
Program will be streamed live at countrymusichalloffame.org/streaming
Nashville native Jerry Pentecost is Amanda Shires’ drummer and bandleader. He has also toured with Jonny Fritz, J.P. Harris, Caitlin Rose, and Aaron Lee Tasjan. Pentecost has been a member of the Americana Music Awards house band, backing artists such as the McCrary Sisters, Lori McKenna, and Van Morrison. Pentecost is nominated for Americana Music Association’s 2018 Instrumentalist of the Year, only the second drummer to receive that recognition. When he’s not on tour, Pentecost often performs in Nashville clubs as DJ Jerry J.
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