Randy Travis

Jo Dee Messina

Kellie Pickler

Loretta Lynn

Johnny Reid

Craig Morgan

George Canyon

Deana Carter

The Road Hammers

Corb Lund

Charlie Major

The Grand Ladies Of Country Music

Doug Kershaw

Jaydee Bixby

Mustang Sally

Blackie &
The Rodeo Kings

The Higgins

Carroll Baker

Tara Oram

The Good Brothers

Robin Hawkins

The Ireland Brothers

Toasted Western
Swing Band

Teak Rivers

Narrow Road

The Grand Ladies of Country Music

JEAN SHEPARD "THE LEGEND"
To be called a legend in the entertainment industry, one must first be a pioneer and then proceed to accomplish many more "firsts".

JEAN SHEPARD has done that and much more. A sample listing of some of her firsts" includes:

• Starring in the 1st network country music show, THE OZARK JUBILEE.

• The 1st female in county music to sell a million records.

• The 1st country music female vocalist to overdub her voice on records.

• The 1st country music female to make a color tv commercial.

• The 1st female country singer to be a member of the GRAND OLE OPRY for 33 years.

Born in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, Jean spent most of her formative years in vlsalia, California. She was one of 10 children who Jean says were all musically inclined. Because music was such an important part of her fife It was only natural that in her early teens, Jean helped form and become the lead singer in an all giri band called THE MELODY RANCH GIRLS'.

Fate took a hand almost immediately. In one of her early performances with the Melody Ranch Girls, Jean appeared with the great Hank Thompson. He was impressed enough with the talented newcomer to arrange introductions which ultimately lead to Jean's recording contract with Capitol Records. For over twenty one years Jean Shepard remained under contract to Capitol, selling countless millions of records including the NUMBER 1 HITS: Tne Dear John Letter1, 'Beautiful Lies", "Many Happy Hangovers', 'Seven Lonely Days', Then He Touched Me* "Satisfied Mind', and "Second Fiddle'.

In the eariy 7Q's Jean moved to United Artists Records where she continued to have NUMBER 1 RECORDS such as: "Stippin Away", "Poor Sweet Baby", 'At The time', and Tips of My Fingers'.

Jean has recorded over 35 albums which included so many hit records it's easy to understand why Jean's career hit ifs peak and stayed there. Although, Jean is married to Benny Birchfiefd, a musician, singer and prominent member of Nashville's music community, she still maintains a busy road performance schedule. THE JEAN SHEPARD SHOW is a self contained unit consisting of a 4 piece group she calls The Second Fiddles'. Their reputation as one
of the finest traveling bands on the road today is well deserved. Their versatility is displayed night after night on stages around the world as well as on stage at tfie Grand Ole Opry. Their music ranges from the great traditional to the new modem sounds of country music as well as a sprinkling of good ofe down home Gospel.

Admired by her peers and emulated by ever so many up and coming female country singers, Jean Shepard is a steadfast pillar of the compliment of grand performing ladies who have graced the stage of the Grand Ofe Opry as well as country music stages around the world. The late Gentlemen Jim Reeves was often quoted when he said, "all the girl singers should sound like Jean Shepard. She always hits her notes, holds them and wraps them around an audience like nobody else can'.

Award winning record producer Joe Allison says, "If you took all the good points of all the giri singers and wrapped them up in one package, you would have Jean Shepard".

Countless millions of fans all whole heartedfy agree. The Jean Shepard Show is a "MUST SEE' show, be ft on the Grand Ole Opry stage, in concert with e symphony, at a State Fair or right in your own home town.

JANHOWARD"Country Music Royalty"
In West Plains, Missouri, a street is named in her honor, "Jan Howard Expressway." Notoriety began for Jan when she started singing on demo's for songwriting friends. Soon she was asked to record a duet with Wynn Stewart The song was called "Yankee
Go Home." Stardom was on the horizon for Jan. A follow up duel, "Wrong Company" was highly successful and gained national recognition.

Jan Howard has contributed much to the success of country music. Not only is she a great vocalist, but she is respected for her songwriting ability. Jan has been performing on the Grand Ole Opry since 1960 and was inducted as a member, March 27,1971. Billboard charted Jan's first solo hit "The One You Slip Around With" in January 1960.

Today, it is still her most requested song. Hits continued with "What Makes A Man Wonder", "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again", "Eva On Your Mind", and a string of Top 10 hits which included "Bad Seed", "Any Old Way You Do", "Rock Me Back To IMe Rock" and many more. Jan received numerous trade magazine awards, including "Top Female Country Artist" and "Most Promising Female Artist" along with several awards for her songwriting. She was nominated for a Grammy for the songs "My Son" and "Evil On Your Mind."

Duet Of The Year...
Four of Jan's seventeen albums were duets with Bill Anderson. Their singles include "For Loving You", "Dissatisfied", "If It's All The Same To You", and "Someday We'll Be Together." She toured and did a weekly syndicated television show with Bill for seven years. The duo was nominated by the CMA for "Duet Of The Year"

On The Go...
A Lady on the go.. Jan believes in achieving your goals whether it takes a short time or the long way around to get there. She is never in a hurry. "Live life to the fullest and take one day at a time," is a motto which Jan lives by. Another is "Today is not a rehearsal.
This is the show. And there are no retakes".

There are still vistas she's striving to achieve. As an avid golfer. She has a dream of getting a "hold in one". Jan best describes her golfing talents as "consistently inconsistent", and insists her partners have a sense of humor. Because of Jan's desire to act, she spent a year studying acting. Someone once told Jan, "she would be great in a
Soap Opera". She laughingly replied, "My life is a Soap Opera".

Autobiography
In 1987 Jan wrote and published her highly successful autobiography "Sunshine & Shadow." Currently she is working on a fiction novel JAN HOWARD has earned the title of "COUNTRY MUSIC ROYALTY"

JEANNIE SEELY
Grand Ole Opry star Jeaanie Seely caused a stir the first time she wore a miniskirt on stage at the Opry.

Back then, as today, Jeannie simply was leading the way for other female country stars who would follow in her footsteps at the Opry. Bora in Titusviile, Pennsylvania Jeannie's love for the Opry dates back to her childhood. Her mother recalled how this four-year old, barely tall enough to reach the knob on the family's big console radio, had found 650 (WSM Radio). That's where she tried to make it stay.

By age 11, she was performing on a weekly show on a radio station in Meadville, Pennsylvania. After years of playing auditoriums, small clubs and country music parks, she moved to Los Angeles in 1962. Jeannie worked as an executive secretary with Liberty and Imperial Records in Hollywood while pursuing a career in music. She first recorded for Challenge Records and wrote songs for 4 Star Music.

In 1965 she moved to Nashville. A recording contract with Monument Records led to her first hit record entitled "Don't Touch Me" in 1966. The single went to No. 1, won her several awards-including the 1966 Grammy Award for the Best Female Vocal Performance, Country—and led to Opry membership on September 16, 1967. In all she recorded some 27 country hits, including "It's Only Love", "A Wanderin' Man", "I'll Love You More (Than You Need)", and "Welcome Home to Nothing" for Monument and "Can I
Sleep in Your Arms" and "Lucky Ladies" for Decca Records.

Jeannie toured some with Porter Wagoner and Ernest Tubb early in her career. Later she and fellow Opry member Jack Greene created a show that performed everywhere from New York's Madison Square Garden to London's International Country Music Festival. The two also enjoyed consistent Top 10 duet hits, including the No. 1 "Wish I Didn't Have to Miss You", "What In the World Has Gone Wrong With Our Love", "Much Oblige" and "You and Me Against the World" and were nominated for both CMA and Grammy Awards.

When she wasn't writing hit songs for herself, Jeannie was penning hits for other artists such as Dottie West, Connie Smith, Willie Nelson, Ray Price and Faron Young who had a Top 10 hit in 1971 with her song"Leavin' and Sayin'Goodbye". That song won her a BMI Award.

A near fatal automobile accident in 1977 has not slowed her down. In recent years the singer, songwriter and record producer has added stage actress and author to her list of accomplishments. In 1988 Jeannie released her self-published book "Pieces of a Puzzled Mind" which contained a collection of witticisms for a master of clever remarks.

Also that year, she starred as Miss Mona in a local production of "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center. In 1990, she performed a straight comedy role in an area dinner theater's production of "Everybody Loves Opal".

The new millennium found Jeannie back in theatre playing the role of Louise in the "Always Patsy Cline Show" for a successful 9 week run in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The holiday season always finds Jeannie up bright and early to entertain folks at her "Country Christmas Breakfast Show" in the Gibson Showcase Theatre in Opry Mills from mid November through Christmas Eve morning.

And of course, when she's not on the road, you can almost always find Jeannie 'at home' on the Grand Ole Opry Stage. The muli-talented and versatile Jeannie is celebrating 34 years as a member....and is still creating a stir every time she walks on the stage!

From the very beginning, HELEN CORNELIUS has had a vision of her destiny. As she told Bill Littleton of Performance Magazine, "Belief in oneself is probably the most important ingredient to success that there is, because if you believe in yourself, then nothing is gonna knock you down. I'm ready to fly."

If he had known her, Mark Twain would have liked a lot of the traits deeply ingrained In HELEN’S character. The kind of spirit of adventure he so often wrote about; the determination to meet life's challenges head-on; the character and positive belief In herself that Joseph and Lu Elsie Johnson imparted to Helen Lorene and her seven brothers and sisters.

Helen grew up on a farm in Missouri, where she listened to radio's Grand Ole Opry and sang with her sisters, accompanied by her brothers who played in country bands. Since her musical debut at the age of five, HELEN has won numerous talent contests, including
three winning appearances on The Ted Mack Amateur Hour in 1970.
It was her songwriting that initially swung open the doors along the corridors of Nashville's Music Row. By the mid-’70’s, HELEN had songs recorded by a number of major artists, Including The Oak Ridge Boys, Reba McEntire, Jeannie C, Riley, Connie Smith, Charlie Louvin and Melba Montgomery, LaCosta, and Dottsy... just to mention a few. While it was her writing that first won her major credibility, It was the voice that RCA Record executives heard that won HELEN CORNELIUS her first major recording contract in 1975. With it, history was about to be made.

HELEN’S teaming on record with Jim Ed Brown was further crowned with success by her individual nomination as "Most
Promising Female vocalist" by Music City News in 1977. Following this win, the West Coast based Academy of Country Music gave her their prestigious nod in the "Best New Female Vocalist" category. Also in 1977, Jim Ed Brown and HELEN CORNELIUS won the coveted CMA Award for "Vocal Duo Of The Year", Single Of The Year", and "Album Of The Year".

For four and a half years HELEN was an integral part of the Jim Ed Brown Show, and was seen weekly by seven million viewers as a regular on the Nashville On The Road syndicated television shows. The results of this association, including HELEN'S first number one record "I Don't Want to Have To Marry You" were astounding and Helen would be the very last to underestimate the impact of those years.

But there was always the desire to do more than just stand in front of a microphone and sing her half of a duet. She was capable of much more, and anyone who has seen her perform lately knows just how much!

October 1980 HELEN assembled a five piece band, worked up an energetic, entertaining show, taking full advantage of the freedom to display all sides of her talent. She immediately began touring with Conway Twitty for the next year and a half. Her experience has grown to match her tremendous self-confidence. She says, "With me, it's never a question of if I do a certain thing, it's always a matter of when I do it." HELEN and her band, Southern Spirit, toured year round and developed a reputation as one of the most dependable acts in the business.

January 1984 HELEN prepared to add a new and very exciting chapter not only to her own career, but to the course of country music as well. Bill Fegan Attractions chose HELEN to play the lead in a road show revival of Irving Berlin's "Annie Get Your Gun".

On the heels of closing in "Annie Get Your Gun", HELEN shifted gears to tour with The Statler Brothers on their sellout concert series for the next two years along with the demands of her own individual concert dates. Notes from major reviewers caught the impact of what was happening. As one reviewer deftly pinpointed... "HELEN CORNELIUS has grown into a performer who can walk on-stage, grab a crowd, and hold it right where she wants it... in the palm of her hand."

March 19,1998 at The Little Nashville Opry in Nashville, Indiana... two sold-out performances for the much heralded re- teaming in concert of Jim Ed Brown and HELEN CORNELIUS in a flurry of media attention, country music’s award winning duo launched a reunion tour that emblazoned a clear message... Brown and CORNELIUS still possessed that certain magic to ignite a song and an audience when they walked on-stage together.

In 1991, ready for a new challenge HELEN opened a dinner theater in Gatlinburg, TN. She performed nightly at"Nashville South" through December 1996. As she stated, "I loved getting to sing different songs each night, take requests, and do such a variety of music. I also loved hiking the mountains and becoming a part of the beautiful Smoky
Mountains".

In 1997, HELEN joined with Jim Ed Brown to perform in the Eagle Mountain Theater In Pigeon Forge, TN., along with Con Hunley. "I loved that show, and having great voices surrounding the blend of Jim Ed and myself was such a pleasure".

HELEN performed in Branson, MO at the 76 Music Hall with the Grand Ladies of Country Music show (featuring Jan Howard, Margo Smith, Leona Williams, Jean Shepard, and others) until May of 2003. At that time, HELEN began accepting road dates and started touring the country again.

HELEN continues to perform with Jim Ed Brown periodically on the Grand Ole Opry, as well as county and state fairs, in addition to her own solo appearances.

"I feel so blessed to be able to make a living doing something I love so much".

In May of 2005, HELEN was honored by the State of Missouri when she was inducted into the Missouri Country Music Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Springfield, MO.

With her present day country music honors and accomplishments, many feel HELEN has done as much as Mark Twain to put their mutual hometown of Hannibal, MO in the mental map of America!