Garth Brooks inducts Carrie Underwood into the Grand Ole Opry on May 10, 2008. Photo by Chris Hollo, courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry.
May 15, 2008 — With 30,000 or more country music fans expected to descend on Nashville for the CMA Music Festival next month, two of the genre’s biggest institutions — the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame — plan special events to increase attendance. Carrie Underwood, Montgomery Gentry and Trace Adkins are among the attractions who’ll be appearing at those institutions.
Carrie and Montgomery Gentry are slated for a Tuesday night edition of the Grand Ole Opry on June 3, which will also feature the Oak Ridge Boys and Luke Bryan. Luke will actually help kick off the evening with a free performance on the Opry Plaza Party stage in front of the Opry House before the show begins. GAC will air a one-hour edition of Opry Live that same evening for fans who couldn’t make it to Nashville.
Trace is one of several artists who’ll take part in fan events at the Hall of Fame. Trisha Yearwood — who used to work at the Hall of Fame in its original location — will sign copies of her CD Heaven, Heartache & The Power Of Love and her book Georgia Cooking In An Oklahoma Kitchen on June 5. The same day, another former Hall of Fame employee, Kathy Mattea, will perform and have a brief discussion about her new album, Coal. Trace drops by the Hall at 5 p.m. that day to sign both his book A Personal Stand: Observations And Opinions From A Freethinking Roughneck and his CD American Man: Greatest Hits Vol. II.
Jeffrey Buckner Ford holds an interview June 6 to discuss his father, late Hall of Famer Tennessee Ernie Ford. Jeffrey has written a book about his parents, River Of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford And The Woman He Loved, which was released by Cumberland House two weeks ago.
Phil Vassar, who’s GAC’s Artist of the Month, also appears June 7 at the Hall of Fame for a songwriter session. He’s written most of his own hits, plus Tim McGraw’s "My Next Thirty Years," Alan Jackson’s "Right On The Money" and Jo Dee Messina’s "Bye Bye" and "I’m Alright," so he knows a little about the subject. In addition to performing, he’ll also sign autographs in the afternoon.
The CMA Music Festival runs June 5-8.