Emmylou Harris Again Teams with Vince Gill to Raise Funds for Country Music All for the Hall at Club Nokia

Back in September 2011, I wrote about how AEG LIVE  in partnership with Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame, and under the leadership of Vince Gill, organized a fundraiser at Club Nokia, as a "guitar pull' branded as All for the Hall.  It returned to LA Live on March 4, 2014, again with Vince Gill bringing long-time friend Emmylou Harris, and this time inviting Ann and Nancy Wilson (the sisters of Heart) and Jason Mraz, along with a surprise performance by Holly Williams, while also introducing rising Country star Camaron "Cam" Ochs.  Prior to the fundraising concert were dinner and cocktails for those buying tables for either $10,000 or $25,000 on the Club Nokia floor, and also individual floor tickets for $1,000.  In addition, two floors of upstairs reserved seating were available with tickets ranging from $50 to $125 that were filled to capacity., I had the chance to again interview Vince Gill and Emmy Lou Harris, and to also interview for the first time fundraising host Rita Wilson and guest artist Holly Williams (singing in the next picture).  Each of the artists contributed their time in this seventh version of the All for the Hall fundraiser that has an objective now of raising operating reserve funds for a greatly expanded Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, and contributions are always appreciated..

New Orleans Based The Revivalists at Club Nokia Tonight

Tonight at L.A. Live's Club Nokia at 7 pm  are The Revivalists, a New Orleans based band, that is on a national tour, opening for Gov't Mule (who are doing two sets at 8:30 pm and 10:00 pm). I happened to catch a performance of The Revivalists at a recent New Orleans music and food festival - Slobsterfest.  Originally I was not planning on staying for the Saturday night closing act, but in talking to the fans of The Revivalists, I was intrigued.  Many of them were seeing David Shaw and his band for the tenth time, several having even traveled to Florida to see them again.  The band has been around for five years.

One Hundred Years: GRAMMY Museum oversees Woody Guthrie Centennial

Photo and logo courtesy of the Woody Guthrie Archives
Photo credit: Robin Carson, circa 1942

Last week, one of the country's biggest music and multi-media festivals went down in Austin, TX. This year's SXSW paid tribute to one of America's icons, Woody Guthrie. Bruce Springsteen delivered the keynote speech in which he discussed Guthrie's influence on his own work and career. The festival schedule included special performances of Guthrie's songs by folk singers Jimmy LaFave and  Eliza Gilkyson and Colombian rock sensation Juanes, who sang live in English for the first time. Also part of the schedule of events was a panel presentation moderated by Bob Santelli, Executive Director of the GRAMMY Museum and a leading Woody Guthrie historian, with participating members (including Nora and Arlo Guthrie) sharing personal stories and historical perspectives as part of the conversation. And Tom Morello, who had a showcase on Friday night, led a group of Occupy Austin demonstrators in a sing-along of "This Land Is Your Land," a song considered by some as America's alternative national anthem.

Vince Gill's All for the Hall Fundraising Efforts in LA for Nashville Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Country music star Vince Gill who was recently re- elected President of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville for the 10th consecutive year and brought his All for the Hall guitar pull fundraiser on September 13, 2011 to Club Nokia for the second year in a row. The purpose of this fundraising effort is to support ongoing programming at the Nashville cultural facility to help preserve the legacy of this vital form of American music so that future shows such as the Bakersfield Sound opening in March 2012 (narrated by Dwight Yoakim) are possible. For now enjoy  my Dwight Yoakim Grammy Museum picture set and I also saw Dwight in a dynamite performance at Stagecoach 2008; so seeing this exhibit will be reason enough to visit Nashville again. In addition, executives from the Country Music Hall of Fame had a chance to tell the audience of their $75 million capital campaign to significantly enlarge the museum and to add major performance space. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville is already reason enough for a visit; but this expansion of the museum and addition of a music venue will make it the premiere music museum in the USA if not the world.