COUNTRY MUSIC’S NEW HOME
Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and Brenda Lee… they are just a few of the big name country entertainers whose work has a new home today.
A two-story brick structure rich in history is now the home of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The new Hall of Fame shares space with students enrolled in a songwriting major at Belmont University. Which is just fine by Parton.
“It’s nice to know now we have a home… it was a long time coming,” the legendary singer/songwriter told reporters at an event promoting the new Hall of Fame.
The building, located on Nashville’s Music Square East, is the same structure where Cline, Lee, Marty Robbins and Sonny James recorded some of their early hits. It’s also the same site where Columbia Studio made a name for itself after Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings and Parton recorded there.
If you plan to take a tour of the new facility (it is open to the public), organizers say you will find a place of reverence that honors past songwriters while encouraging and assisting a new generation of potential country music stars. The Hall of Fame also includes resources so visitors can learn more about the individual songwriters featured at the venue and the craft of songwriting.
BRUCE’S BIG GIG
If you prefer rock and roll to country music, I have great news for you: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be giving fans a sneak preview of their upcoming tour.
The singer announced that he is giving loyal fans a chance to jam with him and his band at two benefit rehearsal concerts in Asbury Park next week. The shows are scheduled to be held Monday and Tuesday nights at the Convention Hall. Tickets are $100. The proceeds from the concert with go to various charities.
For those of you who don’t get the chance to see the 57-rocker perform next week, you can pick up his new album, “Magic,” beginning October 2nd, the same night his tour opens with a show in Hartford, Connecticut.