Country Music News for the Country Music Enthusiast

THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAMEŽ AND MUSEUM'S NIGHT TRAIN TO NASHVILLE: MUSIC CITY RHYTHM & BLUES, 1945-1970 EXHIBIT ON TRACK TO OPEN IN MARCH 2004

Media-Rich Exhibit to Present Story of Nashville's R&B Heyday from Pre-World War II Roots Through Its Ongoing Connections To Country Music

NASHVILLE, Tenn., October 2, 2003 - Through a new exhibit, accompanying publications and recordings, and a schedule of live performances and other public events, the Country Music Hall of FameŽ and Museum is set to offer Nashvillians and Music City visitors a great story about an important era in music history. It all happened right here.

Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues, 1945-1970, a major exhibition focusing on an underreported era in Nashville's music history, is on target to open at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in March 2004.

An accompanying two-CD set, titled like the exhibit and scheduled for release in January 2004, will introduce music representative of the Night Train story and provide an opportunity for visitors to take the exhibit experience home. The compilation album will include more than 35 gems with connections to Nashville during the city's rhythm & blues peak years. The CD package will include extensive liner notes and historically important photos.

Designed by New York-based ESI Design in collaboration with Nashville's 1220 Exhibits and the Museum staff, the exhibit will be visually distinct from the Museum's core exhibit, Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music, and will remain open through December 2005.

A story about a musically rich but little known chapter in the evolution of Nashville as the Music City, the exhibit will examine the advent of rhythm & blues here during the first quarter-century after World War II. "Night Train will look back to the pre-war music and culture of Nashville and forward to the ongoing connections between rhythm & blues and country," Lauren Bufferd, vice president of museum services, said. "Using photographs, text narratives, artifacts, sound recordings, and vintage television clips, we have organized the story into distinct chapters devoted to the roots of Nashville rhythm & blues, the city's live music scene, the influential radio and recording industries, rhythm & blues on television, and the songwriters' and performers' strong ties to Nashville's country music community.

The media-rich exhibition will provide ample opportunity for visitors to hear the music and see clips from Night Train and The!!!!Beat, both groundbreaking television programs, with Nashville connections, that featured the era's top rhythm & blues stars and Nashville musicians.

In addition to an exhibit catalog, accompanying publications will include A Shot in the Dark: Nashville's Independent Record Labels, 1945-1955, written by Martin Hawkins and co-published with Vanderbilt University Press; and You Can Make It If You Try: The Ted Jarrett Story of R&B in Nashville, authored by Ted Jarrett with Ruth White. Publication of the catalog will coincide with the exhibit opening. Publication dates for the two remaining books will be set in coming weeks.

As with all Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibits, Night Train to Nashville will be enhanced by a full and ongoing schedule of public programs including live performances, panels, and opportunities to talk with musicians and others.

Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Country Music Hall of FameŽ 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 Foundation also operates CMF Records, the Museum's Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press, RCA's Historic Studio B, and Hatch Show Print.

The Ford Division of the Ford Motor Co. is a Founding Partner of the new $37 million Country Music Hall of FameŽ and Museum, which opened on May 17, 2001.