The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum will feature multi-instrumentalist Dan Dugmore and California-based singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon in two upcoming programs for its in-depth interview series, Nashville Cats and Poets and Prophets. Nashville Cats showcases musicians and session singers who have played important roles in support of artists in either the recording studio or on concert tours. Poets and Prophets features songwriters who have made significant contributions to country music.
Nashville Cats: Dan Dugmore – Saturday, March 9, at 2:30 p.m. in the museum’s Ford Theater
Multi-instrumentalist Dan Dugmore is one of the world’s premier pedal steel guitarists. After hearing Rusty Young play pedal steel on a Buffalo Springfield song and buying his first steel guitar from Sneaky Pete Kleinow of the Flying Burrito Brothers, Dugmore became the go-to pedal steel player for Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and many other Los Angeles country-rock stars. After relocating to Nashville in 1990, he brought his distinctive sound to hit recordings by Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood and Country Music Hall of Fame members Brooks & Dunn, Patty Loveless and Randy Travis. This interview will be moderated by the museum’s Senior Writer-Editor Michael McCall and will be illustrated with vintage photos, film clips and recordings. Following the program, Dugmore will sign commemorative Hatch Show Print posters. The program is offered in support of the museum’s exhibition Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank. The program is made possible in part by the Academy of Country Music.
Poets and Prophets: Salute to Songwriter Jackie DeShannon – Saturday, April 6, at 2:30 p.m. in the museum’s CMA Theater
California-based singer-songwriter and Songwriters Hall of Fame member Jackie DeShannon will make a rare Nashville appearance to discuss her pioneering songwriting career and her country music roots. As a child and teen, DeShannon was a country radio performer in Kentucky and Illinois. Last fall, the Sundazed label released Jackie DeShannon – The Sherry Lee Show, a two-album set of recordings taken from these 1950s radio broadcasts. DeShannon moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and scored her first major pop hit with Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” DeShannon’s song “When You Walk in the Room” was a huge success for the Searchers during the 1960s, and later Pam Tillis’s version reached the Top Five of the country charts. In 1969, DeShannon wrote and recorded the anthem “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.” “Bette Davis Eyes,” a hit for Kim Carnes, won DeShannon the 1982 Grammy for Song of the Year. The program will be moderated by Vice President of Museum Services Michael Gray and will include video clips of DeShannon performing with Country Music Hall of Fame members Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, the Everly Brothers and Willie Nelson. DeShannon will sign commemorative Hatch Show Print posters and copies of her new album following the program.
Both programs are included with museum admission and free to museum members. Seating is limited, and a program ticket is required for admittance.
