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The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum Welcomes a New Class in Style at Nashville Symphony Awards Show

by Rich and Laura Lynch

The Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum held their sixth overall induction ceremony with a ritzy and worthy awards presentation and concert held on October 22, 2019 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The night was filled with performances and speeches that reflected the importance and legacy of the organization's most diverse class yet to date.

The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum Welcomes a New Class in Style at Nashville Symphony Awards Show

A most memorable class was inducted into the MHOF in 2019.

For us, the pinnacle of the event was when legendary David Letterman band leader Paul Shaffer introduced his friend Felix Cavaliere. His spirited and psychedelic live segment that featured many of his hits from The (Young) Rascals days then proceeded to steal the whole show. Helping build to this crescendo were more stellar performances in honor of the inductees by industry icons including Garth Brooks, Zac Brown, Jason Aldean, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Brooks & Dunn, Ricky Skaggs and more.

Things got a little rascally when Felix Cavaliere took the stage.

Other notable honorees included Steve Wariner - the multi-GRAMMY Award winning Songwriter and one of the only five guitarists named by Chet Atkins to receive the CGP (certified guitar player) title. The Surfaris received the Hall's very first Fame Instrumental Song Award for their classic "Wipe Out". Don Everly was one half of The Everly Brothers - one of the most iconic vocal duos in recording history who influencing everyone from Simon & Garfunkel to The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Don's ground breaking rhythm guitar opening for "Wake Up Little Susie" was this year's winner of the Iconic Riff Award. ALABAMA are celebrating 50 years in the biz in 2019. Together they have sold more than 80 million records, charted 43 #1 singles, including 21 #1 singles in a row, and have won dozens of CMA, GRAMMY and ACM Awards. The country icons received the first ever Life Time Achievement Award from the Musicians Hall of Fame.

Paul Shaffer, Jaason Aldean, MHOF founder Joe Chambers with Garry W. Tallent and Brooks & Dunn.

The MHOF has long endeavored to pay respect to the musicians who have done the layman's work by laying down tracks for the stars of the day but they themselves were lesser known. This year's event continued that tradition with inductions for The Muscle Shoals Horn Section and The Original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section from Alabama who were responsible for producing some of the best music ever recorded. Not to be outdone the Nashville A-Team helped put the capitol of Tennessee on the map as one of the top music cities anywhere in the world. Due to the size of the collective group MHOF founder Joe Chambers was kept busy all afternoon providing the large Class of 2019 with their medals and personalized inductee jackets.

Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Garth Brooks.

The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (MHOF) in Nashville honors all musicians regardless of genre or instrument. The MHOF timeline starts with the beginning of recorded music and inductees are nominated by current members of the American Federation of Musicians and by other music industry professionals. The evening's host was the spectacularly ornate and sophisticated Schermerhorn Symphony Center located in the heart of Music City which remains one of the finest sounding venues in town. Their focus is classical music but the Nashville Symphony hosts a wide range of concerts such as the MHOF induction ceremony. Upcoming events include Foreigner, Jonny Lang and Kool & The Gang.