Drummer D.J. Fontana will be honored on Saturday, Oct. 22, as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s series, Nashville Cats: A Celebration of Music City Musicians.
Hosted by Bill Lloyd, the program will include an in-depth, one-on-one interview illustrated with vintage recordings, photos and film clips from the Museum’s Frist Library and Archive. Immediately following the program, Fontana will sign autographs in the Museum Store.
Fontana has spent more than five decades on the road and in recording studios. Though he is best known as Elvis Presley’s drummer, Fontana has played on recordings by Steve Earle, Lefty Frizzell, Chris Isaak, Waylon Jennings, Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, Carl Perkins, Charley Pride, Jim Reeves, Keith Richards, Porter Wagoner and more.
The program will be held in the Museum’s Ford Theater at 1:30 p.m. Ticket price is included with Museum admission and free to Museum members. The program will be streamed live on www.countrymusichalloffame.org.
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(L-R) Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury program host Bill Cody
Last Wednesday (9/29), the Del McCoury Band orchestrated an evening of musical tributes by bluegrass artists in celebration of Bill Monroe’s centennial.
Hosted by Bill Cody, the program mapped Monroe’s history from his birth in Rosine, KY to his work with his brother Charlie as the Monroe Brothers, his arrival at the Grand Ole Opry, the birth of bluegrass with the 1946 band, the evolution of his sound, and his final days. Guest performers included Dale Ann Bradley, Matt Combs, Mike Compton, Claire Lynch, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Peter Rowan, Ricky Skaggs and Roland White.
The concert was co-presented by Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, with additional funding provided by the Foundation for Bluegrass Music.
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The Country Music Hall of Fame celebrated the musical influence of Chet Atkins last Saturday (10/1). Guitarists Joe Robinson, who won the 2008 season of Australia’s Got Talent, and Pat Bergeson, who recorded and toured with Atkins, teamed up for the concert. The concert was offered as part of the Museum’s special exhibition Chet Atkins: Certified Guitar Player.
(L-R) Joe Robinson, Pat Bergeson, Fred Gretsch and Dinah Gretsch
