Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum Celebrates 50th Anniversary, Rolls Back Admission Price to $1.50 on April 1, 2017

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary April 1 with a full day of festivities for museum visitors. On April 1 only, ticket prices roll back to $1.50 for all guests, the same price as a ticket on the museum’s opening day in 1967.

The museum celebrates all day, offering multiple musical performances and activities throughout the building. Guests will enjoy refreshments prepared by museum executive chef Bobby Hammock and witness the reveal of a special 50th anniversary cake created by Dulce Desserts. In addition, the first 5,000 guests through the museum doors on April 1 receive a complimentary Hatch Show Print commemorative poster.

Schedule of activities planned for Saturday, April 1, 2017:

9:30 a.m. – Opening Program

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum kick off the day with a special performance in the Mike Curb Conservatory by Dailey & Vincent, three-time International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainers of the Year and recent Grand Ole Opry inductees. This performance is followed by a brief welcome message from Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

10:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. – Rory Hoffman

North Dakota native Rory Hoffman and his talented trio perform two sets in the museum’s Curb Conservatory. Hoffman, blind since birth, plays more than a dozen instruments.

11:30 a.m. – Songwriter Session featuring Sonny Curtis

Crickets band member Sonny Curtis began his career in Texas as lead guitarist with Buddy Holly, for whom he wrote “Rock Around with Ollie Vee” in 1956. Curtis toured with the Everly Brothers and wrote the duo’s 1961 classic “Walk Right Back” (later a hit for Anne Murray). A member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Curtis also penned “I Fought the Law” (Bobby Fuller Four, the Clash, and others), “I’m No Stranger to the Rain” (Keith Whitley), “Love Is All Around” (theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show), and “Someday”(Webb Pierce). This program celebrates the 10th anniversary of the museum’s songwriter interview series Poets and Prophets, which featured Curtis in 2012. This program is included with museum admission and takes place in the Ford Theater. Seating is limited, and a program pass is required.

2 p.m. – Poets and Prophets In-the-Round: Buzz Cason, Dallas Frazier, Dickey Lee, and Dan Penn

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the museum’s songwriter series Poets and Prophets, Buzz Cason (“Everlasting Love,” “Love’s the Only House”), Dallas Frazier (“Elvira,” “There Goes My Everything”), Dickey Lee (“She Thinks I Still Care,” “Let’s Fall to Pieces Together”), and Dan Penn (“Dark End of the Street,” “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man”) appear together, taking turns performing their classic songs. The program is held in collaboration with Nashville Songwriters Association International’s Tin Pan South festival. This program is included with museum admission and takes place in the CMA Theater.

1-5 p.m. – Highlights from the First Fifty Years of the County Music Hall of Fame and Museum (1967 – 2017)

In this film loop of museum highlights, guests learn about the institution’s 50-year history. Footage includes the 2001 grand opening of the new downtown museum and the 2014 unveiling of the expansion. Vintage clips show a private party at the museum on March 31, 1967, the eve of the museum’s official opening including Eddy Arnold, Owen Bradley, Minnie Pearl, Webb Pierce, and Hank Williams Jr. Museum director and CMA leader Jo Walker-Meador tours the museum with a news camera and discusses some of the collection’s key artifacts. This film is shown in the Ford Theater and is included with museum admission. There is limited seating.

Guests are also offered guitar and songwriting workshops in the Taylor Swift Education Center.

Guests can even receive 50% off Lyft rides to and from the museum on April 1, 2017, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. by using the code CMHOF50. Learn more at www.Lyft.com/invite/CMHOF50. This day of celebration is sponsored by First Tennessee Bank.

Follow the museum on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, and join the conversation using #CMHOF50. For more information, visit www.countrymusichalloffame.org.

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum collects, preserves, and interprets country music and its history for the education and entertainment of diverse audiences. In exhibits, publications, and educational programs, the museum explores the cultural importance and enduring beauty of the art form. The 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 is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and in 2016 welcomed nearly 1.2 million patrons, placing it among the ten most-visited history museums in the U.S. The Country Music Foundation operates Historic RCA Studio B, Hatch Show Print® poster shop, CMF Records, the Frist Library and Archive, and CMF Press. Museum programs are supported by the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and the Tennessee Arts Commission.

For more information, visit www.countrymusichalloffame.org or call 615-416-2001.

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