The surprise of the evening, though, was the overwhelming reception accorded a couple of newer acts. A sweet-sounding traditional duo from North Carolina, Heather Berry and Tony Mabe, won the crowd over with their charming rendition of Hall’s “Can You Hear Me Now.” They have also recorded the song for their new CD. And new bluegrass duo Dailey & Vincent ran through an energetic and rigorous version of the Statlers’ “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine” and drew a well-deserved audience ovation. All 100 percent genuine, effects-free musical performances, all night.

Induction into the Hall is the pinnacle of any career in country music. There are currently 105 of country music’s best inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“I’ve always been a writer. My songs are the door to every dream I’ve ever had and every success I’ve ever achieved,” says Dolly Parton of her incredible career, which has spanned nearly five decades and is showing no signs of slowing down. An internationally renowned superstar, the iconic and irrepressible Parton has contributed countless treasures to the world of music entertainment, penning classic songs such as “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” and her mega-hit “I Will Always Love You.” With 1977’s crossover hit “Here You Come Again,” she successfully erased the line between country and pop music without noticeably altering either her music or her image.

Dolly deserves to go down in history as someone who loved people and country music.

NEW YORK — Once a year, New York City hosts a grand celebration of the art of songwriting. Each time around, the Songwriters Hall of Fame — founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and currently chaired by Burt Bacharach’s famed writing partner, lyricist Hal David — leaves the flashy sets and gaudy glitz to the Grammys and honors another batch of esteemed songwriters at a classy, but cool, induction ceremony.

Thursday night (June 19), in a posh but understated banquet room at the Marriott Marquis hotel in the heart of Times Square, upwards of a thousand guests — mostly music-biz invitees — gathered to witness the honors. Those being feted came from wildly disparate ends of the musical spectrum, from Broadway to alt-rock, but the little lady who brought the house down was, in the words of Hal David, “the pride of Butcher Holler, Kentucky” — Loretta Lynn.

CMT continues:

During the course of the nearly three-hour-long festivities, a wealth of singers, songwriters and styles were represented onstage. Hit doctor Desmond Child delivered a medley of tunes he has penned for everyone from Ricky Martin to presenter Joan Jett. Paul Anka unabashedly undertook a “duet” with the recorded voice of Frank Sinatra on Anka’s “My Way” (admittedly the night’s nadir). Show tune shaman Alan Menken sat at a piano and picked out his Disney hits from the likes of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. But for all the diversity on display, it seems unlikely that anyone in attendance could have left the event holding anything closer to their heart than the memory of the irrepressible force of nature that is Loretta Lynn.

Congrats goes out to Loretta on an amazing life and career.

From Variety.com - Plans are in motion for documentarians David Leaf (The U.S. vs. John Lennon) and Morgan Neville (The Night James Brown Saved Boston) to chronicle the history of country music/ the series will be produced by Shout! Factory and Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

The individual segments will be thematically divided. On the slate are “The Roots of Country and Bluegrass,” “The Honky Tonk Tradition,” “Outlaw Country,” “The Nashville Sound,” “The Politics of Country,” “Country Songs and Songwriters,” “California Country” and “No Depression,” a look at the alternative country music movement.

Modern country stars will be participating in the films, providing their personal connections to the past.

Looks like an exciting project to check out when it comes out.

Price has been one of country’s great innovators. He changed the sound of country music from the late 1950s forward by developing a rhythmic brand of honky-tonk that has been hugely influential ever since. As steel guitarist Don Helms, a veteran of Hank Williams’s Drifting Cowboys once put it, “Ray Price created an era.”

The Hall of Fame continues:

The pivotal record of Price’s career, however, was “Crazy Arms,” recorded March 1, 1956. Introduced by Tommy Jackson’s searing fiddle (“I whistled the sound I wanted Tommy to play,” Price recalled), and driven by Buddy Killen’s 4/4 bass line, “Crazy Arms” introduced a novel, modernist intensity to what was still an essentially classic honky-tonk sound.

Price’s career continued to grow:

The record spent twenty weeks at #1 and established Price as a full-fledged star. For the next several years, he continued to tinker with his sound, most importantly emphasizing a shuffle rhythm that was barely perceptible on “Crazy Arms.” The 4/4 shuffle, which many artists soon adopted, became so closely identified with Price it was known in country circles as the “Ray Price Beat.”

During this time, Price also gave a career leg up to many young musicians and songwriters. Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, and Johnny Paycheck all passed through his band, the Cherokee Cowboys, while Nelson, Harlan Howard, and Hank Cochran wrote for the publishing company of which Price was part owner, Pamper Music. Price’s 1959 rendition of Howard’s “Heartaches by the Number” helped establish Howard in Nashville, while Price’s 1958 smash “City Lights” did the same for its writer, Bill Anderson.

Later, he moved back to Texas from Tennessee and in 1996 was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Ray Price sings “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes”

As a member of Hank Williams’ Drifting Cowboys, Don Helms achieved legendary status as one of the most important sidemen in country music. The sound of Helms’ precise yet bluesy steel guitar on “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You)” and numerous other Hank Williams hits helped usher in a honky-tonk sound that would define country music for years to come.

Using a high E6 tuning, Helms’ direct, hard-edged playing perfectly complemented Williams’ stark lyrics and simple chord changes. The licks resonated sharply from his 1949 Fender Pro amplifier creating a distinct “Helms sound” that elevated him and Williams to the status of other great instrumentalist-singer duos like Bashful Brother Oswald and Roy Acuff, and Little Roy Wiggins and Eddy Arnold.

In addition to playing on numerous Hank Williams cuts and on Ray Price’s early 1950s hits, Helms’ session credits include classic recordings such as Lefty Frizzell’s “Long Black Veil,” Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight,” and Stonewall Jackson’s “Waterloo.” Helms has also toured and recorded with country music legends including Johnny Cash, Ferlin Husky, Loretta Lynn, Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves, Ernest Tubb and the Wilburn Brothers.

For more about the life of Don Helms

No single country instrumentalist has achieved the renown and respect of Chester Burton Atkins. His immense musical influence on country, rock, and jazz musicians from Jerry Reed to George Harrison, Duane Eddy, and Earl Klugh has lasted over nearly a half-century. Many hit records he produced during his days at RCA are now classics.

We’ve provided a couple of Chet Adkins live music videos here to provide an auditory insight into this musical genius and country music legend.

Chet Adkins playing an unknown tune.

Chet Adkins playing “Yakety Axe”

Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins playing “Jerry’s Breakdown”

Chet Adkins performing the “Orange Blossom Special”

Chet Adkins and Mark O’Connor performing “Galloping Guitar”

Chet Adkins and Emmylou Harris perform “Precious Memories”

Or you can check out the great Chet Atkins on Last.FM, Mahalo, or at Mister Guitar.

Its important to live by a code. Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code of Honor is helpful for folks trying to make life’s decisions:

A cowboy never takes unfair advantage - even of an enemy.

A cowboy never betrays a trust. He never goes back on his word.

A cowboy always tells the truth.

A cowboy is kind and gentle to small children, old folks, and animals.

A cowboy is free from racial and religious intolerances.

A cowboy is always helpful when someone is in trouble.

You can read all ten of the principles of Autry’s Cowboy Code of Honor here.

(image credit: 7-by-7)

If you want to hear some fantastic Earl Scruggs country and bluegrass music, feel free to listen to one or more of the following videos.

Flatt and Scruggs playing Randy Lynn Rag

Earl Scruggs, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart and Steve Martin playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown

Earl Scruggs & The Chieftains playing Sally Goodin’

Feel free to visit Earl Scruggs online and learn more about this country music superstar.

The eighties brought a mini-folk revival to Music Row, with coffeehouse artists scoring major label deals. Of this group, only Mary Chapin Carpenter went on to mainstream country success, but one of the earliest of the wave made inroads into the Americana scene before it even had that name.

Nanci Griffith called her unique fusion of country and folk music “folkabilly.” Even when she was still teaching kindergarten in the seventies, she was playing Texas honky-tonks at night. She often quipped that controlling a group of kindergarten students and drunken hillbillies required the same skills. Pure folkie that she was, she soon signed a record deal with a local label.

You can listen to Nanci Griffith music at Last.FM

Nanci Griffith “Across the Great Divide” video

Nancy Griffith and the Chieftans covering “Red is the Rose”

Video of Nanci Griffith covering John Prine’s “Speed of the Sound of Lonliness”