Pink handcuffs, puppy chow and fake tattoos might not be what you’d expect at the office, but it was all part of the fun for CMT’s “Dog Pound” during the premiere of Dog and Beth: On the Hunt.

The Dog Pound, made up of 16 social media strategists, graphic designers, marketing  managers and IT gurus, was at work long before the show aired; their goal was to connect with fans using social media outlets including Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, and Vine.

“Our goal for the social media command center was to drive significant, real-time conversation about the series premiere of ‘Dog and Beth: On the Hunt,’” said John Monson, Manager of CMT’s Social Marketing.  “We wanted to be in the living rooms with our fans and interact with them everywhere on social media. We also wanted to provide unique experiences that built brand and show loyalty. When we establish a personal relationship with fans, they will keep coming back for more.”

Engaging with fans has become pivotal to television’s success, as the competition for viewers is growing increasingly strong with entertainment options such as DVR, Netflix, and Hulu. Social media is a pivotal vehicle to competitively set programming apart.

“Real-time marketing has proven to be very effective,” Monson said. “Many people watch TV with a second screen in their hand and don’t want to be left out of what their friends are enjoying.”

Unlike the recent premiere of A&E’s Duck Dynasty, which relied on partnerships with agencies such as Interactive Group R/GA and Horizon Media, the social-response effort was championed by CMT team members alone, who created memes, gathered photos, and prepared content.

During the show, graphic designers created personalized bounty hunter badges using fans’ Twitter avatars. These badges were an audience favorite, and generated a multitude of requests from both fans and celebrities. Watch party photos submitted were edited by designers to include images of Dog, Beth, and Leland, and then sent to the fans via social media. All hands were on deck to respond to viewers’ comments and questions, resulting in full-fledged audience interaction.

The efforts were successful, and within five minutes of the premiere’s opening, #CMTDogAndBeth was trending in the United States on Twitter. From two hours before show time until the following morning, the show was mentioned 25,000 times on Twitter, and over 10,000 tweets used #CMTDogAndBeth.

The Facebook page grew to 227,000 fans, securing the page as CMT’s fourth most popular. During the premiere, the Dog Pound was met with staggering interaction – an average of over 8,000 likes, 800 shares, and 700 comments per post. The social media team employed a new Dog Pack Facebook app for fans that had over 22,000 registered users by the morning after premiere.

Of the app’s success, Chris Nelson, Director of Social Marketing, said, “This is a phenomenal number, and blows away participation numbers from any previous Facebook apps.”

There were over 3,500 check-ins on GetGlue, and a ranking of #3 only following “Game of Thrones” and “Once Upon a Time.”

The premiere of Guntucky, which followed “Dog and Beth: On the Hunt,” received what Nelson called “a healthy volume of conversation,” with 5,500 show mentions on Twitter.

Overall, both shows were well-received and proved successful on social due to the huge team effort of the Dog Pound.

The post CMT’s Social Media Command Center ‘On the Hunt’ for Fan Engagement appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Here in Nashville this month, CMT partnered with MTV and VH1 to host local artists and introduce the recently revamped Artist Platform. The event was held to raise awareness of the platform, and to provide information to artists about becoming involved and driving traffic to their artist page. Despite the dismal weather, the event was a success with over 200 Nashville artists in attendance.

The event allowed artists to receive instruction to claim or create their page on the Artist Platform, activate their CMT – Topspin account and add content to their page. The Artist Platform is a pivotal tool for rising talent, since it allows artists to expand their fan base, provides the potential to have their music featured in Viacom programming, and establishes an outlet to generate income from their music.

The event was hosted at Ruby, with catering provided by two of Nashville’s favorite food trucks. Smoke Et. Al offered southern flavor perfect for the Nashville event, and guests enjoyed sweets served at the “Cupcake Bus” by local family-owned business The Cupcake Collection.

CMT joined the Artist Platform, which originally derived from Music Strategy initiatives by MTV and VH1, earlier this year.

The post CMT Hosts Local Nashville Musicians for Revamped Artist Platform appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Critics are calling him a national laughingstock for his supposed naiveté. All kinds of people who ordinarily pay no attention to country music are suddenly experts on the race issue — and the music. Meanwhile Paisley is taking it pretty calmly, even going on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to explain the song.

“I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but there’s some racial tension here and there,” Paisley said. “I felt like when we were writing the song, I didn’t really feel like it was up to the media or Hollywood … or sorta talk radio to deal with that. I think it’s music’s turn to have that conversation.”

In his liner notes for his new album Wheelhouse (his nickname for the recording studio), Paisley writes that the album is “a digital journal of the shattering of comfort zones and collateral magic. … We had only one rule with this record: to throw out the rules.”

The song’s title itself is awkward. “Accidental Racist” suggests some kind of innocent kid just sort of accidentally wearing his rebel flag emblazoned Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt out in public. Then he wanders into a Starbucks (product placement?) and the sight of the flag offends a black barista. And the narrator has the nerve to justify his flag by saying he just loves Skynyrd. That is begging the question. If you buy and openly wear a shirt with a Confederate flag on it, you are making a public statement, dude. Live with the consequences.

In my non-songwriter’s opinion, the song is extremely earnest and well-meaning, if clumsily written. And is matched by LL Cool J’s equally inept rap, rhyming “do rag” with “red flag” and equating gold bling necklaces with slave chains.

Paisley has flirted with social topics before. In “Welcome to the Future,” he obliquely gave a nod to Barack Obama for getting elected president.

If there is one lesson Paisley can take away from this furor, it’s that you can’t solve a hundred-plus year-old social problem with a six-minute country song. I’m glad he’s asking the question, though — a question all the dirt-road, beer-drinking, truck-driving country boys will never ask.

You can’t totally rehab a social issue with one slogan or mantra. “Give peace a chance” was a good candidate, but it still hasn’t caught on.

But just ask Natalie Maines. She should have figured out that you can’t wish away an unwanted war with a one-minute diatribe from the concert stage. Back when telegrams still existed, concert promoters said of protest singers, “If you want to send a message, call Western Union.”

Read more about the “Accidental Racist” controversy at MTV.com.

This NASHVILLE SKYLINE column first appeared on CMT.com. Chet Flippo is Editorial Director for CMT/CMT.com.

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Foshee, currently pursuing a master’s degree in sociology, shared how she was able to turn frustration into motivation. After years of feeling like she knew as much about sports as any guy, but lacking the confidence to speak up about it, she created the website womencantalksports.com.

“Women have to prove their authenticity as a fan more so than men do, but I don’t believe you have to master a sport to enjoy it,” Foshee said.

Foshee designed the website to give women the opportunity to discuss and learn about sports in a comfortable environment, leading them to feel more secure in their knowledge.

The importance of self-confidence was a common thread for the panelists. As one of very few women in her field, Cintado has to constantly be on top of her game.

“I have to be smarter and brighter and work harder than anyone else, but I don’t resent it,” Cintado said.  “People sense that confidence and respect it.”

Determination also plays a key role on the professional path. Said Butler, “[When trying to start Gigi’s Cupcakes] I went to four banks, and all of them laughed in my face. But I’m very dedicated and determined, and when I want to do something, I do it.”

White, an editor in the male-dominated alternative newspaper industry, added “You have to be unique and you have to be persistent. I constantly prove to everyone I deserve to be here.”

All of the panelists agreed that changes still need to be made in the work environment so that being a woman isn’t viewed as a disadvantage or impediment to success. As Cintado pointed out, “The reality is, there are still fewer women in management roles and in government than men, but women are loyal and committed, and we make great workers.”

Cotter envisions a more equitable future. “I would love to see a day when it’s not a conversation of if you’re a male or you’re a female in the workplace; everyone is just a worker.”

Whether it be Butler and Cotter witnessing people try their products for the first time, Foshee seeing a light bulb go off for a girlfriend while they watch a football game, White’s stories resonating with readers, or Cintado achieving balance between a demanding career and active family, all of the women on the panel agreed that personal fulfillment walks hand-in-hand with professional success.

“Raising strong women and being a good mother– that’s the most important job I have,” said Cintado. “Do the best you can every day and you’ll have no regrets.”

The post CMT’s Nashville Women ‘Stand By Their Plan’ appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

KOKE-FM was a totally free-form, anarchist country music radio station. Lots of live shows and interviews, much music from Willie, Waylon, Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard, David Allan Coe, Greezy Wheels, Michael Martin Murphy and the like.

But when I got to Manhattan, I was pleasantly surprised to find a fairly active country music community and a real audience for the music, both in Manhattan and its boroughs and also in Long Island and New Jersey. People are pretty much alike, after all, all over this country. Why wouldn’t a blue collar worker in Queens enjoy Merle Haggard just as much as one would in Houston?

And just around the corner from my apartment, I discovered a country music-friendly Irish bar named O’Lunney’s. The owner, Hugh O’Lunney, and I became friends, and I was pleased to occasionally suggest a country booking for him or even help make it happen.

I also found the wonderful Lone Star Cafe down in Greenwich Village, with Texas artist Bob Wade’s marvelous huge, 40-foot iguana sculpture on the roof and the Café’s motto, “Too much ain’t enough.” That all proved to be true. And rock clubs such as Max’s Kansas City welcomed the likes of Waylon Jennings, and the Bottom Line was a regular home for country and bluegrass artists. Country music proved to be a hardy survivor in a hard asphalt and concrete jungle.

And, in Manhattan, as a last piece of the puzzle, I found a great AM country music radio station. WHN had been around as a pioneering New York City radio home for decades and had been through many format changes over the years.

After a decision was made in 1973 to take the station country, WHN floundered a bit and went through three program directors in as many years. Finally, they turned to a 20-something PD from Pittsburgh. Ed Salamon had propelled Pittsburgh’s WEEP to the top. His secret? Listener call-out and research. The station’s listeners responded favorably, just as they were to do for WHN in New York.

Salamon has just published a memoir of his years at the station, WHN: When New York City Went Country, which is an informative, entertaining history of the station and its personalities, such as Lee Arnold and Jessie Scott.

WHN was successful but not successful enough. The problem wasn’t a lack of listeners. It was the attitude of advertising time buyers, who were lukewarm or even hostile to country music. In 1987, the station was flipped to sports talk WFAN, which became even more popular. For a time, WYNY went country and became the most listened-to country station in America until it gave up the ghost in 1996. Again, ad sales were the villain.

Then, earlier this year country returned to New York City, in the form of Nash-FM 94.7. (The official call sign is WRXP-FM.)

I recently listened to an aircheck from WHN in 1977. Artists played included Crystal Gayle, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Duncan and John Denver.

In a recent listen to Nash-FM, I heard Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Clay Walker, Band Perry, Kenny Chesney, Sara Evans, Miranda Lambert and Lee Brice.

Welcome back to New York City, country radio.

Chet Flippo is Editorial Director for CMT/CMT.com. This column, NASHVILLE SKYLINE, first appeared on CMT.com.

The post Country Music Radio Gets a Foothold in New York City appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Right now, I couldn’t tell you a single highlight from last year’s show or from the year before.

I can tell you what stood out this year, at least for me. There was the very moving and wildly rocking tribute to the late Levon Helm with Mavis Staples joining forces with Elton John, Zac Brown, T Bone Burnett and Mumford & Sons on “The Weight.” That’s one of the best-loved songs from one of the most-respected artists in the history of American music.

Two nights earlier, those same artists were joined by a host of others to pay tribute to Bruce Springsteen at the MusiCares charity show. Alabama Shakes were featured, as were Patti Smith, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Ben Harper, Natalie Maines, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young and John Legend. Springsteen followed with an impromptu concert of his own.

A huge reason why both of those tributes worked so well is simply due to the stature of those being honored. There aren’t many Springsteens and Helms anymore, and it doesn’t look like any more are coming anytime soon. So, Grammy, enjoy them while you have them. Where are the new voices of a generation? I didn’t hear them at this year’s Grammys. Poor Frank Ocean obviously isn’t one of them.

Unless the new voices might come from such talents as Mumford & Sons, who won a stunning victory for album of the year for Babel. The Mumfords have been a well-kept secret for quite some time now, so it’s good to see them get the attention they deserve.

There is another great singing voice that is going into retirement mode this year. George Jones, now 82, will hang up his touring shoes after his 2013 tour.

Finding young simpatico male singing voices with the traditional George Jones sound and sensibility in Nashville these days is not an easy thing. So for his farewell concert in Nashville this fall, he’s settled on a great choice to join him, Jamey Johnson, who is the most ideally-designated candidate to provide the classic Jones sentiment in such a song as “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes.”

Not coincidentally, there is a spectacular new reissue of wayback Jones radio singles, back when he had the buzzed-down, butch-waxed flattop hairdo. It’s the Complete United Artists Solo Singles, with 32 cuts spanning the years 1962-1966.

NASHVILLE SKYLINE is a column by CMT/CMT.com Editorial Director Chet Flippo.

The post What Was So Great About the Grammys? appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

The Nashville record-producing tradition really began with Fred Rose, the songwriter who more or less discovered Hank Williams and guided him into the superstar that he became, co-wrote with him and likely ghostwrote many of Hank’s songs. Long before there was a “producer” credit in the industry, Rose worked in that capacity with Williams in the studio.

Rose, who moved to Nashville in the early 1940s from Chicago, was followed in the production ranks by musicians such as Owen Bradley at Decca and Chet Atkins at RCA in Nashville and Ken Nelson at Capitol in Los Angeles. And they wielded supreme power. They picked the songs the artist would record, they often did the arrangements, picked the session musicians who would play on the record and then supervised the recording session.

Some things change over the years, but many don’t. The fact remains that the country music industry remains a boys’ club — as does the entire music industry in general.

I have been around country singers and writers and executives for several decades, and I can tell you that it is still very much a small fraternity. That’s a fact of life, and no amount of legislation will change it. Many of the players will frankly admit it, but they don’t want to risk losing their power or position to try to change things.

In Nashville’s history you can still count the number of full-fledged women producers on one hand. The pioneer in Nashville was Gail Davies, who produced her own solo album The Game in 1979 but said that she had to prove herself by working in Muscle Shoals, Ala., first before she could get into a Nashville studio.

Others have included Wendy Waldman, who produced John Cowan. Lari White co-produced Toby Keith’s White Trash With Money. Alison Krauss co-produced O Brother, Where Art Thou and other works, including Union Station and Nickel Creek albums. Marshall Chapman has co-produced her own work, as have a few other women artists.

Tellingly, no women have been tapped to produce contemporary artists who are competing for mainstream country radio airplay, which is the ultimate prize. Equally telling is that there are few female country artists being recorded for that same market.

The Nashville studio scene is so small and clannish and such a cottage industry that no outsider can hope to gain entrance.

One woman who has turned to producing carved her own path. Tamara Saviano has worked as music journalist and manager, among other duties, and has now produced four albums: Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster, The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson, The Bluegrass Elvises, Vol. 1: Shawn Camp & Billy Burnette (with Camp as co-producer), and This One’s for Him: a Tribute to Guy Clark. Beautiful Dreamer won a Grammy and the Guy Clark project is nominated for one this year.

“I work outside the mainstream,” says Saviano, “and have taken a path that many women might find uncomfortable. For one, I think we as women just need to do what it is we want to do and let the chips fall where they may. The records I’ve produced have been personally important to me, and I didn’t want to turn them over to someone else.”

Saviano says there is nothing mystical and difficult about producing.

“I think people think producing a record is some big mysterious, difficult job that one needs special training to excel,” she says. “I disagree. What I learned from working on the Stephen Foster album is that producing a record is not difficult. It is a creative process and can be approached any way the producer wants to approach it. As a former music journalist, I feel like I know how to tell stories, and producing a record, for me, is simply telling a story through music. One pulls together the elements in the way she wants to tell the story. I think a producer in a recording studio is much like a film director.

“It’s always my goal as a producer to get the smartest people in the room, give them the big picture and then stand back and let the artists, musicians and engineer do what they do. For the Guy Clark tribute, I had a certain sound I wanted to achieve, and I gave the artists, the musicians and the engineer those guidelines. Then during the process, my job was to make sure everyone remembered my vision for the record and stayed on track.

“In country music, it is still very much a good old boys’ network. … There are few women in powerful positions in the mainstream country music world. That is probably a stumbling block to women who want to produce country records.”

NASHVILLE SKYLINE is a column by CMT/CMT.com Editorial Director Chet Flippo.

The post Women Record Producers: Does Nashville Get It? appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Uneducated in music, unschooled in the very notion of being a musician, lacking in social skills, Duane followed his inner guide: follow the groove, hit the note and find the chicks. Or, as he said, appreciate the “peaches.” There are not many artists who were completely devoted to wine, women and song, but Duane was one of them.

Musically, Allman had much more in common with such jazz contemporaries as Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins in following the groove and improvising than he did with fellow Southern rock guitarists. He and such aerialists and high-wire walkers as Miles followed their muse wherever it took them. The Allman Brothers Band’s instrumental jams went on long, unpredictable and fascinating journeys, but they always found a pathway to a satisfying conclusion.

I thought it was interesting that when my friend and colleague Grover Lewis was following the Allmans for a story for Rolling Stone, he and Duane had a profound and bitter misunderstanding. Grover, who liked to sport black velvet blazers, pressed Levis and highly-shined black cowboy boots and quote famous writers while on assignment, pressed the wrong Duane button and experienced a blowup.

As his brother Gregg spelled out in his memoir, My Cross to Bear, Duane could be explosive. His last words with Gregg were a bitter argument over cocaine. Yet they always loved each other.

His friends said he had only two switches on his Triumph motorcycle: FAST and OFF. It was the same in his life.

His work is finally collected on the seven-CD boxed set Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective, coming March 5. Even without talking to the record label or the producers, I know why it has taken so many years to put this together. Considering the number of the artists on here, the number of record labels these cuts are pulled from, the number of songwriters and song publishers involved, the amounts of rights and clearances needed to release a work of this magnitude is nightmarish to contemplate.

The 129 songs on Skydog begin with his work in the early groups the Escorts, the Allman Joys, Hour Glass, 31st of February and the Bleus. It progresses through his extraordinary work as a session player with the likes of Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter and Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. There’s the amazing picking on the 13-minute “Loan Me a Dime” from Boz Scaggs’ debut album, not to mention the phenomenal playing with Eric Clapton on Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla” and more. Of course, there are numerous tracks from the Allman Brothers Band’s catalog.

In all of this collection’s cuts from throughout his short career, you hear the connecting thread of Duane’s fluid, kinetic lead guitar lines goosing the songs along, pushing them, bringing them to life. No two guitar lines were ever alike, and there was never any aimless guitar noodling. There was just pure melodic spark and energy.

Contemplating all of his recorded work, it is truly mind-boggling to realize that he died at age 24. Had he lived, who knows what might have flowed from his vivid imagination and boundless enthusiasm for the new.

The package ends with “Little Martha,” the song that is inscribed on Duane’s tombstone.

NASHVILLE SKYLINE is a column by CMT/CMT.com Editorial Director Chet Flippo.

The post Remembering the Great Duane Allman appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

It’s very fitting that two new solo albums are being released from the Glimmer Twins of country music. Buck Owens and Don Rich were the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of country, the original Telecaster cowboys from Bakersfield.

Nobody rocked country back then like Buck and Don.

And theirs was a great man-man friendship, back when the insipid term “bromance” didn’t exist. Like Mick and Keith and John and Paul, they finished each other’s sentences and songs and had the same sort of hotwiring on the same brain wavelength.

Just as Bill Monroe’s revolutionary bluegrass music in the late 1940s was described as “folk music in overdrive,” Buck and Don’s Bakersfield Sound could be seen as country music at warp speed.

They had little use for Nashville. Truth be told, they didn’t need Music City. They had their own country music cathedral in the TV program The Buck Owens Ranch Show, they had many clubs and casinos to play in the West and they had Capitol Records in the fabulous round building at Hollywood and Vine with the great record producer Ken Nelson ready to record them. (The Capitol building, built to resemble a giant stack of 45 RPM records, is still there.)

The new releases are Don Rich Sings George Jones and Honky Tonk Man: Buck Owens Sings Country Classics. Both are set for release Tuesday (Jan. 22).

Owens’ history and biography is well-known, but Rich, who died young (at 33) has been tragically overlooked. As a songwriter, singer, bandleader and lead guitarist, he was hugely influential.

Rich, whose last name was actually Ulrich, was born in Olympia, Wash., in 1941 and was a child prodigy on violin. As a teenager, he formed a rock ‘n’ roll band. Owens saw him play in Tacoma and hired him to play fiddle. At the time, Owens played a Fender Telecaster and worked dates with pick-up bands.

Rich learned Owens’ high-octane guitar style and shifted to lead guitar — allowing Owens to concentrate on singing. Rich first played lead guitar on “Act Naturally” in 1963. It became their first No. 1 song.

The Buckaroos became a tight unit, with the premier lineup being Owens playing acoustic guitar, Rich playing a Fender Telecaster and singing harmony. For a while, Merle Haggard was in the group in the early days. The band’s premier lineup included Rich on lead, Doyle Holly on bass, Tom Brumley on steel guitar and Willie Cantu drumming. Owens referred to the Buckaroos’ high-energy guitar-heavy sound as his “freight train” sound, but the world soon knew it as the Bakersfield Sound.

After Owens joined the TV show Hee Haw, the Buckaroos became the show’s house band, with Rich as music director.

The Buckaroos’ artistic peak was captured on their 1966 live album recorded at New York’s Carnegie Hall. It is probably the best live country recording ever. It fairly crackles with high energy.

Rich was killed in July 1974 when his motorcycle struck a center divider on Highway 1 in Morro Bay, Calif. He had just left Owens’ recording studio in Bakersfield.

After Rich was killed, the life force and spirit seemed to leave Owens.

“He was like a brother, a son and a best friend,” Owens said years later. “Something I never said before, maybe I couldn’t, but I think my music life ended when he died. Oh, yeah, I carried on and I existed, but the real joy and love, the real lightning and thunder is gone forever.”

NASHVILLE SKYLINE is a column by CMT/CMT.com Editorial Director Chet Flippo.

The post The Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of Country Music appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Also thanks to those who upbraided me for including several more recent artists, instead of just concentrating on the older stars and musical antiques. Anything that has happened in country music is now country music history. To me, it doesn’t matter if it happened three hours ago or 30 years or 70 years ago.

By the way, I hope everyone saw the latest excited article lauding Nashville as the current it city in The New York Times. How interesting it is these days to live and work in the middle of a virtual amusement park.

Here are the quiz questions and answers:

1. Who is the acknowledged Father of Country Music?

Jimmie Rodgers

2. Why is there no acknowledged Mother of Country Music?

Because the Father was out tomcattin’ around too much. Mainly because solo female artists were not encouraged by society.

3. Who is the acknowledged King of Country Music?

Roy Acuff

4.Who is the acknowledged Queen of Country Music?

Kitty Wells

5. Who is the First Family of Country Music?

The Carter Family

6. Who is the King of Bluegrass?

Jimmy Martin

7. Who is the Father of Bluegrass?

Bill Monroe

8. What are the Pistol Annies?

A trio comprised of Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angeleena Presley

9. What is Patsy Cline’s real name?

Virginia Patterson Hensley

10. In what car did Hank Williams die?

A 1953 powder blue Cadillac convertible

11. What is the “Mother Church of Country Music”?

Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium

12. What did Little Jimmie Dickens advise to do with an “old cold tater”?

“Take an old cold tater and wait.”

13. On what TV show did Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert meet?

CMT’s 100 Greatest Duets

14. What is Little Jimmie Dickens’ advice about green bananas?

“At my age, I don’t buy green bananas.”

15. What does the name “Rascal Flatts” signify?

Nothing. It was supposedly the name of an early garage band, and the three members liked the name.

16. What is Gary LeVox’s real name?

Gerald Wayne Vernon Jr.

17. Whatever happened to the Dixie Chicks?

They pretty much self-immolated after Natalie Maines’ infamous statement about George W. Bush, although they still remain a group and are playing two Canadian gigs this year.

18. What did Roger Miller say that you cannot do in a buffalo herd?

Roller skate

19. What was Faith Hill’s first hit song?

“Wild One”

20. Who was Stringbean?

David Akeman, a famously funny comedian and banjo player on the Grand Ole Opry

21. What happened to him?

He and his wife were murdered at home by robbers.

22.What country star claimed to be country “when country wasn’t cool”?

Barbara Mandrell

23. Did Johnny Cash ever serve any time in prison, apart from recording live albums in Folsom Prison and San Quentin Prison?

No. He was once jailed in El Paso, Texas, for possession of amphetamines. He was also arrested in Starkville, Miss., for trespassing and picking flowers. He was arrested or detained five other times and released.

24. In which prison was Merle Haggard an inmate when he saw Johnny Cash perform?

San Quentin

25. What was Tammy Wynette’s first occupation?

Beautician

26. What was Tammy Wynette’s real name?

Virginia Wynette Pugh

27. Why was George Jones nicknamed “No-Show Jones”?

For infamously missing so many shows

28. Who was George Jones famously married to?

Tammy Wynette

29. On what vehicle was George Jones once riding when he was pulled over by police?

A riding lawn mower

30.Complete this song title: “Stand by Your …”

Man

31. What is the story behind Dolly Parton’s song “Coat of Many Colors”?

Her mother sewed her a patchwork coat and told her the Bible story of Joseph and his coat of many colors.

32. Who is Dolly Parton married to?

Nashville businessman Carl Dean

33. What is Taylor Swift’s tie to Tim McGraw?

That was the title of her first hit single. And they both record for Big Machine Records.

34. To which institution did Taylor Swift donate $4 million?

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

35. Who is Tim McGraw married to?

Faith Hill

36. What do Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney have to do with an infamous horse theft in New York State?

Chesney rode off on the horse backstage, and McGraw scuffled with deputies who were trying to catch him.

37. What was Kenny Chesney’s first record label?

Capricorn Records

38. Why are the Ernest Tubb Record Shops named after Ernest Tubb?

He opened his first store on Nashville’s Lower Broadway in Nashville in 1947.

39. Who sang “Strawberry Wine”?

Deana Carter. Gary Harrison wrote it with Matraca Berg.

40. Why is Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium called the Ryman?

It was built by steamboat captain Thomas Ryman in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle and was the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974.

41. Why is Nashville called Nashville?

It was named for Francis Nash, a Revolutionary War hero.

42. Why should Atlanta or Chicago have been the real Nashville?

Actually, several cities were prominent early on, primarily because of their barn dances. Chicago had the National Barn Dance, Shreveport had the Louisiana Hayride and Dallas had its Big D Jamboree. Cincinnati was an early recording center, as was Atlanta. Nashville won out mainly because it became a music publishing center after Acuff-Rose Music was founded in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose.

43. Who was Fred Rose?

Hank Williams’ mentor, producer and co-writer

44. Who was Luke the Drifter?

Hank Williams alter ego for gospel songs

45. Who was Simon Crum?

Ferlin Husky’s alter ego. He also recorded under the name Terry Preston.

46. Who was Chris Gaines?

Garth Brooks’ alter ego

47. What rock ‘n’ roll pioneer was the opening act for Hank Snow?

Elvis Presley

48. Who is Connie Britton?

Star of the TV show Nashville

49. Who portrayed Loretta Lynn in the movie Coal Miner’s Daughter?

Sissy Spacek

50. True or false: Rosanne Cash and Dierks Bentley both graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

True

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