Nashville Portraits: Photographs by Jim McGuire

Nashville Portraits: Photographs by Jim McGuire

March 6 - April 26, 2009

Exhibition Checklist

1. Béla Fleck(b. 1958)

1999

Studio portrait/Nashville

Polaroid transfer print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Born in New York City, but a resident of Nashville, for more than twenty years, he is an acclaimed instrumentalist who has revolutionized the banjo, taking it from traditional bluegrass to jazz and beyond. The founder of the Flecktones, Fleck is the only musician to be nominated for Grammy Awards in jazz, bluegrass, pop, country, spoken word, Christian, composition, and world music categories.

2. Benny Martin(1928-2001)

1976

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

He hitch-hiked to Nashville, clutching his fiddle, at the age of 13 and went on to a long career as a sideman in bands fronted by Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Flatt and Scruggs, Roy Acuff and John Hartford.

3. Bill Monroe(1911-1996)

1989

Studio portrait/Nashville

Digital print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Monroe, considered by all to be the father of Bluegrass music, toured with his band, The Bluegrass Boys, for more than fifty years before his death in 1996. During his lifetime, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-the only artist so honored.

4. Brother Oswald(1911-2002)

1975

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Born Pete Kirby in East Tennessee, he played dobro and served as comic relief with the great Roy Acuff and his bands for more than fifty years.

5. Carole King(b. 1942)

1978

Studio portrait/Austin

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Active as a singer, songwriter, and pianist since the 1960s, she has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. McGuire photographed her during a recording session in Austin, Texas.

6. Chet Atkins(1924-2001)

1976

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Known as "Mister Guitar," Atkins was a trailblazer who is widely credited for the creation of the so-called "Nashville Sound." One of the most influential and best-loved guitarists in the history of the instrument, he became the president of RCA Records and produced many classic country albums.

7. Country Gentlemen

1971

Studio portrait/New York

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

This photograph portrays a very early configuration of one of the smoothest bluegrass bands that ever toured. Originating in the Washington, D. C. area, the Country Gentlemen started, auspiciously, on July 4, 1957, as a last minute replacement for Buzz Busby's Bayou Boys when several members of that band were injured in a car accident. After some early changes in the makeup of the group, they continued to perform together for more than forty-five years, the permanent lineup of the band having become known as the "classic" Country Gentlemen.

8. Dale Watson(b. 1963)

2001

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

A Texas honky tonk fixture who has been playing the bars and working on the road for more than 25 years, Austin-based Watson has recorded hundreds of original, hard-core country songs that have also been recorded by other artists. Hank Williams III has dubbed him "the savior of traditional country music."

9. Darrell Scott(b. 1959)

1997

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Born on a tobacco farm in London, Kentucky, he is a singer/songwriter who has written several mainstream country hits recorded by such artists as Travis Tritt, Brad Paisley, Patti Loveless, and the Dixie Chicks, among others. His songs are touched by the Appalachia of his youth; his mastery of most stringed instruments has established him as one of Nashville's premier instrumentalists and made him a much sought after studio musician.

10. Dave Dudley(1928-2003)

1976

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Born David Darwin Pedriska in Spencer, Wisconsin, he is best known for such blue-collar truck anthems as "Trucker's Prayer"and "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun." In 1963, he had his first hit with "Six Days on the Road",a never-to-be forgotten truckers' classic, as well as a Country hit that has been recorded by many artists over the years.He wasn't just involved in truck-driving songs, but also with other material. (His duet with Tom T. Hall called "Day Drinking" proved this.) However, he is one of the best-known singers of the truck-driving era and came to be regarded as one of the icons in this genre of Country music. During the height of his career, the nineteen-sixties and seventies, he had more than thirty top forty Country hits.

11. David Bromberg(b. 1945)

1972

Studio portrait/New York

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

A musician's musician and an eclectic singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who has performed bluegrass, blues, folk, country, and rock and roll with equal facility, Bromberg is especially well known for his quirky, humorous lyrics. He went from being a top studio player to a touring sideman with, among others, Jerry Jeff Walker and Bob Dylan. He now lives in Wilmington, Delaware where he deals in vintage violins.

12. Doc Watson(b. 1923)

1975

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

An accomplished instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, this native of Deep Gap, North Carolina, has been performing professionally since childhood. He lost his sight before his first birthday, but that did not prevent him from becoming a proficient guitar player and banjoist. He developed his own "Watson style" of traditional guitar flat picking and has had a great influence on the work of such other star instrumentalists as Tony Rice and Clarence White. He was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President Clinton in 1997.

13. Dolly Parton(b. 1946)

1974

Studio portrait/Vanderbilt University

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Now a huge star, she started performing as a child, singing on local radio and television in East Tennessee near her family's home in Locust Ridge in the Great Smokey Mountains. She first performed at the Grand Ole Opry at the age of 13 and came to Nashville for good right out of high school in 1964. Her initial success came as the writer of hit songs for Hank Williams, Jr. and Skeeter Davis, among others. Her own stardom was assured when she was teamed with Porter Wagoner in 1967. She has since established herself in concert performance, movies, and television. The winner of 7 Grammy's and innumerable other awards, she is a member of the Nashville Songwriters' Hall of Fame, as well as the Country Music Hall of Fame.

14. Don Williams(b. 1939)

1981

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Originally from Floydada, Texas, he spent seven years with the folk-pop group The Pozo-Seco Singers before coming to Nashville and embarking on a solo career in 1971. His smooth, romantic voice and straightforward vocals, combined with his imposing build, earned him the nickname "the gentle giant of country music." He retired in 2006 after a career that included seventeen number one hits. His songs have been recorded by many other artists, including Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Lefty Frizzell, Sonny James, Charley Pride, and Pete Townshend.

15. Emmylou Harris(b. 1947)

1983

Location portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

A Grammy Award-winning country music singer, songwriter, and musician, Emmylou Harris is also a much sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner in addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader. Since 1968, she has worked with numerous artists, including Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and, perhaps most notably, Dolly Parton and Linda Rondstadt. This photograph was shot for the cover of her "White Shoes" album on location at the Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood (now the Cheekwood Museum of Art) in Nashville.

16. John Jorgenson(b. 1956)

undated

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

One of the pioneers of the American gypsy jazz movement, John Jorgenson has performed as a solo artist and has collaborated with other musicians all over the world. His broad musical palette has enabled him to play with artists as diverse as Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, Bonnie Raitt, and Benny Goodman. He is an A-list session player, performing and recording in Los Angeles, Nashville, and London, who has appeared on numerous platinum-selling and Grammy-winning recordings.

17. George Strait (b. 1952)

1982

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Known for his unique style of Western swing music, Texas native George Strait began his solo recording career at MCA Records in 1981. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, he has been nominated for more Country Music Association awards than any other artist. He holds the record for the most number one songs on the BillboardCountry Music charts, and over the length of his long career has had more albums certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum than any other artist except Elvis Presley and The Beatles. It is unlikely that his record of fifty-four number one records will ever be broken.

18. Guy and Susanna Clark(He, born 1941; she, born 1939)

1975

Location portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Texans Guy and Susanna Clark, both singer/songwriters, first came to Nashville at the time that McGuire did, in 1972. They became fast friends when McGuire shot the cover photographs for Guy's first studio album Old Number One, which was released by RCA Records in 1975. In the 1970s, when this photograph was taken, the Clark's Nashville home was a haven for emerging songwriters and musicians. Guy Clark has served as a mentor to many other songwriters, most notably Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell, and numerous artists have recorded Clark-penned songs.

19. Hal Ketchum (b. 1953)

1997

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Ketchum, a singer-songwriter from upstate New York who arrived in Nashville via Austin, Texas, made his living around Nashville as a fine carpenter before signing with Curb Records. (This portrait was shot at a photo session for his first album for Curb.) Though he'd been recording since the mid-eighties, he did not have a major hit until the release of his album Past the Point of Rescuein 1991. He continues to record and release new material.

20. Harlan Howard(1927-2002)

1988

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Howard, a native of Detroit, was one of the most prolific and successful of the "old school" Nashville songwriters. While living and working in Los Angeles, he enjoyed a few minor successes, before the break-out hits "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down"and "Heartaches by the Number"led him to move to Nashville in 1960. There, he became an immediate success, his songs recorded by innumerable country artists. Among his biggest hits was the Patsy Cline classic "I Fall to Pieces." A member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, he was a force in country music until his death.

21. Jack Clement(b. 1931)

1985

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Singer, songwriter, and producer "Cowboy" Jack Clement-he picked up his nickname while playing steel guitar during his student days at Memphis State University-is one of the seminal figures in both rock and roll and country music. He was a producer and engineer for Sam Phillips at Sun Records studio in Memphis where he worked with such future stars as Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. He moved to Nashville in 1959 and went to work for RCA making records for such stars as Charley Pride and Ray Stevens. A member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, his songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles, and Elvis Presley, among many others.

22. Jack Ingram(b. 1970)

1998

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

A Texas-based singer, songwriter, and country rocker, Ingram is chiefly associated with the Red Dirt country music scene. Having made a name playing the college and festival circuits and performing club dates in Dallas and Houston, he released several albums on independent labels before signing with Warner Music. He has toured with Brooks & Dunn, as well as Sheryl Crow, and now records for Big Machine Records.

23. J.D. Crowe & New South

1975

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

J. D. Crowe (b. 1937) has toured with various versions of his bluegrass band, New South, for more than thirty years. An influential banjo player, he got his start playing with Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys while still in his teens. In 1975, he put together what is widely thought to be one of the most influential bluegrass bands of all time. Depicted here, it consisted of Ricky Skaggs on mandolin and fiddle, Bobby Sloan on acoustic bass, J.D. Crowe on banjo, Jerry Douglas on dobro, and Tony Rice on guitar and vocals.

24. Jerry Byrd (1920-2005) & Curley Chalker (1931-1998)

1977

Studio portrait/St. Louis

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Byrd and Chalker were two of the most renowned and revered steel guitar players ever to play and record in Nashville. Both played on hundreds of early Nashville recording sessions. Byrd eventually retired to Hawaii where he spent his later years teaching young Hawaiians how to play old style, Hawaiian steel guitar.

25. Jerry Jeff (1942) and Susan Walker (1948)

1977

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Originally from Oneonta, New York, where he was born in 1942 as Ronald Crosby-he adopted the stage name "Jerry Jeff Walker" in 1966-he has become an icon in Austin, Texas, since moving there in the early 1970s. "Mr. Bojangles" is, perhaps, his best known work, and it has been recorded by dozens of artists, ranging from Bob Dylan to Nina Simone and Philip Glass to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. After a lengthy series of records for MCA and Elektra, produced after his move to Austin, he gave up on the mainstream record industry and founded his own independent label, Tried and True Music. His wife, Susan, is its president and manager. Guy and his work are chiefly associated with the country-rock outlaw scene that also included such artists as Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, and Townes Van Zandt. His birthday bash has become a near-legendary event that attracts top musicians and thousands of fans to Austin.

26. John Hartford(1937-2001)

1972

Studio portrait/New York

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Hartford, a highly original singer-songwriter who was known for his witty lyrics and unique vocal style, made his mark early, writing "Gentle On My Mind" for Glen Campbell. He played his own style of banjo and fiddle, often while clog dancing, with a number of different ensembles, but is perhaps best remembered for his solo performances in which, from one song to the next, he would switch from banjo to guitar to fiddle. His knowledge of river lore was well-known, and he was musically obsessed by steamboats and life along the Mississippi.

27. John Hiatt(b. 1952)

1974

Studio portrait/Vanderbilt University

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Hiatt, a rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter, moved to Nashville in the early 1970s to write songs and to find his musical voice. After his song "Sure as I'm Sitting Here"(recorded by Three Dog Night) became a top forty hit, he was signed to a recording contract by Epic Records. This portrait was shot just before the release of his first solo album, recorded in 1974. Since then, he has released twenty albums, and his songs have been covered by Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, B. B. King, Joan Baez, and Jimmy Buffet, to cite just a few.

28. John Hiatt(b. 1952)

2004

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

29. John Prine(b. 1946)

1984

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Prine, a country/folk singer-songwriter originally from Illinois, has achieved critical and commercial success since his move to Nashville in the early 1970s. His grandfather played guitar with Merle Travis, and he took up the instrument himself at the age of 14. He was a postman in Chicago and had served in the military before beginning his musical career. Already a star in Chicago's folk music scene, he was discovered in a local club by Kris Kristofferson. He is known for his wildly imaginative songs and unusual voice and singing style. His 2006 release Fair and Square was awarded the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

30. Johnny Cash(1932-2003)& Dr. Billy Graham(b. 1918)

1978

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Two legends in their own fields of endeavor, they were great friends for many years.

31. Junior Brown(b. 1952)

1993

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Originally from Kirksville, Indiana, he is a renowned instrumentalist who first learned to play piano from his father ("before I could talk"), later turning to guitar. His career began in the sixties, and he spent that decade developing his astonishing musical skills. Later, after some time spent teaching guitar at the Hank Thompson School of Country Music at Rogers State College in Oklahoma, he settled in Austin, Texas, where the lines between musical styles and genres are sometimes indistinct. There, he and his wife, "the lovely Miss Tanya Rae," who had been one of his students at Rogers State, set up shop at the legendary Continental Club where, when not on tour, they perform "music for everybody." His off-the-wall, original, country-rock songs-his admiration for Ernest Tubb inspired "My Baby Don't Dance to Nothin' But ErnestTub"-are almost as well known as his cherry red "guit-steel," a double-necked guitar he calls "Big Red."

32. Keith Whitley(1955-1989)

1984

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Originally from Sandy Hook, Kentucky, Whitley grew up playing bluegrass music with Ricky Skaggs and played in various bluegrass bands thru the seventies and eighties. Chiefly associated with the Clinch Mountain Boys, he was signed as a solo country artist to RCA Records in 1984. He was married to fellow country music star Lorrie Morgan. A longtime alcoholic, his career was tragically cut short by his death from alcohol poisoning at the age of 34. Now, nearly 20 years later, his influence can still be heard in the work of such contemporary stars as Tim McGraw.

33. Kris Kristofferson(b. 1936)

1990

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

An influential singer, songwriter, and actor, he came to Nashville in 1965, fresh out of the army, to pursue his dream of writing country songs. Although he is best known for such songs as "Me and Bobby McGee"and "Help Me Make it Through the Night,"he became a well respected, much-in-demand film actor after his debut in Dennis Hopper's The Last Moviein 1971. He concentrated on film acting for a time, but in the early eighties he, along with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings, formed the super-group, The Highwaymen, with whom he toured and recorded. A member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, he continues to write and record his songs.

34. Lester Flatt(1914-1979)

1977

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

One of the pioneers of bluegrass music, Flatt possessed one of the most recognized voices in all of music. He first came to prominence in the 1940s, playing and singing as a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. In 1948, he formed a partnership with banjo wizard Earl Scruggs, also a Bluegrass Boys alumnus, and formed a new group, The Foggy Mountain Boys, that toured and recorded for the twenty years. In 1969, Flatt started a new band, Nashville Grass, hiring most of the Foggy Mountain Boys, and he continued to record and perform with that group until his death. He was a posthumous honoree, elected as a member of the first group of inductees into the International Bluegrass Hall of Honor in 1991.

35. Lyle Lovett and The Boys

2005

Studio portrait/Nashville

Digital print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Traveling and performing concerts together are four premiere Americana songwriters and fast friends; left to right: Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Joe Ely, and Guy Clark.

36. Mark O'Connor(b. 1961)

2004

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

A native of Seattle, Washington, he is widely considered to be the most important fiddler of his generation. He started out on the guitar, turning to the fiddle at the age of 11. Mentored by Texas fiddler Benny Thomason, by the time he was 14 he had won 3 national championships. He has successfully moved among several musical genres, composing, arranging, and performing bluegrass, classical, and jazz. He has appeared in concert and recorded with many artists, including Béla Fleck, Yo Yo Ma, James Taylor, Stephane Grappelli, Edgar Meyer, and Tony Rice.

37. Marty Robbins(1925-1982)

undated

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

One of the most popular and successful country and western singers of his era, Robbins grew up in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, where, while still a kid he became a huge fan of the legendary singing Cowboys. (Western music remained a constant throughout his 40-year career.) He learned to play guitar while in the Navy during World War II. He returned to Phoenix after the service and established himself locally as a performer and the host of his own radio and, later, television programs. Little Jimmy Dickens, a one-time guest on his television program, recommended him to Columbia Records, leading to his move to Nashville where he became one of the most popular members of the Grand Ole Opry.

38. Marty Stuart(b. 1958)

circa 1978

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Almost completely preoccupied with country music from a very young age, he taught himself how to play the guitar and mandolin. He emerged as a fourteen-year-old instrumentalist, so accomplished that he was invited to join Lester Flatt's band. After ill-health forced Flatt to break up his band, he worked as a sideman with Vassar Clements and Doc Watson before joining Johnny Cash's band. He stayed with Cash until 1985 before embarking on his own successful recording and performance career in Nashville. A member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1993, he remains an avid collector of country music memorabilia and a fan himself. He has served on the board of the Country Music Foundation (for a time as its president) and has written numerous magazine articles related to the music and its writers, producers, and performers.

39. Merle Travis(1917-1983)

1977

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Arguably one of the most influential guitar stylists of the twentieth century, Merle Travis emerged from the coalfields of western Kentucky to become a prominent singer and songwriter. The coalfields of his youth and the exploitation of miners inspired some of his greatest hits, including "Sixteen Tons"and "Dark as a Dungeon." He developed his own unique guitar picking style that became known as "Travis picking," which had a profound influence on, among others, Chet Atkins and Hank Thompson. Today, that style of playing can still be heard in the work of such artists as Tommy Emmanuel. Longtime fan Doc Watson named his son, Merle Watson, in Merle Travis's honor. He is a member of both the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

40. Mike Seeger(b. 1933)

2005

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

A folk musician and folklorist, he was born into the world of music in New York City. (His parents worked with the famous musicologists John and Alan Lomax, and his half-brother is famed folksinger Pete Seeger.) At the age of 25, he became a founding member of the original New Lost City Ramblers, a trio that recorded traditional, old time string band music. He is a singer with a distinctive, personal style and a multi-instrumentalist who plays autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, mouth harp, mandolin, guitar, and dobro with equal authority. His well-documented influence on the American folk music scene has been profound.

41. Nanci Griffith(b. 1953)

1980

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Austin, Texas, singer, guitarist and songwriter (now living in Nashville), she has mined numbers of different musical genres, including folk, country, and a hybrid she calls "folkabilly." She won the 1994 Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album with Other Voice's-Other Rooms,but her work has sometimes enjoyed greater success through the performances of other artists. (Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss have both enjoyed big hits with her songs, for example.) She has toured widely and recorded collaboratively with many artists. She is particularly popular in Ireland and has recorded with The Chieftains, the leading proponents of traditional Irish folk music.

42. Newgrass Revival

1976

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

This was an original, innovative bluegrass band from Bowling Green, Kentucky, whose founding members consisted of Courtney Johnson (banjo, guitar), Curtis Burch (guitar, dobro), Sam Bush (mandolin, fiddle, guitar,) and John Cowan (bass). They took traditional bluegrass in a totally new direction, bringing a "jam band" sensibility to a very tradition-bound genre. (They were as likely to play songs by Bob Marley or The Beatles as they were Earl Scruggs or Reno and Smiley.) The band toured with Leon Russell and performed with The Grateful Dead before breaking up for good in 1989.

43. Norman and Nancy Blake

1980

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Norman Blake is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist who is widely considered one of the best flat pick acoustic guitar players of his time. He has played in a number of folk and bluegrass groups and has played back up for Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Joan Baez, and June Carter. He is particularly well known for his work with John Hartford, Tony Rice, and his wife, Nancy Blake. He was featured on the multi-platinum O Brother, Where Art Thou? album and participated in the Down from the Mountaintour that followed its release. Norman and Nancy Blake have lived in an old farmhouse in north Georgia for many years, not far from Sulphur Springs where Norman was raised. Playing mostly traditional guitar and cello duets, they travel widely performing in concert and at folk and bluegrass festivals.

44. Ralph Stanley(b. 1927)

1998

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

From 1946 until the death of his guitar-playing brother, Carter, in 1966, Ralph Stanley performed as part of The Stanley Brothers duo, backed by their band, The Clinch

Mountain Boys. He has continued to play since then, eventually reviving the Clinch Mountain Boys with whom he continues to tour. (The band has a distinguished group of alumni, including Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, and Charley Sizemore.) His unique style of banjo playing sometimes called "Stanley style" and the very traditional bluegrass music he performs, draw on the musical traditions of the area of southwestern Virginia in which he grew up. At the age of 75, he was awarded a Grammy for his performance of "O Death" on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? movie soundtrack album.

45. Roland White(b. 1938)

1975

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Originally from Maine, he moved to California with his family while a teenager. With his brothers, Clarence and Eric, he formed a band, Three Little Country Boys, that in late 1962, which became as renown as The Kentucky Colonels that broke up with the effective end of the folk boom in 1965. He played guitar in Bill Monroe's band until 1969 before joining Lester Flatt's band, New Grass, and, in 1973, Country Gazette. From 1988 until 1998, he played mandolin in the Nashville Bluegrass Band before leaving to form his own band. He now lives in Nashville, plays concerts with his own band, and teaches mandolin.

46. Rosanne Cash and Rodney Crowell

1983

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Rosanne Cash (b. 1955), the daughter of Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian, was married to Texas singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell from 1979 until 1992. A successful, Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter in her own right, she has had more than twenty top 40 country singles. Her work draws from many genres, including pop, folk, blues, and rock and roll. She is also a published author and respected amateur painter. Considered a part of both the mainstream and alternative country traditions, Rodney Crowell (b. 1950), originally from Houston, is closely associated as a songwriter with his contemporary Steve Earle. (Both were influenced by fellow Texans Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt.) He performed as part of Emmylou Harris' Hot Band in the eighties before striking out on a successful solo career. An earlier Crowell-led band, The Cherry Bombs, included such future luminaries as Vince Gill and Tony Brown in the seventies. Now, he is also a successful record producer.

47. Roy Huskey, Jr.(1956-1997)

1991

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Son of famed Nashville session player Junior Huskey (he had played on The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's legendary Will the Circle Be Unbrokenalbumin the early seventies), Roy was, at the time of his untimely death, widely considered Nashville's premier acoustic bassist. He was in constant demand for all kinds of acoustic music, ranging from bluegrass to the "unplugged" work of Steve Earle. He was a member of Emmylou Harris' hot acoustic band, The Nash Ramblers. The impact of his early demise on the acoustic music community was deeply felt. At the time, Marty Stuart said that he was "a pure, original, state-of-the-art, bona fide, textbook example of a bass-playing genius, truly irreplaceable."

48. Sam Bush(b. 1952)

1981

Studio portrait/Nashville

Silver print

Image Size: 14" x 14" Framed: 21 ? x 21 ? x 1 ?"

Sam Bush is a renowned mandolin player and accomplished bluegrass vocalist originally from Bowling Green, Kentucky. He formed the improvisational bluegrass band, The Newgrass Revival, in 1971. Over the years of its existence, the band went through many changes of personnel, and when it disbanded for good in 1989, Bush was the sole remaining founding member of the group. He joined Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers, and, in 1995, worked as a sideman with Lyle Lovett and Béla Fleck's Flecktones. He has been touring and recording with his own band since the mid-nineties.

49. Steve Earle(b. 1955)

1975

Studio portrait/Nashville

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Growing up in Texas and coming out of the Houston folk scene, Steve's first gig after moving to Nashville in 1972 was playing bass with Guy Clark.

50. Steve Earle(b. 1955)

1995

Studio portrait/Nashville

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Though born in Virginia and a resident of Nashville since the mid-seventies, Steve Earle, a singer-songwriter, country rocker, and political activist, is chiefly associated with Texas and such Texas artists as Guy and Susanna Clark, with whom he worked closely on first moving to Nashville. He's been involved in various political causes from the early days of his career, when he allied himself with anti-Vietnam campaigners. He continues to perform original songs often dealing with strong political and social issues. (His 2002 album Jerusalemwas chiefly inspired by the U. S. led war on terrorism.) He is the subject of a documentary film, Just an American Boy,which explores his political views as well as his music.

51. Steve Young(b. 1942)

1976

Studio portrait/Nashville

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A pioneer of the Americana, country rock, and alternative country sounds, this singer-songwriter was also a vital force in the development of the "outlaw movement" that developed in Nashville during the 1980s. Waylon Jennings recorded an entire album of his songs, kicking off the movement, and Hank Williams Jr., as well as many others, have recorded his powerful songs. His "Lonesome, On'ry, and Mean"became something of an anthem for the movement, and "Seven Bridges Road," perhaps his best-known song, was a major hit for The Eagles.

52. Tammy Wynette(1942-1998)

1987

Studio portrait/Nashville

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Once known as "The First Lady of Country Music", she was a talented singer-songwriter who, during the 1960s and 70s, simply dominated the country music charts. (In 1968 and '69, she had five number-one hits, among three of her signature songs, "Stand by Your Man", "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." and "Take Me to Your World".In all, she had seventeen number one songs, and her work, along with that of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Lynn Anderson, helped to define the role of the female country singer, influencing many of the younger singers who followed them. Many of her songs seemed, at least to her fans, to be influenced by her tumultuous private life. Married five times productively in the case of her marriage to singing partner, George Jones she was often ill, surviving numerous hospitalizations and surgeries. She succumbed, unexpectedly, to a cardiac arrhythmia at the age of 56.

53. The Dillards

1977

Studio portrait/Nashville

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Originally from Salem, Missouri, brothers Douglas and Rodney Dillard formed the original bluegrass band, The Dillards, in the mid 1960s. Although they were a huge influence on the group of musicians who were central to the development of the country rock movement in Southern California in the sixties, they are, perhaps, best known as regulars on The Andy Griffith Show between 1963 and 1966, playing a fictional local bluegrass band in Mayberry known as The Darlings.

54. The Highwaymen

1990

Studio portrait/Nashville

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A country music "super-group," The Highwaymen included Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash, all renowned for their influence on the so-called outlaw movement. Formed originally in 1985, before the group had a collective name, Jennings, Nelson, Kristofferson, and Cash adapted the name of the album, Highwayman,to serve the group as its own. The group recorded together for ten years and two of their live performances were filmed, the last not long before the death of Waylon Jennings in 2002.

55. Townes Van Zandt(1944-1997)

1990

Studio portrait/Nashville

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One of the great tragic figures of country music, Fort Worth, Texas, native Townes Van Zandt was a folk singer, songwriter, performer and poet. He was particularly influential in the emergence of alternative country in the nineteen-seventies. Steve Earle described him as the greatest songwriter who ever lived, and his influence was felt by many other artists, including Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, and Lyle Lovett. Bob Dylan refers to this Texas native as his favorite songwriter. He wrote hundreds of haunting songs that have been widely recorded, perhaps most notably "Pancho and Lefty" which was a number one hit for Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard in 1983.

56. Travis Rivers(b. 1941)

1971

Studio portrait/New York

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A widely traveled figure in the music industry, Texan Travis Rivers managed and produced Nashville-based blues singer, Tracy Nelson in the nineteen-seventies and eighties. (Nelson had been the vocalist for Mother Earth, a San Francisco band of the late nineteen-sixties; Rivers had been the band's manager.) Over the years, he has helped many other fledgling artists get started, including John Hiatt and Emmylou Harris, and, famously, he was the man, who some years earlier, had driven Janis Joplin from Port Arthur, Texas, to San Francisco.

57. Tut Taylor(b. 1923)

1974

Studio portrait/Nashville

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Georgia native Taylor, a self-taught master of the dobro which he plays in an unusual style, with a flat pick is a highly regarded studio musician who is, perhaps, best known as a member of the famous Aereo-Plane Band formed by John Hartford in 1971. The other members of the band were Norman Blake and Vassar Clements. Their groundbreaking album of 1971, Aereo-Plane,was an inspired combination of traditional bluegrass musicianship (of a very high order, given the band's personnel) and the hippie spirit of the times.

58. Vassar Clements(1928-2005)

1972

Studio portrait

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Originally from South Carolina, Vassar Clements, a legendary Nashville fiddler and session player, was entirely self-taught. Over the length of a fifty-year career, he played on more than 2,000 albums and performed with a wide range of artists everyone, or so it seems, from Woody Herman and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to the Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffet. His career began when he joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys as a teenager in 1942. Though he was a major influence in the developing "new grass movement," he cited big band swing music as a significant influence over his own style and musical development.

59. Vince Gill(b. 1957)

1985

Studio portrait/Nashville

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Oklahoma native and guitar virtuoso, Vince Gill has enjoyed a long career with many number one country records. He began playing in bluegrass bands almost immediately on graduating from high school and debuted on the national scene with the country rock band Pure Prairie League in 1979. A Grammy award winner, he is a member of the Western Performers Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. He is well known for his flawless singing and skilled guitar playing. He is married to singer Amy Grant.

60. Waylon Jennings(1937-2002)

1985

Studio portrait/Nashville

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A Texas native and self-taught guitarist, Jennings was a disc jockey when Buddy Holly recruited him to play bass in his band. He was famous for giving up his seat to Richie Valens on Holly's fatal wintertime flight to Mason City, Iowa. He became a Nashville legend almost as much for his open rebellion against the constraints of the producer-dominated "Nashville Sound" of the seventies as for his own creative abilities. (Later, he secured creative control of his own recordings, establishing a precedent that is followed still.) He is generally credited with starting the "outlaw" movement in country music the title track of his 1972 RCA release "Ladies Love Outlaws"lent the movement its name. With his friend and close collaborator, Willie Nelson, he took a career defining step with the release of "Wanted: The Outlaws!"in 1976. Later, he and Nelson collaborated on their biggest hit, "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys",and then, along with Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson, formed the super group, The Highwaymen. Plagued by addiction and ill health, he left the road in 2001 and succumbed to diabetic complications at the age of 64.

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