19 October 2017

The Country Music Hall of Fame unveiled their Ray Stevens ‘Everything is Beautiful’ display on the 22nd September, and the display will be a part of their ‘Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music’ exhibition. Items from the Grammy-winning artist will be featured in a well thought out effort that is set to honour his 60-year career within the country music scene. Stevens himself is said to be both very flattered and incredibly excited that the Country Music Hall of Fame have chosen to display several items from what has proved to be an illustrious career. The display will feature numerous artefacts, such as the spinet keyboard used by Stevens in order to compose ‘Everything is Beautiful’, the two Grammy awards which Stevens won for ‘Everything is Beautiful’, Stevens’ plaque for his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Association International Hall of Fame in 1980, and a handwritten studio chart for ‘Everything is Beautiful’ with musical notation, as well as several other items of note. During Stevens’ lengthy country music career, the critically acclaimed artist has sold in the excess of 40 million albums, and still continues his daily office operations at his home base, Ray Stevens Music, which is on Nashville’s Music Row. Towards the Autumn period this year, it’s expected that Stevens will open his own entertainment venue in Nashville, which is set to be called The CabaRay Showroom.

Country music quartet Little Big Town were inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame on the 14th September 2017 at Nashville’s Walk of Fame Park, and were formally included by fellow Walk of Fame member Keith Urban. This year, the Music City Walk of Fame went out of their way to pay special tribute to the Ryman Auditorium, as they wanted to celebrate the venue’s 125th anniversary, and did so by both inducting and presenting Little Big Town, along with two familiar faces of the Ryman in years gone by. Lula C. Naff, who was previously the theatre manager at the Auditorium – a role she had for over four decades – and Tom Ryman, the riverboat captain who built the Union Gospel Tabernacle, were both also presented. The inductees picked up the 75th, 76th and 77th illustrious stars on the Music City Walk of Fame, and the requirements for those chosen relates to their significant contributions in order to preserve the musical heritage of Nashville, while also contributing to the world through either song or other industry collaboration. As well as the celebration of the Ryman’s 125th anniversary, Little Big Town will have performed a staggering 10 shows by the end of 2017 at the venue during their year-long residency. Little Big Town consist of Karen Fairchild, Philip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook and Kimberly Schlapman, and the band is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. In 2015, the band managed to have the biggest country single of the year with ‘Girl Crush’, while earlier in 2017, the band released their seventh studio album, ‘The Breaker’, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Country Charts.