CMHOFM Unveils 2026 Interview Series Schedule

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The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has revealed its 2026 schedule for its Poets and Prophets and Nashville Cats programs. Information about ticketing and on-sale dates can be found here.

Poets and Prophets features songwriters who have made significant contributions to country music and Nashville Cats showcases musicians and session singers who have played important roles in support of artists in either the recording studio or on concert tour. Museum writer-editor Allison Moorer will host the Poets and Prophets programs, and museum writer-editor Jon Freeman will host the Nashville Cats programs.

Josh Osborne will kick off Poets and Prophets on Feb. 21. Osborne has earned over 30 No. 1 singles, including “Leave the Night On” (Sam Hunt), “One Man Band” (Old Dominion), “Sangria” (Blake Shelton) and “Sand in My Boots” (Morgan Wallen), among others. He is a Grammy, ASCAP and NSAI award winner.

Ashley Gorley will take the Poets and Prophets stage on May 30. With over 80 No. 1 songs, Gorley received the NSAI Songwriter of the Decade award for 2010–2019 in 2022 and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2025.

Pat McLaughlin will wrap up Poets and Prophets on Oct. 3. McLaughlin’s songs have been recorded by artists including Gary Allan, Dan Auerbach, Phoebe Bridgers, Marcus King, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Josh Turner and Lee Ann Womack. A regular collaborator of the late John Prine, McLaughlin won a Grammy for Best American Roots Song and the Americana Music Association’s Song of the Year award for Prine’s “I Remember Everything” in 2021.

Jerry Douglas will be the first guest of the year for the Nashville Cats program, kicking it off on March 7. The Ohio native began his career with the Country Gentlemen and played with the Whites before focusing on session work. His playing can be heard on albums by Elvis Costello, Sierra Ferrell, Country Music Hall of Fame members Marty Stuart and Randy Travis and many others. Douglas is also a longtime member of Alison Krauss & Union Station and his own group, the Earls of Leicester. He has won 16 Grammys, three Country Music Association Musician of the Year honors, 10 International Bluegrass Music Association Dobro Player of the Year awards and a National Heritage Fellowship. The Americana Music Association presented him with a lifetime achievement award in 2015, and he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2024.

Wendy Moten will join Nashville Cats on May 16. She has worked as a backing vocalist, touring with Julio Iglesias for 15 years and then with country artists Faith Hill, Martina McBride and Tim McGraw. In recent years, she has appeared as a featured vocalist on Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill’s tours. Moten has also sung on recordings by Buddy Guy, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood, among others. In 2021, she appeared on NBC’s The Voice and finished the season as the runner-up.

Rounding out the Nashville Cats lineup, John Jorgenson will take the stage on Aug. 15. As a session musician, he has played guitar on albums by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Carlene Carter, Kenny Chesney, John Prine, Bonnie Raitt and many others. Jorgenson won the Academy of Country Music’s Guitarist of the Year award in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Lauryn Sink
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