NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Songwriters Fred Knobloch, Don Schlitz and Thom Schuyler will perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13, at Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory as part of the Bluebird on the Mountain concert series.
Bluebird on the Mountain presents regulars from the stage of Nashville‘s famed Bluebird Café performing on the scenic observatory grounds overlooking Nashville. The series is booked by Amy Kurland, founder and owner of the Bluebird Café.
Gates will open at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are available through Ticketmaster, which will add a handling fee. Tickets are limited, and the past two performances have sold out before the day of the show. The concert will be held rain or shine.
Tickets may be bought in advance for $55 per carload and at the door for $65. Cars may contain a maximum of eight people and no RV‘s or buses will be admitted.
Single tickets cost $17.50 in advance and $25 at the door.
Visitors are encouraged to pack a picnic and bring blankets and lawn chairs for comfort.
Schlitz moved to Nashville in 1973 and worked the night shift as a computer operator at Vanderbilt for five years before getting his big break in 1978, when Kenny Rogers recorded “The Gambler.” The song garnered Schlitz his first CMA Song of the Year award in 1979, followed by “On the Other Hand” in 1986 and “Forever and Ever, Amen” in 1987, both recorded by Randy Travis.
Schlitz, who wrote 24 No. 1 hits between 1978 and 1994, was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.
Knobloch, a native of Jackson, Miss., has penned songs for artists including Faith Hill (“If My Heart had Wings”), George Strait (“Meanwhile”) and Sawyer Brown (“Used to Blue”).
Schuyler has received three BMI Pop Achievement Awards and 18 BMI Country Achievement Awards. His song “16th Avenue,” recorded by Lacy J. Dalton, was nominated for CMA Song of the Year in 1983.
Schuyler also wrote “Love Will Turn You Around,” performed by Kenny Rogers, and “Long Line of Love” by Michael Martin Murphy.
Each Bluebird on the Mountain concert ends with an invitation to stargaze using the observatory‘s Seyfert telescope.
Dyer Observatory is located at 1000 Oman Drive, off Granny White Pike between Old Hickory Boulevard and Otter Creek Road, near Radnor Lake. A map is available at www.dyer.vanderbilt.edu/directions.htm.
The last Bluebird on the Mountain show of the season will be 7 p.m. Sept. 17, featuring Victoria Shaw, Gary Burr and Jim Photoglo.
Media contact: Todd Vessel, (615) 322-NEWS
Todd.vessel@vanderbilt.edu