CMA Board Brings Country Music History to Washington

The Library of Congress and the Country Music Association (CMA) today announced Story Tellers and Story Keepers: Creating and Preserving Country Music, a day-long program for the CMA Board of Directors at the nation’s library, including a comprehensive tour of the historic Jefferson Building, an extensive orientation to the Library’s music, sound recording, and folk collections focusing on country music, and a concert in the Coolidge Auditorium.

The purpose is both to build on the Library’s already unparalleled collections of sound recordings, moving image, and printed music collections with a more robust presence of the country music genre, and to further the Library’s goal of maximizing access and awareness of its collections to music scholars and music lovers around the world. The day’s activities are designed to lay the groundwork for future joint efforts that may include the acquisition and preservation of country music collections, online presentations, and educational outreach.

“The genre of country music could not be better suited to the Library’s mission of acquiring, preserving, and providing access to America’s culture and stories,” says Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.

“Country music is a record of American history and America’s stories. I cannot think of a more appropriate collaboration than to expand the presence of country music and its reflection of the American experience to the global users of this historic and unrivaled collection,” says Steve Moore, Chairman of the CMA Board of Directors.

To demonstrate the reach and impact of the genre, the CMA Board of Directors is bringing a line-up of country stars to the Coolidge Auditorium for a special invitation-only performance on the evening of March 9. Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, Lorrie Morgan, and John Rich of Big & Rich will take the stage along with songwriters Victoria Shaw and Bob DiPiero.
 
CMA will commemorate the event by donating a leather-bound DVD collection of four decades of CMA Awards broadcasts, anniversary television specials, and the most recent jewel in CMA’s TV coffers, the annual CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock, to the Library’s collection.