With words and music, this program celebrates one of the most influential country music stars of the 1920s and 1930s – Vernon Dalhart. Dalhart was the first artist to record a million-selling hit, the two-sided 78 RPM disc featuring “The Wreck Of The Old ‘97” and “The Prisoner’s Song.” Both of those recordings are enshrined in the Grammy Hall of Fame, and Dalhart was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was a prolific artist by any standard, making over 4,000 recordings between 1916 and 1939. Dolly Parton, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, and Mac Wiseman are just a few of the many artists who have covered songs first recorded by Vernon Dalhart. But despite his significant impact, Dalhart has been overlooked for decades.
This concert is made possible due to a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
Drawing on five years of extensive research, music historian Dr. Ted Olson shares the story of Dalhart’s diverse and influential recordings and discusses the reasons for his relative obscurity today. Multi-instrumentalist and singer Jack Hinshelwood provides the live soundtrack for the program, rendering faithful versions of Dalhart classics like “Wreck of the Old ’97,” “The Prisoner’s Song,” “Home On The Range,” “Jesse James,” “The Freight Wreck at Altoona,” “The Big Rock Candy Mountains,” and other traditional and original songs that formed the core of early country music.
This program will additionally be joined by special guest, old time music master Mac Traynham.
Tickets are $25 each.
Interested in sponsoring the Vernon Dalhart concert? Check out the benefits you can get for a sponsorship with the Montgomery Museum!
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