NASHVILLE |
VINCE GILL, EMMYLOU HARRIS, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON,
LIONEL RICHIE AND TAYLOR SWIFT
WOW VIP AUDIENCE AT ALL FOR THE HALL LOS ANGELES
Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum Also Announces Plans for a Special Exhibition on California Country Music to Open in March 2012
LOS ANGELES – An all-star lineup repeatedly conveyed the power of well-written, deftly performed songs for a sold-out Club Nokia audience at the stylish All for the Hall Los Angeles fundraiser for the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum on September 23.
“I will never forget this night,” said superstar Taylor Swift before her final performance, a sentiment shared by audience members and other artists.
Swift joined Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson and special guest Lionel Richie in a concert set up as a casual “guitar pull,” a Nashville institution in which performers take turns performing songs solo while the others look on or add harmony and instrumental parts. The relaxed format allowed the stars to share personal stories and perform new tunes and favorite hits in an intimate atmosphere that deepened the connection between the performers and the audience—and between the artists themselves.
“I’m in the middle between Kris Kristofferson singing his lyrics and Vince Gill playing along on his beautiful guitar,” Harris said at one point. “It’s in stereo, and it’s fabulous.”
Kyle Young, director of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, opened the evening with a special announcement: The museum’s next feature exhibition, opening in 2012, will focus on West Coast country music. “The exhibit will draw on our massive, one-of-a-kind archives and the mountain of material we’ve collected over the years from California sources,” Young said after emphasizing the region’s significant contributions to country music. “Driven by the upcoming exhibit, we will turn our attention to greatly expanding our collection of West Coast artifacts so we can fully detail the richly layered narrative of this state’s musical past and present.”
In press reports following the event, reporters emphasized how Swift, the youngster at age 20, fared well during interplay with her elders, including 53-year-old Gill, 61-year-old Richie, 63-year-old Harris and 74-year-old Kristofferson. Accorded “an equal place” alongside the American music legends (three of whom are in the Country Music Hall of Fame), the Los Angeles Times said “the young country-pop hitmaker got a major promotion in terms of her status as a singer and songwriter.” A CNN report added, “As for Swift, she more than held her own with this bunch of veteran singer-songwriters two and three times her age.”
Swift, who drew hysterical screams from young fans in the balcony each time she played or spoke, added, “I feel blessed to be on stage with a group of people who are the best role models I could ask for.” She swayed as Richie performed his familiar hits, including “Three Times a Lady” and “Hello,” and she strummed her guitar and joined Harris in singing along with Kristofferson on his classic crossover hit, “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Throughout the evening, the crowd could see the respect the artists had for each other. Richie shook his head in amazement at Kristofferson’s lyrical genius in “Help Me Make It Through the Night;” Kristofferson smiled broadly as he recognized the youthful truths of Swift’s “Fifteen,” which she performed at the request of Gill (who joked that he was working on a song called “Fifty”); and Gill remarked on Richie’s melodic gifts as he finished “Stuck on You” on solo piano.
Unexpected connections were made, too: Richie’s performance of “Easy,” with its line “I’m easy like Sunday morning,” about a man explaining to his woman why he’s leaving, led into Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” an epic tale of loneliness and dissolution from a man who long ago left everything important behind.
Similarly, Emmylou Harris’s version of “If I Could Only Win Your Love,” about an aching desire to start a lasting relationship, led to a new Gill song, “Red Words,” about the spiritual comfort of a long-established love, which Swift followed with her current hit, “Mine,” about the transformative power of new love. “It all comes down to love, doesn’t it?” Richie said. “That’s the one thing we all write about because it’s the one thing we all want and need. Love never goes out of style.”
Gill serves as president of the Museum’s Board of Officers and Trustees and is the founder and leader of the educational institution’s All for the Hall fundraising initiative. The All for the Hall Los Angeles event was chaired by AEG Live Chairman Tim Leiweke and produced by CAA's Rod Essig, Vector Management's Ken Levitan and BMI’s Jody Williams. The event was made possible by the generosity of AEG Live and Club Nokia LA Live. Supporting sponsor for All for the Hall Los Angeles was Greenberg Traurig LLP. The 2010 host committee for All for the Hall Los Angeles included Orly Adelson (dick clark productions), Mark Bloom (UBS Financial Services), Thomas Carroll (SunTrust Bank), Essig, Jay Faires (Lionsgate), John Frankenheimer (Loeb & Loeb LLP), Gary Haber (Haber Corporation), Henry Juszkiewicz (Gibson Guitar Corporation), Levitan, Steve Moore (Country Music Association), Bob Romeo (Academy of Country Music), Cameron Strang (New West Records), Cal Turner, III (Cal IV Entertainment) and Williams.
About the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The Museum's mission is the preservation of the history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern culture. With the same educational mission, the Foundation also operates CMF Records, the Museum's Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press, Historic RCA Studio B, and Hatch Show Print®.
More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org or by calling (615) 416-2001.
For more information about All for the Hall Los Angeles, please contact:
Todd Brogdinski: toddb@msopr.com
Angela Villanueva: avillanueva@msopr.com
Mitch Schneider: mschneider@msopr.com
(818) 380-0400
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