My Momma passed away on this day 17 years ago... 

My Momma passed away on this day 17 years ago... it still feels like it isn’t real in some ways! 
I tend to have a running conversation it’s her in my head, and sometimes out loud! 
Mommie I love you always, you are the best person I have ever known.
We all miss you! Xoxo

Carlene and band home from tour! 

Carlene and the guys (Al Hill and Chris Casello) had a great time at their recent shows in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and Carlene wrote: "Let everyone know we are home from the tour safe and sound." Carlene was gone when the tornado hit Nashville, but she was fortunate that her home and loved ones were unharmed, and added: "I have nothing scheduled at the moment until Norsk Countrytreff in Norway July 11. Working on some new music!!!" Seen here at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon: Al, Carlene, Chris.

Carlene and her Grandma named Best of Madison-Rivergate! 

Well I’ll be!!! It’s the most unexpected honor! Dang! Thank you Madison. xoxox CC

The Madison - Rivergate Area Chamber Of Commerce 

CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners of the Best of Madison-Rivergate awards, and thank you to the 1,000 people who voted! 
Below is a full list of winners: 
Best Place to Work: King's Daughters Child Development Center 
Best Customer Service – Restaurant: SideKicks Cafe 
Best Customer Service – Retail: Nest 615 Antiques & Vintage 
Best Customer Service – Retail: Miller's Florist 
Best Customer Service – Professional Services: Nashville Neck & Back 
Best Community Involvement: Madison and Rivergate lost and found pets 
Best Madison-Rivergate Neighbor: David McMurry 
Best Storefront: Nest 615 Antiques & Vintage 
Best Hair Stylist: Tara Spivey 
Best Nail Salon: Nails First 
Best Coffee Shop: SideKicks Café 
Best Healthy Food: Garden Fresh Food Market 
Best American Food: SideKicks Café 
Best Italian Food: Olive Garden 
Best Hispanic Food: Las Maracas Madison 
Best Asian Food: China Cottage Restaurant 
Best Southern Food: Cal's Country Kitchen 
Best Fried Food: Slow Burn Hot Chicken 
Best Steakhouse: LongHorn Steakhouse 
Best Soup/Sandwiches: Panera Bread 
Best BBQ: Whitt's Barbecue 
Best Pizza: Long Hollow Pizza & Pub 
Best Catering: The Go Go Gourmet 
Best Baked Goods: Sweet and Sassy Bakery 
Best Desserts: Sweet ‘n Sassy 
Best Breakfast: SideKicks Café 
Best Lunch Spot: Chef's Market 
Best Food Truck: Bang Bang Hibachi Grill & Sushi 
Best Bar: Dee's Country Cocktail Lounge 
Best Wine and Spirits: Madison Beverage Warehouse 
Best Dining Experience: Chef’s Market 
Best Romantic Dining: Olive Garden 
Best Place to Work Out: Planet Fitness 
Best Place to Meet New People: Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge 
Best Madison-Rivergate Landmark: Amqui Station and Visitors Center 
Best Local Photographer & Artist: Candice Raines 
Best Local Musician: Jeb Hart 
Best Local Singer: Carlene Carter 
Best Family Activity: Rivergate Skate Center 
Best Weekend Activity: Amqui Station Farmers’ Market 
Best Park: Cedar Hill 
Best Rental Venue: Amqui Station 
Best Entertainment Venue: Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge 
Best Retirement Community: Maybelle Carter Living 
Best Apartments/ Townhomes: Crossings at Madison 
Best Home Goods: Nest 615 Antiques & Vintage 
Best Grocery: Aldi 
Best Convenience Store: Thornton’s 
Best Gift Shop: Nest 615 Antiques & Vintage 
Best Women’s Apparel: Dillard's 
Best Men’s Apparel: Dillard’s of Rivergate 
Best Kids’ Apparel: The Children’s Place 
Best Formalwear: Street Tuxedo 
Best Shoe Store: DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse 
Best Eyewear: Pearl Vision 
Best Jewelry: Jared 
Best Florist: Miller’s Florist 
Best Pop-up Vendor: Kim Pharris – What You Bake of It 
Best Auto Dealer: Serra Chevrolet Buick GMC Nashville 
Best Sporting Goods: Academy Sports and Outdoors 
Best Retail Concept: Nest 615 Antiques & Vintage 
Best Place to Register for Wedding Gifts: Bed, Bath, & Beyond 
Best Store Mascot: Shop Cat from Nest 615 
Best Place to Learn Martial Arts: Master Green's Tang Soo Do 
Best Hearing Center: Ascent Audiology & Hearing Nashville 
Best Chiropractor: Nashville Neck and Back 
Best Pharmacy: Rams Pharmacy 
Best Physician: Russell Clark, FNP-C of Clark Family Practice 
Best Dentist: Dr. Mark Thomasson of Thomasson Dental 
Best Veterinarian: Mobley Veterinary Clinic 
Best Lawyer: Bill Beck, Beck & Beck Attorneys at Law 
Best Bank: Regions Bank 
Best Credit Union: Old Hickory Credit Union 
Best Financial Advisor: Ralph Ruby, Edward Jones 
Best Realtor (Commercial): Beck and Beck Real Estate 
Best Realtor (Residential): Ashley Morrison REMAX Elite 
Best Insurance, Car and Home: Paul Corley, State Farm 
Best Private School: Goodpasture Christian School 
Best Public School: Goodlettsville Middle School 
Best Day Care: Goodpasture Great Beginnings 
Best Mechanic: Community Garage of Madison 
Best Plumber: Jack Ward & Sons Plumbing Co. 
Best Electrician: Wm Massey Electric, LLC 
Best Moving Company: True Friends Moving Company Nashville 
Best Pet Grooming: My Puppy Parlor 
Best Cleaning Service: Servpro of East Nashville/Madison/Goodlettsville 
Best Non-Profit: King’s Daughters Child Development Center 
Best Civic Organization: Madison-Goodlettsville Rotary Club 
Best New Business: The Raines Collective

Carlene on "Nashville Demystified" podcast with Alex Steed 

Today we talk with the wonderful Carlene Carter. This is not an official installment of Music City Tales from the 1980s, though it’s strongly related. Let’s say that it’s a companion episode. 

Carlene Carter is a legendary singer with a career that spans over four decades. She has released a dozen albums on her own, and she has recorded as a member of The Carter Family. Over the past few years she has collaborated extensively with John Mellencamp.

Click to listen here: One time Carlene Carter was Awarded a Key to the Jail

Celebrate the Season with CC & Friends! 

Join us as we kick-off our Heritage Music Series with Carlene Carter & Friends for an evening filled with Music, Spirits, and Fun! Guests will enjoy a Southern Christmas grazing table & drinks with food by The Go Go Gourmet, MACC swag bags for all attendees, and 10% off at the MACC gift shop. The fun begins Saturday, December 21, 2019 at 6:00 pm. $40 per person. Seats are limited so make your reservations HERE!
Questions or to order by phone, call (615) 822-0789.

 

Carlene Carter with The Carter Family at Cash Fest and Grand Ole Opry! 

It has just been announced that Carlene Carter along with multiple generations of The Carter Family, will be appearing at Cash Fest on Sunday, November 10 at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium.  The event coincides with the release of The Gift, the YouTube documentary that chronicles and celebrates “The Journey of Johnny Cash.”  The concert is being produced by Best Fest which, in the past, has presented Dylan Fest, Petty Fest, Neil Fest, Stones Fest and other tribute concert programs in New York, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco and Nashville.  Among the other artists slated to perform at Cash Fest are Little Big Town, Dennis Quaid, Perry and Etty Farrell, Elle King, Todd Snider, Grace Potter as well as John Carter Cash and Ana Christina Cash.

Carlene is, of course, the daughter of June Carter who married Johnny Cash on March 1, 1968 when Carlene was still a pre-teen.  She grew up in the home of her stepfather whom she always referred to as “Big John.”  She toured and appeared on TV with Cash at an early age as part of the iteration of The Carter Family that included her grandmother, Mother Maybelle Carter, her mother as well as her aunts Helen and Anita.  The legacy of the Carter Family looms large in country music history and was a focus of the celebrated Ken Burns’ Country Music series in which Carlene appears numerous times.  More recently, Reviver Entertainment Group’s Legacy label released The Carter Family – Across Generations, produced by John Carter Cash, Johnny and June’s son and Carlene’s brother.  The project juxtaposes five generations of the Carter Family on one album with Carlene playing a pivotal role; it serves as an audio thread to tell the story of country music’s undisputed first family and Johnny Cash is heard on three of the album’s tracks.

At Cash Fest, Carlene Carter with The Carter Family will include Dale Jett, Tiffany Anastasia Lowe, Lorrie Carter Bennett and John Carter Cash.  Dale Jett is a grandson of A.P. and Sara Carter, Lorrie Carter Bennett is a granddaughter of Mother Maybelle Carter and daughter of Anita Carter, Tiffany Anastasia Lowe is Carlene’s daughter and great granddaughter of Mother Maybelle Carter.  The event will mark the second public performance of Carlene Carter with The Carter Family, as they debut earlier in the week when they guest on The Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday, November 5th.

Carlene commented, “Big John respected, admired and lived the music of The Carter Family. In a sense, they became his own family even before he married momma. Grandma (Maybelle) loved him and provided him with a soft place to land in her home when he was struggling with addiction. I believe that Carter Family music took him back to his childhood in Dyess when he first heard them on the radio. He was drawn to The Carter Family by destiny because the way he felt when he sang with them was always meant to be.”

Carlene Carter's Wonderful World of Women Who Write (plus a couple of guys) Back at Bluebird Cafe! 

Last fall, in celebration of her return to Nashville, Carlene Carter organized a series of performances at the Bluebird Café in which she invited other female songwriters to join her in a series she dubbed Carlene Carter’s Wonderful World of Women Who Write.  Now, from her new base in her hometown of Madison, TN, and in the wake of her pervasive presence on the Ken Burns Country Music series, this celebrated “Carter Girl” has put together two more evenings under that same banner.  They’re set for two successive Wednesdays, October 30 and November 6. Rolling Stone declared the WWOWWW sessions “yet another reminder of the empowering role of women in country music” and “a musical homecoming shared with family and friends.”  This month is doubly propitious for Carlene as it marks the release of The Carter Family - Across Generations from Reviver’s Legacy label.  Produced by her brother, John Carter Cash, it is the first time that all five generations of the Carter Family are housed, so to speak, under one musical roof.

This year’s WWOWWW kicks off on October 30 with guests Terri Clark and Erin Enderlin.  Terri Clark who hails from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, made her way to Nashville in the late 80s and, from her first local performance at Tootsie’s Orchard Lounge, proceeded to become one of the top selling country artists, female or otherwise, of the era.  To date she’s sold 5 million albums, has been inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and is currently the only Canadian woman on the Grand Ole Opry.  Her top 10 hits include “Better Things To Do,” “If I Were You,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” “Emotional Girl,” “Now That I Found You,” “You’re Easy on the Eyes” and “I Just Wanna Be Mad.”  She’s had a hand in writing many of her own hits and hosts an internationally syndicated “Country Gold” radio show heard on 165 stations through Westwood One.

A comparative newcomer to Nashville, Erin Enderlin began writing songs in her native Conway, Arkansas at the age of ten.  She moved to Nashville to attend Middle Tennessee State University and by her senior year had co-written a Top 5 single (“Monday Morning Church“) for Alan Jackson.  Other artists who have recorded her songs include Lee Ann Womack, Luke Bryant, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, Bill Anderson and Jeannie Seely.  No less a talent than fellow songwriter and “Wonderful World of Women...” participant Terri Clark recorded five Erin Enderlin songs on her recent Raising The Bar album.

The November 6th installment perhaps, mandates an asterisk in light of the fact that two of the performers are decidedly not female.  Matraca Berg, of course, is and she’s making a return WWOWW appearance.  This CMA Song of the Year Award winner and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee has had her songs recorded by Ray Price, Tanya Tucker, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, Deana Carter, Trisha Yearwood.  Reba McEntire took Matraca’s  The Last One To Know” to #1 on Billboard’s country Singles Chart.

Matraca’s husband is Jeff Hanna, who is a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and will be joining the WWOWW session in support, both musical and elsewise.  He’s a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and songwriter of note.  His music having been recorded by Linda Ronstadt, Suzy Bogguss, Patty Loveless, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Carlene’s mother June Carter Cash, Steve Martin and, quite naturally Matraca Berg.  He is co-writer of “Bless the Broken Road” which earned him a Grammy for Best Country Song as recorded by Rascal Flatts.

Lastly, John Oates, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and half of the legendary duo Hall and Oates that has been part of the American musical landscape since the early 1970s will be featured.  Oates has pursued solo projects over the years and maintains a residence in Nashville.  He bonded with Carlene at the recent introduction of the new Johnny Cash Martin Guitar and, of course, one thing led to another which landed him on the bill at WWOWWW.  His recent Arkansas album release is focused on rural blues and roots country music so, irrespective of such rock classics as “Maneater,” “Rich Girl” and “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)”, he promises to be a good fit with the WWOWWW’s nurturing acoustic ambiance.

Reservations will be available on a pre-paid basis for $25.00 one week ahead of each show date at www.bluebirdcafe.com