Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson and Jerry Salley will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, as part of the 2008 Bluebird on the Mountain series at Dyer Observatory.
The series, now in its fourth year, presents artists from the stage of Nashville’s Bluebird Café, one of the city’s premier nightspots for more than two decades. The Bluebird on the Mountain series is booked by Amy Kurland, founder of the Bluebird Café.
Collectively, Cordle, Jackson and Salley have had their songs performed by a veritable "Who’s Who" of country and bluegrass music performers.
Cordle, a Kentucky native, is a highly respected singer, songwriter and guitarist who fronts the bluegrass band Lonesome Standard Time. Cordle helped put Ricky Skaggs at the top of the charts in the 1980s with the hit, "Highway Forty Blues." In 2001, his song "Murder on Music Row" (co-written with Larry Shell), which was recorded by Alan Jackson and George Strait, received the Song of the Year award by the Country Music Association. Cordle and his band were similarly honored by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) for their own recording of the song. Cordle’s recent recordings include Lonesome Skynard Time, A Bluegrass Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Took Up and Put Down.
A two-time Grammy winner, Carl Jackson’s musical pedigree is long and varied. He’s an outstanding instrumentalist, an in-demand session musician and a songwriter. He spent his early teen years playing banjo on the road with bluegrass greats Jim & Jesse. In the early 1970s, he signed on with Glen Campbell with whom he toured over the next decade.
Since striking out on his own in 1984, Jackson has recorded with Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard, among others. As a writer, Jackson’s songs have been recorded by Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Diamond Rio and Patty Loveless. In 1990, Jackson’s "Little Mountain Church House" was named the IBMA’s Song of the Year.
Since arriving in Nashville in 1982, Salley has written songs for Reba McEntire, John Anderson, Ricky Skaggs & Sharon White and The Oak Ridge Boys. In 2003, Salley was named SESAC’s Songwriter of the Year. In recent years Salley has collaborated with Cordle and Jackson for a series of live performances and recordings including the highly acclaimed Livin,’ Lovin,’ Losin’ – Songs of the Louvin Brothers, which won a Grammy for Best Country Album in 2003. Salley released the CD New Songs, Old Friends in 2007 that featured a collection of new songs performed by Salley with guest appearances by Del McCoury, Rhonda Vincent and Vince Gill.
Gates will open at 6 p.m. for the show and visitors are encouraged to bring a blanket, lawn chairs and pack a picnic basket. After the concert, visitors can linger to stargaze using the observatory’s Seyfert telescope. Season tickets for carloads with a maximum of eight people are $375 for the full series. No RVs or buses will be admitted. Single show tickets are $90 for a carload. No single tickets will be available for this series.
Two concerts are left in this year’s series. On Sept. 13, Fred Knobloch, Don Schlitz, Thom Schuyler and Jelly Roll Johnson will perform and Dean Dillon and Scotty Emerick will be among the featured songwriters for the series finale on Oct. 11.
On Sept. 20 at 7 p.m., Grammy-award winning singer Judy Collins will be performing at Dyer Observatory with Amy Speace and Jon Vezner. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. Carload ticket pricing is $120 for the general public; $90 for Bluebird season ticket holders and Dyer members. Each carload ticket allows up to eight people in the vehicle.
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 here.