The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will put to use some of the most iconic instruments in the genre’s history for its upcoming “Big Night” fundraiser, set for Wednesday, October 28th. Included among the newly announced instrument and artist pairings are guitars once owned by Johnny Cash, Mother Maybelle Carter, and Jimmie Rodgers.
The artist lineup for the event, which will be hosted by Marty Stuart, runs the gamut from contemporary stars like Miranda Lambert and Kane Brown to Americana favorites like Keb’ Mo’ and Lucinda Williams, along with Hall of Fame members Reba McEntire and Ricky Skaggs. Among the inspired pairings are Williams playing Johnny Cash’s custom Martin D-35S, Keb’ Mo’ trying out Rodgers’ 1928 Weymann guitar, and Carlene Carter playing her grandmother’s 1928 Gibson L-5.
“Big Night (At the Museum)” will air October 28th at 9 p.m. ET on the Hall of Fame’s YouTube channel. In addition to showcasing some of the treasures on display in the building, the event will help raise funds to help recover six months of lost revenue because of the pandemic. Viewers will be encouraged to donate to the museum through YouTube Giving.
The museum was closed to the public from mid-March through mid-September, and is now allowing guests in a limited capacity under Nashville’s Covid-19 safety protocols.
“Big Night (At the Museum)” performers and instruments:
- Alison Brown plays Earl Scruggs’s 1930 Gibson RB Granada banjo
- Kane Brown sings a Randy Travis hit with accompaniment on Travis’s Gibson J-185KOA guitar
- Carlene Carter plays the 1928 Gibson L-5 guitar that belonged to her grandmother Maybelle Carter
- Rodney Crowell pays tribute to songwriters Guy Clark and Boudleaux and Felice Bryant
- Emmylou Harris uses Boudleaux Bryant’s 1961 Martin guitar to partner with Crowell on a Bryant classic
- Miranda Lambert plays John Prine’s David Russell Young custom-made guitar
- Ashley McBryde plays Loretta Lynn’s 1956 Gibson J-50 guitar
- Reba McEntire pays homage to Patsy Cline
- Tim McGraw plays Keith Whitley’s C.W. Parsons acoustic guitar
- Keb’ Mo’ plays the 1928 custom Weymann guitar that belonged to Jimmie Rodgers
- Brad Paisley plays Don Rich’s 1964 Fender Telecaster
- Ricky Skaggs plays Bill Monroe’s 1923 Gibson F-5 mandolin
- Marty Stuart plays Lester Flatt’s 1950 Martin D-28 guitar
- The War and Treaty pay tribute to Ray Charles
- Tyminski joins Paisley in performance, using Buck Owens’s red, white and blue American acoustic guitar
- Lucinda Williams plays Johnny Cash’s customized Martin D-35S guitar