News & Publications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mar. 10, 2010
WASHINGTON DIGNITARIES ATTEND COUNTRY MUSIC CELEBRATION AT LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Story Tellers and Story Keepers Hosted by Librarian of Congress Dr. James H. Billington and the Country Music Association Board of Directors
WASHINGTON D.C. – The Library of Congress and the Country Music Association hosted a day-long program for the CMA Board of Directors at the nation’s library, including a comprehensive tour of the historic Jefferson Building; an extensive orientation to the Library’s music, sound recording, and folk collections; a reception with members of the House of Representatives, Senate, and invited dignitaries; followed by a concert in the Coolidge Auditorium featuring some of Country Music’s finest hitmakers.
“The purpose of our events here at the Library of Congress are meant to bring attention to these fine collections and help this incredible institution build on the Library’s already unparallelled archive of sound recordings,” said Steve Moore, Chairman of the CMA Board of Directors. “The foundation has been laid for future programs and educational opportunies for Country Music lovers around the world”
Attending the reception in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress were nearly 400 Washington luminaries including U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer; members of the Tennessee delegation including U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Steve Cohen, Jim Cooper and Bart Gordon; and the Ambassador of New Zealand, Roy Ferguson, to name a few.
Following the reception, the invited guests attended an intimate evening of acoustic music in the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library’s Jefferson Building performed by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, Lorrie Morgan, John Rich, of Big & Rich, and three time CMA Musician of the year Randy Scruggs with noted songwriters Victoria Shaw and the host for the evening Bob DiPiero.
Performances included the hits that made them format favorites, with a couple of surprises including a performance from Rich of the Webb Pierce classic “There Stands the Glass,” a personal favorite of Librarian of Congress Dr. James H. Billington’s from his days in the U.S. Army in Fort Knox, Kentucky, and a moving rendition of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” by the full cast and audience.
“Country Music is a record of American history and America’s stories and we had some of our best storytellers here for this event,” Moore said.
To commemorate the events, CMA donated a leather-bound DVD collection of four decades of CMA Awards broadcasts, anniversary specials, and the CMA Music Festival television specials to the Library’s archive. In addition, Steve Buchanan, President of the CMA Board of Directors, presented Dr. Billington with an autographed first printing of Marty Stuart’s photo journal “Country Music: The Masters.”
“These donations are a complete musical journal of the Country Music format: the music, the stars, the themes that have defined the genre for 40 plus years,” said Moore.
Story Tellers and Story Keepers: Creating and Preserving Country Music
The Library of Congress and the Country Music Association (CMA) are working to celebrate, preserve, and share the singular role of Country Music in American culture with a global audience. Country Music is a true storyteller’s genre, chronicling American cultural, economic, and social ups and downs for nearly a century. Building on the historic support of Country Music by both institutions and the Library’s vision of global access to its unparalleled collections, the Library and the CMA seek to ensure that the milestones and contributions of this uniquely American art form are preserved and recorded for future generations both in America and around the world to study, understand and enjoy.
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