This weekend, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum hosted a conversation and performance with Frankie Staton from the Black Country Music Association, Black Opry Revue founder Holly G and Black Opry Revue co-director Tanner Davenport. The museum’s writer-editor Angela Stefano Zimmer led the conversation about the organizations’ histories, their impact within the music industry and their future goals.

The Black Country Music Association — founded by performer Cleve Francis in 1995 and led by songwriter and performer Frankie Staton since 1996 — built community, hosted showcases in Nashville and educated fans about country music’s Black performers in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Black Opry continues that work, spotlighting Black Americana, blues, country and folk artists and connecting Black fans. Founded in April 2021 by Holly G, a country music fan from Virginia, the organization has grown into a national performance series, the Black Opry Revue, and is now run by Holly G and her co-director, Tanner Davenport.

The program featured performances from Denitia, Valierie Ellis Hawkins, Staton and Joe West.

This program was offered in support of the museum’s exhibition American Currents: State of the Music. It was filmed and will premiere at a later date as part of the museum’s Live at the Hall digital programs series, available to stream on the museum’s website.

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum collects, preserves and interprets country music and its history for the education and entertainment of diverse audiences. In exhibitions, publications, digital media and educational programs, the museum explores the cultural importance and enduring beauty of the art form. The 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 is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and is among the most-visited history museums in the U.S. The Country Music Foundation operates Historic RCA Studio B®, Hatch Show Print® poster shop, CMF Records, the Frist Library and Archive and CMF Press. Museum programs are supported in part by Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and Tennessee Arts Commission.

More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org or by calling 615.416.2001.