Connie Smith To Begin Hall of Fame Residency

Connie Smith has been named the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s 2011 Artist-in-Residence and will give special performances at 7 pm August 22, August 29 and September 12 in the Ford Theater. Smith will host the shows, which will feature her own hits as well as appearances by some of her favorite collaborators.
The Museum’s residency program annually honors a master who can be credited with contributing a large and significant body of work to American popular music. Previous honorees for the program, which started in 2003, include Cowboy Jack Clement, Earl Scruggs, Tom T. Hall, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Douglas, Vince Gill and Buddy Miller.
“Connie Smith possesses one of the most powerful and recognizable voices in country music,” says Museum Director Kyle Young. “Her body of work includes more than 50 albums, and her signature song, ‘Once a Day,’ remains one of country music’s most popular classics. When Connie sings, she takes us on an emotional journey, wringing every teardrop and ounce of feeling from her lyrics. We are thrilled that she will be bringing those talents to the Ford Theater for three one-of-a-kind shows.”
Smith’s smash No. 1 hit “Once A Day” emerged from her early partnership with Bill Anderson, and was the first debut single by a female artist to top the country charts. Other hits followed, like “Then and Only Then,” “Ain’t Had No Lovin’,” and “Cincinatti, Ohio.” She pursued a more spiritual direction through the ‘70s, and took a hiatus in the ‘80s to raise her family. In the 1990s she began working with Marty Stuart on her self-titled Warner Bros. album, and the collaboration turned into romance, followed by marriage. Smith’s new album Long Line of Heartaches (Sugar Hill) is due out August 23 and features songs she penned with Stuart as well as compositions by Dallas Frazier, Harlan Howard, Kostas and more.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame shows are $35 for museum members and $45 for the general public. Members will have the opportunity to purchase starting Tuesday, August 2, with the general public tickets available Friday, August 5. All tickets are available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org.