The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will present two special programs next month in support of the exhibition Chet Atkins: Certified Guitar Player.
On March 3, The Life and Times of Chet Atkins by Dr. Richard Hood will be presented in the museum’s Ford Theater. Hood, an Atkins scholar and finger-style guitarist himself, will trace Atkins’ life from his rural childhood to his career as a legendary guitarist and producer. Ben Hall and Eddie Pennington, both winners of the National Thumbpicking Championship, will perform selections from the Atkins catalog. Pennington will also present a thumbpick guitar demonstration on March 4.
Then on March 17, the museum will host Chet Atkins at Studio B, a panel discussion featuring some of Atkins’ closest associates. RCA crossover artists Bobby Bare (“Detroit City”) and Jim Ed Brown (“The Three Bells”), background singer Delores Dinning Edgin, studio guitarist Ray Edenton, and hit songwriter John D. Loudermilk (“Abilene”) will share stories of their work with Atkins, providing insights into what made him one of country music’s most successful producers of all time. The program will be streamed live on the Country Music Hall of Fame’s official website.
Following the panel discussion, Hall will present The House That Chet Built: A Chet Atkins Tour of Historic RCA Studio B. This unique guided tour will show how Atkins worked in his longtime recording home, logging many hours as a musician and a producer and cutting records that helped define the classic Nashville sound.
For tickets and more information, click here.