Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks. Photo: Chris Hollo

Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks will receive the 64th and 65th stars on Nashville’s Music City Walk of Fame on Sept. 10. The induction ceremony is free and open to the public at 2:00 p.m. in Walk of Fame Park.

“Trisha and Garth are two great artists who represent what makes Nashville special,” Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said. “They are musicians. They are entrepreneurs. And they are generous community advocates. The way they care about Nashville is as inspiring as their music. Garth stood strong with the city during the 2010 flood recovery, and we will never forget that. The city of Nashville is proud to recognize their accomplishments as individuals through inducting them into the Walk of Fame, and we are thrilled they will be our first husband-wife team to receive this honor.”

Brooks is the number one selling solo artist in US history with more than 136 million albums sold. He has been inducted into the International Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Yearwood is a platinum-selling, New York Times best-seller and Grammy and Emmy Award-winning maven. She has debuted a line of cookware, cutlery and home furnishings line. The couple married in 2005 and recently relocated back to Nashville. They are both currently performing in the three-year Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood.

“Their impact individually and collectively on Nashville’s musical heritage is immeasurable and has spanned decades,” said Ken Levitan, Yearwood’s manager and Chairman of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. (NCVC) Board of Directors. “Their worldwide success has helped shine a spotlight on Music City and been a catalyst for millions of fans to come here.”

Established in 2006, the permanent sidewalk medallions are aimed to tribute musicians from all genres who have made significant contributions to preserving the musical heritage of Nashville and have contributed to the world through song or other industry collaboration. Nominations are open to the public and are accepted in the categories of Artist, Musician, Songwriter, and Producer/Music Industry Executive. Application forms are reviewed by the Music City Walk of Fame anonymous selection committee.

The Music City Walk of Fame is an official project of Music City, the charitable foundation of NCVC and is produced with the support of founding sponsor Gibson Guitar and sponsors Durango Boot, Hard Rock Café, the City of Nashville and Metro Parks.

Hailey Whitters

Carnival Music will release Hailey Whitters‘ debut album, Black Sheep, on Oct. 2. An album release party will be held Sept. 29 at Nashville’s The Basement with her backing band of the studio musicians from the record.

This 10 song collection, produced by Derek Wells, features three solo-writes as well as co-written titles with Matraca Berg, Adam Wright and Stephanie Lambring (full list below). In March 2014, MusicRow‘s Robert K. Oermann reviewed a sample of Whitters’ material saying, “Very, very promising. Keep your ears on this newcomer…Send more.” A behind-the-scenes video of the full-length project can be seen here.

Whitters moved from Shueyville, Iowa, population just shy of 600, and signed a publishing deal with Carnival Music in 2012. Martina McBride recorded Whitters’ solo-written “Low All Afternoon,” although the track listing for McBride’s Nash Icon project is not finalized, Whitters’ version is included on her own album.

Whitters also signed with APA for booking in May 2015, opening for Randy Houser, Leon Russell, Chris Knight, and Corey Smith. She will play her home state, as well as Texas, North Carolina, and Kentucky before October when she hits Joe’s Bar in Chicago.

Album pre-orders will be available Friday, August 14. More information at haileywhitters.com.

Black Sheep Track Listing:
1. Long Come To Jesus (Hailey Whitters/Matraca Berg)
2. City Girl (Adam Wright/Shannon Wright)
3. Late Bloomer (Whitters)
4. Black Sheep (Whitters/Wright)
5. Low All Afternoon (Whitters)
6. One More Hell (Whitters)
7. Heartbreaker (Whitters/Wright)
8. People Like You (Whitters/Kelsey Anna)
9. Pocket Change (Mando Saenz/Shelly Colvin)
10. Get Around (Whitters/Stephanie Lambring)

The sparkle factor will be even higher this year during CMA Week as Off The Record, an exclusive runway show, happens Nov. 1. The elite fashion event benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank will feature models and celebrities wearing clothing from the world’s hottest designers’ 2016 spring collections from New York, Paris and Milan, along with some local designs as well.

The show will feature off-beat looks ranging from street style to stage costumes and runway-ready designs, and more than 80 styles will be modeled in the one-hour fashion extravaganza. The event will also include entertainment from very special musical guests that will be announced closer to show time.

The invitation-only catwalk event is being organized by Neste Event Marketing and celebrity stylist Christiev Alphin, and will be held at Sylvia Roberts’ home, which many may know from its appearances on the ABC-TV show Nashville. Tickets go on sale Aug. 10, and purchasers must be on the invite list and enter their first and last name and a special show code to buy tickets.

A full list of designers, models and entertainers will be announced at a later date. For more information about the special event visit www.offtherecordnashville.com.