NASHVILLE, Tenn., Tuesday, September 20, 2016–Celebrated three-time Grammy winner Brad Paisley will be the subject of a career-spanning exhibition at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. Opening November 18 and running through May 14, 2017, the exhibit will detail Paisley’s rise from a child who first performed at age 13 on the renowned WWVA’s Jamboree USA to one of America’s finest artists, songwriters and guitarists.
The former CMA Entertainer of the Year is one of the most awarded artists of his generation, with fourteen CMA awards and fourteen ACM awards. Paisley has hosted the annual CMA Awards ceremony with Carrie Underwood since 2008. He has been a proud Grand Ole Opry member for 15 years and is known for collaborating with veteran country music artists, including Country Music Hall of Fame members Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones, Buck Owens and Dolly Parton.
“There are many who pick up a guitar at a young age with the hope of turning it into a career someday. There are few who stick with it and even fewer who go on to become an award-winning artist such as Brad Paisley,” said Museum CEO Kyle Young. “We’re thrilled to tell the story of this incredibly talented musician with our latest exhibition.”
The exhibition will include musical instruments, performance clothing, manuscripts, awards, photographs, childhood mementos (including early examples of Paisley’s talent for drawings and illustrations), and other items that shed light on Paisley’s life and career. Artifacts will celebrate Paisley’s reputation as an inspired guitarist, who blends technical mastery with whimsical imagination. Artifacts in the exhibit also will illustrate his connections to many of his guitar heroes, including Chet Atkins, James Burton, John Jorgenson, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Don Rich of the Buckaroos.
Raised in Glen Dale, West Virginia, Paisley set his sights on a country music career early in life. The journey began at age eight, on Christmas Day 1980, when his maternal grandfather, Warren Jarvis, presented Paisley with a Sears Danelectro Silvertone guitar (already on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum). With help from virtuoso guitar teacher Clarence “Hank” Goddard, the young West Virginian became a popular entertainer around his home state, making regular appearances on WWVA’s Jamboree USA and on the country music festival Jamboree in the Hills. While in high school, Paisley opened shows for many country stars, including Chet Atkins, Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill, George Jones, The Judds, Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride and Ricky Skaggs.
Awarded an ASCAP scholarship to Belmont University, Paisley moved to Nashville and soon drew attention from Nashville’s music industry. He signed a music publishing deal in 1995 and a recording contract with Arista Records in 1998. His debut album, Who Needs Pictures, released in 1999, advanced two # 1 hits, “He Didn’t Have to Be” and “We Danced.” His first five albums went platinum; Mud on the Tires, from 2003, and Time Well Wasted, from 2005, are double platinum. His 2014 album, Moonshine in the Trunk, was his tenth. Paisley has written 20 of his 23 #1 hits including “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song),” “The World,” “She’s Everything,” “Ticks,” “Online,” “Letter to Me,” “I’m Still a Guy,” “Then,” “Water,” “Anything Like Me,” “Old Alabama,” and “Remind Me,” among others.
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