Happy Birthday to today’s country music birthdays!

• Jack Clement (d)
• Mike Eli (Eli Young Band)
• Pat Green
• Tommy Cash
• Troy Gentry (d)

After the interview, I went upstairs to Fan Fair X and wandered around again.  This time, I was able to meet Steve Wariner, Tommy Cash (Johnny’s brother), and more.

photo by Mike Carroll

I then made my way over to the CMA Close Up Stage where there was a panel discussion about the life of George Jones featuring Nancy Jones, John Rich, Randy Travis, Jamey Johnson, and Bobby Birkhead!  They talked about many things, here are some of the highlights:

• George Jones was famous for giving folks nicknames.  He gave Vince Gill the nickname of Sweet Pea, his publicist Kirt Webster the nickname of Big Daddy, and his drummer/tour manager Bobby Birkhead the name of Columbo to name a few.  Nancy Jones chimed in that, “He had a few names for me, but it sure wasn’t nicknames!”
• Nancy told a story about when George Jones was in the car honking the horn while she was still trying to get ready.  This happened often, so she decided to teach him a lesson by jumping in the car wearing just her bra and panties and only part of her makeup done.  Her plan almost backfired when he started to back out without looking at her.  He finally realized what she had done, and told her, “Well I’ll be damned!  Get in there and put your clothes on!”
• John Rich talked about when you walk into his house, the first thing you see on the wall is Bobby Braddock’s handwritten lyrics to “He Stopped Lovin’ Her Today” signed by George Jones.
• The panel all took turns discussing their favorite George Jones songs.
• Nancy talked about how her and George would stay up late and watch Matlock every night from 10pm – 2 or 3am.  It was his favorite show.  She doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to watch it again.
• Bobby Birkhead told a humorous story about how one night while staying upstairs at Jones’ house, he heard gunshots.  He thought for sure that George and Nancy had gotten into a fight and that George had finally gone and shot her.  After the shots were fired, there was dead silence.  Bobby laid in bed waiting for hours, thinking George would realize there was a witness upstairs and come for him.  He finally fell asleep, and the next morning woke up to the sound of voices downstairs.  Turns out that it was Nancy who was firing the shots, as she was chasing a coyote off that was lurking around her pet deer.  George was passed out in his chair when it happened!
• The panel then took a break to debut a new song by Randy Travis and Joe Nichols titled “Tonight I’m Playin’ Possum.”
• Randy Travis talked about how he was the one to induct George Jones into the Country Music Hall of Fame and how he’s learned more about singing from George Jones than from anyone else.
• Jamey Johnson talked about a song George was working on titled, “Tired of Draggin’ This Old Draggin’ Ass Around” and surmised the video would include a dragon and a mule.
• John Rich talked about how George’s last video appearance was in a song Rich did called, “Country Done Come to Town.”  Rich asked Jones to bring his riding mower over to mow the grass on his roof.  Jones drove the mower right into the house to the elevator that goes to the roof.  Rich and Nancy Jones joked that it was easy to get him to do it ’cause of all the hot women that were there and that ended up all over George.  See below for the music video!
• Nancy talked about how George was always nervous at the start of his shows, it always took 2-3 songs for him to warm up.
• Nancy told a story about when George went to her granddaughter’s school to give a speech ones.  He emphasized many times that the students should not EVER smoke, but then said, “Now, if you have one little drink it won’t hurt ya!”  George had aspirations of visiting schools and giving speeches to kids once he retired from the road.
• Bobby Birkhead told a story about how he had gotten into a fight with his wife and hit the road to clear his head.  He somehow ended up in South Florida.  Nancy called him after hearing about the fight, trying to talk him into coming home.  George got on the phone, and told him, “I’ve been there…next time, get out there on the bypass and just drive around and around as long as you want so that when you finally decide to go home, you won’t have far to go!”
• John Rich made it a point to tell the crowd that Nancy Jones was to George Jones what June Carter Cash was to Johnny Cash.  If it weren’t for Nancy saving George, folks like himself and Jamey Johnson would never have had the chance to get to know and work with George.
• George and Nancy had a beauty shop in their house, and George’s barber would drive up from Alabama twice a week to do his hair, as well as travel on the road with him.  He had to maintain “The Wedge” as he called it.
• The panel wrapped up with Nancy reminiscing about George’s final words as he passed away.  “Hi!  I been lookin’ for you.  I’m George Jones!”  Nancy is convinced that George was being let into heaven at that moment.

You can watch video of the panel discussion by clicking here.

Below is the John Rich music video for “Country Done Come To Town.”

After the panel ended, I made my way down to the Hard Rock Cafe to meet up with up-and-coming artist Hannah Bethel.  Check out my interview with her here.

photo by Mike Carroll

I then made my way back to the Music City Center where I got to see one of my favorites, Wade Hayes, perform on the Durango Stage.  I then got to meet him afterwards, which was an honor considering he just survived Stage 4 colon cancer!  While waiting to meet Hayes, I also got to see Marty Raybon (lead singer of Shenandoah) perform!

photo by Mike Carroll

Next up was another discussion panel…this time it was the ’80’s Panel featuring Larry Gatlin, Lee Greenwood, Ricky Skaggs, and The Oak Ridge Boys.  Some highlights included:

• They talked about the introduction of the music video into the music world.  Lee Greenwood talked about about how he wrote a song called, “Home to Alaska” for the Alaska National Guard and how it became his first music video.  He was hesitant to do videos at first because he was worried the video would overtake the audio.  He then joked that at first it was easy to get a video on CMT because they were clamoring for material.  Three to four years later, they were flooded with them and it wasn’t so easy anymore.
• The Oak Ridge boys told a story about a song that nobody wanted to record because of the title of the song.  They decided to cut the song, but made and released the video first to help steer the imagery of the song.  It was titled, “No Matter How High,” and it became a Mother’s Day hit that year.
• They talked about how Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton started arena touring, and also credited Johnny Cash for making country popular.  Larry Gatlin declared that Johnny Cash, during his peak in the ’70’s, was the 4th most recognizable person on the planet.
• Lee Greenwood talked about how he had opened for The Oak Ridge Boys in the early days and told how one day he jumped on stage during their performance of “Bobby Sue” to play saxophone because the regular sax player was sick.  The Oak Ridge Boys had no idea until after the show that Greenwood did that.  The next day, The Oak Ridge Boys presented him with a $3,500 saxophone thanking him.
• Ricky Skaggs talked about his transition from playing Bluegrass festivals to arenas.  He opened some shows for Barbara Mandrell and The Oak Ridge Boys.  He went on to win Entertainer of the Year in 1985 thanks to his hit, “Country Boy.”
• Larry Gatlin gave a nice little speech about the state of country music:  “I LOVE traditional country music.  I went to a Taylor Swift concert two weeks ago with my two little granddaughters.  It was one of the most fabulous shows I have seen in my entire life.  That young lady went out there and did what you’re supposed to do.  She entertained 20,000 people, and gave her heart and laid it out there.  I just have this to say about our business.  If you take Jimmie Rodgers or the Carter Family as the start of what became country…Mr. Acuff was different than Jimmie Rodgers.  Ernest Tubb was different than Mr. Acuff.  Marty Robins was different than Ernest Tubb.  Ronnie Milsap was different than Marty Robbins.   I know when the brothers and I came into town, we didn’t do it exactly the way The Oak Ridge Boys did it.  We didn’t do it how the Statler Brothers did it.  Instead of sitting back like, “well they don’t do it like we do it…”  Well guess what, today’s Green Bay Packers would beat the old Green Bay Packers 100-0!  They are bigger and faster!  Let’s root for all those kids, their dreams can come true, and they may not do it exactly like we did…but we’re country music too.  I love them and that’s just the way I feel.  I still wish they’d ask the Gatlin Brothers to open a show for ’em!”
• As the panel wrapped up, Joe Bonsall talked up Ricky Skaggs and Bluegrass Music and joked that The Oak Ridge Boys were both the original Boy Band AND Big Hair Band!

photo by Mike Carroll

That evening, I visited the Wildhorse Saloon where Lizzie Sider, a featured artist on our SFCM site, performed a set so great that Country Weekly did a feature on her!