All for the Hall Los Angeles, Featuring Unique Performances by Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Dwight Yoakam, to Be Held on October 1 at Club Nokia
The COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME® AND MUSEUM’s annual All for the Hall fundraiser makes its West Coast debut on Thursday, October 1, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. The benefit will feature ensemble performances by Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam and others.
The evening will offer a unique opportunity to see these legendary singer-songwriters interact in a “guitar pull,” where they will often accompany one another as they take turns swapping songs, stories and personal recollections. The guitar pull originated in the homes of Nashville songwriters who gathered to try out new compositions for their peers. Nashville’s most storied guitar pulls were hosted by Johnny and June Carter Cash. The hallmarks of a great guitar pull are spontaneity and camaraderie.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) educational institution dedicated to saving America’s songs of home for the benefit of all mankind. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Museum takes as its mission the preservation of country music and related vernacular music rooted in southern culture. Through exhibits, publications and programs, the Museum teaches its audiences about the enduring beauty and cultural importance of country music.
The Museum launched All for the Hall, its first-ever non-bricks-and-mortar fundraising campaign, in 2005. The campaign addresses the Museum’s need for long-term financial security and will provide a safety net for the institution and its work. This is the third year the Museum has taken its “annual giving” event on the road, hosting previous All for the Hall events in New York in 2007 and 2008.
“As a not-for-profit institution, we are thrilled to showcase the educational value of our work to the West Coast, an area deeply rooted in the history of country music,” says Museum Director Kyle Young. “This is an opportunity for us to spotlight the important collection, research and scholarship that are the essence of our great national music museum. We are confident that we will return home with new friends and patrons.”
Last year’s event at New York’s Nokia Theatre Times Square was hosted by Billy Bob Thornton and his band, the Boxmasters, and featured performances by Larry Campbell, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Gill, Harris and Levon Helm. The distinguished audience included journalists Tom Brokaw, John Siegenthaler Jr. and Hannah Storm, director Jonathan Demme and recording artist Chely Wright, among others.
All for the Hall Los Angeles patrons are offered their choice of seating for 10 for $10,000, or seating for eight for $7,500. Individual tickets are available at $750 per seat. A cocktail reception, dinner and a silent auction featuring one-of-a-kind country music experiences will precede the guitar pull. To purchase tickets or for more information, patrons may contact Holly Lane at hlane@countrymusichalloffame.com or telephone (615) 416-2035 or (800) 852-6437.
All for the Hall Los Angeles is chaired by AEG Live Chairman Tim Leiweke and produced by CAA’s Rod Essig and Vector Management’s Ken Levitan. The event is made possible by the generosity of AEG Live and Club Nokia LA Live.
About the Performers
Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill possesses an achingly beautiful tenor, award-winning songwriting skills and virtuoso guitar chops. Together, they’ve earned him millions of record sales, 20 Grammys (including Best Country Album for his latest release, These Days) and 18 CMA Awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Gill is also regarded as one of country music’s most generous humanitarians, participating in hundreds of charitable events throughout his career, including All for the Hall, the campaign to support the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Gill, president of the Museum’s Board of Officers and Trustees, was also the Museum’s 2009 Artist in Residence.
Emmylou Harris introduced country music to a broader audience by building bridges to folk, gospel, rock and alternative music. She has sold millions of albums worldwide and claimed 12 Grammys in a career that now stretches over four decades. Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008, she remains an inspiration to new generations of artists. Harris is a champion of many humanitarian causes, including landmine removal and animal rescue. Her latest album, 2008’s All I Intended to Be, included contributions from Buddy Miller, Gill and Dolly Parton, and in 2009 she embarked on the “Three Girls and Their Buddy” tour with Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin and Miller.
Like the icons he so admires—Elvis, Merle, Buck—Dwight Yoakam is one of a kind. A Kentucky native, Yoakam was so inspired by the honky-tonk music of California that he moved to Los Angeles in 1978. Best known as a singer-songwriter, Yoakam has risen from hot country star to one of music’s most acclaimed artists. Among his accolades, Yoakam has earned 12 gold albums and nine platinum / multi-platinum albums, won two Grammys and sold over 25 million albums. With his critically acclaimed acting career, Yoakam has starred in over 20 films, including performances in the Oscar-winning feature film Sling Blade and more recently in the Cannes Film Festival winner Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.
About the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The Museum’s mission is the preservation of the history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern culture. With the same educational mission, the Foundation also operates CMF Records, the Museum’s Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press, Historic RCA Studio B, and Hatch Show Print.
More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.com or by calling (615) 416-2001.
